The media is a fundamental part of the world we live in today. We turn to it for news, to communicate with others and for entertainment. There can also be many varying sides to it, such as political media or mainstream versus alternative media. Each has a diverse perspective, and therefore, caters to different audiences. This means that some subtypes of media are especially enjoyed by particular groups of people. As a woman, a large portion of the media I take in is — you guessed it — women’s media.
What is women’s media? Shortly summarized, women’s media is media created for women or about women. Films or shows with a large female audience or fanbase — like “The Twilight Saga,” or in more recent years, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” — are considered women’s media. Music produced by artists with female fanbases can be categorized as women’s media as well. For example, artists like Taylor Swift or Harry Styles generally have more female listeners than male ones. However, because they are primarily consumed by women, these forms of media are more prone to intense ridicule by our society. This can even result in the fans of the female-centered media becoming targets too. The media is mocked for existing, and the fans are faulted for their love of it.
So what is happening here?
The likely explanation is that this extensive hate and ridicule of women’s entertainment is rooted in misogyny. Plain and simple. I mean, if a lot of women enjoy something, it cannot possibly be worthy of our time and attention, right? Well, wrong. But this is an idea that seems to persist in every form of media, even if it is unspoken.
Personally, I see this the most when it comes to music. As a self-proclaimed pop music superfan, I am often a victim of baseless criticism. Simply mentioning an artist whose primary audience is women can earn me a handful of disapproving comments.
Hateful attitudes towards these artists and their fans take form on social media, too. Not too long ago, I noticed a trend surfacing on TikTok that specifically belittled artists with female fanbases. On the first slide of these videos, text would read something along the lines of, “You probably only listen to Taylor Swift,” the next slides listing other artists or songs — typically ones more generally accepted or appreciated by men, for instance, Drake. This trend not only criticizes the original artist, in this example, Taylor Swift, but indirectly shames the fans of that artist for simply enjoying their music, as well as furthering the ideology that a woman’s music taste is only acceptable when it aligns with men’s.
My main frustration is that music like this is not taken seriously. It is degraded to some sort of joke and considered a punchline instead of “real music.” Some of the greatest artists of our generation are talked about as though they have no real merit, and a great deal of the time, it is artists with female audiences.
A well-known example of this from the music world is the British-Irish boy band One Direction. Formed in 2010, the group was a global sensation, taking the world by storm before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Still, even with their albums topping the charts and endless sold-out stadium tours, there was a certain stigma surrounding the band and their dedicated fanbase. Their audience, named the “Directioners,” was predominantly composed of women. Their enthusiasm was unmatched, often compared to “Beatlemania,” a term, coined in the ‘60s, to describe a phenomenon of female hysteria over the British rock band The Beatles. Like these fans, the Directioners were often called “crazy” and “fanatical” when, in reality, most were just excited teenage girls.
Now, try going to a metal concert in an arena filled with mostly men. When a mosh pit inevitably breaks out, participating fans are not considered crazy, but passionate about the music. The difference here is that men’s passions are celebrated. Women’s passions are condemned. The hypocrisy is audacious, and the double standards are overwhelming.
This deep-seated bias is present in the film industry as well. Now, it is no secret that a lot of women enjoy watching a good romantic-comedy, myself included! It is not exactly surprising that women are the primary audience for these types of movies. Given that most are women-centered, with female main characters and large focuses on the experiences of girlhood, it is clear that the intention was always for more women to watch them. Whereas many men grow up with a quiet understanding that enjoying feminine movies is not socially acceptable. Therefore, it makes even more sense why men might not make up a large portion of the audience. This is not to say that all men have to enjoy these movies. However, that does not excuse their deprecation of them.
Rom-coms can be well-made, enjoyable, overall good movies. Yet, they are too often disregarded as nothing more than chick flicks, a derogatory term about movies made for women. The phrase implies that movies described as such are inferior, dismissing them because they center the female experience. Movies like these, while typically successful and well-loved, think “When Harry Met Sally” or “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” are not taken as seriously as films with a shiny, gold stamp of common male approval like “Die Hard” or “Fight Club.”
The truth is, this prejudice is everywhere, and most people do not realize they submit to this implicit misogyny. At the very least, most do not understand the reasoning behind it, which is an underlying bias inherited from long-standing cultural norms that consistently undervalue women.
Instead of hating or ridiculing a piece of media for the gender of its fans, one should focus on the main thing: what the piece of media actually has to offer.
But, how can we change a notion that has been embedded into men’s, and many women’s, consumption of the media?
For starters, we can stop using phrases like chick flick. We can enjoy an artist, or not enjoy an artist, because of their music, not because a lot of women happen to enjoy the same thing. We can decide to think for ourselves, instead of mindlessly jumping onto hate trains that target female artists and actresses, which are created only to tear women down.
Most importantly, we can stop denying that this prejudice against women’s media exists, and choose to call it out. Ignoring misogyny does not make it disappear; it only strengthens its persistence. Let us challenge why we praise men’s media, but roll our eyes at its female-centered counterpart and unravel what that says about society’s perception of women.
Women’s media has been deemed a laughingstock for far too long. It is time to ask ourselves what is so funny about women’s interests and experiences.