Recently, Maria Shriver, reporter and first lady of California, launched a new website and media series called “A Woman’s Nation.”
Visit these websites, look around, and watch some clips.
http://www.awomansnation.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33247001/
These websites reveal many dominant discourses about women, and also inform us about which discourses of femininity are “relevant” in news media today. They inform us about motherhood, working women, representations of women on TV, and more. However, at the same time, they clearly do NOT inform us about ALL women, or even a broad array of the possible discourses that exist about women. Why?
There are also some significant differences between the sites even though they are based on the same study. The MSNBC website, for example, reflects the news media’s interpretations of the study, and thus explores these topics in a way that emphasizes and models more dominant discourses about femininity. Why?
Which discourses of femininity do these websites choose to emphasize? Which do they ignore? Which women are charged with reporting this information to us, and how do they differ from the women they are supposed to be reporting about? How do the discourses of femininity portrayed on these websites position the women and men who view these programs?
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