19: Interaction with Co-workers, Supervisors and Job Satisfaction: Part I

In Geena Davis's speech at the National Conference for Media Reform, she discusses how much influence the media's depictions have on individuals' everyday lives. Her films that have empowered women, like "A League of Their Own" and "Thelma and Louise," are exceptions to the general rules of women being overall passive and not well-rounded, thereby very flat, characters. Davis points out how strong children can be influenced by the media, particularly in programming for young children. Classic and current cartoons, Davis notes, show a major imbalance between male and female characters, with men in dominating, powerful roles, and women as subservient beings whose chief value is their appearance.

These ideas are planted at childhood, and stick with people throughout their adult lives. This means that these stereotypes are fated to be carried into the workplace, and replicate the notion that women are a second-class gender of sorts. Because these female stereotypes are accepted and distributed via the mainstream media, they are ingrained in every person who has been exposed to American media. This means that men will continue to think that women are unable to deal with the same levels of stress, work and high-pressure situations. This is reflected in Britton's findings that male corrections officers are likely to believe that their female counterparts cannot handle violent situations, and thereby should be delegated easier, more clerical assignments.