Challenging Media Portrayals: Students Model Learn by Doing

We have all been exposed to gender biases in the media, accompanied with negative portrayals and unattainable body image ideals of men and women. Many of us are also aware that these portrayals are mediated and should be cautiously received. However, as we continue to flip through the pages of a magazine or through the channels on TV, we are bombarded with images that have been shown to negatively affect our sense of reality and our self-esteem.

Communication studies students, Jessica Ross and Carlye Sani delved deeper into the implications of these media portrayals in their Gender and Communication course. Ross was inspired to investigate this issue after being exposed to how “impactful advertisements can be, and the subliminal messages they convey to women of all ages.” Sani’s inspiration came from her initial desire to obtain a career in public relations and advertising. Although this class has redirected Sani’s career goal, her initial interest in the topic lead her to “explore the problems and solutions to how women are portrayed in advertising.” 

Embracing the Learn by Doing philosophy of Cal Poly, the students created their first website to bring attention to these issues. The website outlines the purpose of their site, the problems in the media and the solution to these issues. “We wanted to make the class more aware of the issues involved with inaccurate portrayals of women in the media,” said Ross.

While this project allowed them to create a website without any prior Web design experience, it also allowed the students to organize ideas and demonstrate the communication skills they learned in other major classes. As Sani moves closer to reaching her career goals, she describes how “courses such as Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication, and Gender Communication [are] among the most valuable courses [she has] taken.”

As it raises awareness to the issues of various aspects of media portrayals, the website also highlights how students can work together to achieve one common goal using the skills learned in the Communication Studies curriculum. Visit the website and observe Learn by Doing in action, and see how we can all work to disaffirm the effects of negative media images.