Agentic Women

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Not only does television damage relationships among women by attacking Biblical womanhood, television also creates division between men and women. The Bible emphasizes that women are to be submissive to men, television, however, presents many instances in which women are in places of authority over men. The article “Audience Perceptions of Strong Female Characters on Television” labels women in television as agentic. The authors define “agentic individuals [as] forceful, independent, and assertive; they are powerful people who take charge” (Oppenheimer 162). The agentic women characters on television forcefully take charge of situations. The study conducted by Oppenheimer found that college aged women were very accepting of the women characters …show more content…
However, “female students in a number of research questionnaires desired to emulate the apparent power and status of characters” (qtd in Robertson 6) on television shows. The importance of women not holding positions of authority over men lies within Biblical complementarity. When God created man and woman, He created man first; the order in which man and woman were created does not give man superiority over woman, but the order does provide the man with authority over the woman. As a result of television, women now desire to be in authoritative positions over men. Women’s desire for authority over men is especially destructive within the family. Television’s presentations of women in authoritative position over men contradicts complementarity by creating a desire within women to be in the same role as men. When two people are competing for headship of the home, conflict is unavoidable. Similar to when two magnets of the same charge try to come together there is only repulsion, when both man and women seek to be in the same role, strife between the man and woman is …show more content…
The images presented by the media in women are contradictory to each other and cause women to be confused. In television Biblical complementarity is attacked by making it desirable for women to be superior to men, while at the same time magazines objectify women and show inferiority to men as an attractive position for women to be in. The opposing portrayals of women within the media contributes to a confusion about what womanhood is (MacKay and Covell 575). In a study on media gender stereotypes on women in Generation Y the author found that, “the bombardment of conflicting media stereotypes on Generation Y females impacts not only self-identity and performance but is then reflected on and referenced in their outward expressions” (Robertson 8). Women are outwardly expressing in their behavior the conflicting messages presented to them in the media, which, consequently, causes confusion about what womanhood truly is. Yet, even when confused, “to disapprove could risk mockery” (Robertson 5). Women have become unable to protest the conflicting messages within the media. American media is so rampant that any behavior that contradicts those presented within the media is looked down upon. As a result, women in the United States have strictly adhered to the
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