Stereotypical representations of women in the media are problematic because the media defines roles, emphasizes stereotypes and fosters identity formation, and therefore has major social responsibility when shaping cultural views of women. The mass media is a powerful socializing agent through which we internalize the values, beliefs and norms of our society, allowing media portrayals to shape cultural norms. Therefore the media does not mirror reality, but rather constructs its own version of reality. Specifically, television generally portrays only a small sliver of lifestyles, excluding those who deviate from these fabricated cultural norms. The negative consequences of mass media neglect are evidenced by the absence of working-class and welfare mothers in the media. Constant representations of celebrity moms that perform to the impossibly high, media generated standards of motherhood plague television, magazines, books and movies, stigmatizing working-class mothers. Unfortunately for women today, the media has an insatiable obsession with motherhood. These idealized accounts of blissful superhuman mothers permeate media outlets, continually excluding millions of women from their narrow definition of good mothers, which results in the constant subordination and oppression of welfare mothers. It is hypocritical of the media to exalt celebrity mothers, and those privileged enough to be considered upper-middle class women, yet entirely ignore the struggling demographic of welfare mothers. However, profitability is at stake, so audiences are defined as markets based upon social class, education, and spending power; none of these characteristics are typical of the working class. Welfare mothers are framed as irresponsible drains on society, who are only portrayed in the media in the context of public policy debates and the depletion of morality in America. This highly derogatory depiction of welfare mothers as unkempt, lazy slobs contrasts them with the hard-working upper-middle class mothers that embody the ideals of motherhood; in a society that so blatantly revolves around appearances and status, welfare mothers clearly lose the battle and remain stigmatized by demeaning media representations.
It is important to understand that through repetition of images, the media defines how social interactions are crucial to shaping social definitions and cultural ideology through their ability to alter message interpretations. Ideologies are often normalized by the sheer volume of their presence in the media; since welfare mothers are either neglected or covered in a negative manner, they rarely register on the public agenda in a positive light. The media is a representation of reality, which assigns symbols, people, and objects meaning and value, among other things. The mass media possesses the inherent ability to direct audience attention toward certain issues, and judging by the infrequency of media representation of welfare mothers, their plight is meaningless within the industry. There is substantial correlation between public opinion and media coverage, although media coverage does not parallel real world issues and trends. When welfare mothers are represented, it is in the form of a sensationalistic and dehumanizing news exposs, which clearly frame them in a negative manner for the mass audience.
News media has the ability to set the agenda and infiltrate the thoughts of the public; however corporate owners of the media influence the news in order to protect the interests of the rich and powerful, therefore neglecting unprofitable coverage of the plight of welfare mothers. Since most audiences are unfamiliar with the circumstances in which welfare mothers survive, they are entirely dependent on the media for information.
Constant representations of super-moms in the media have raised the standards of motherhood to impossible ideals. The escalating standard of motherhood accounts for the disdain with which welfare mothers are viewed; in addition to battling negative stereotypes that surround the welfare program, these women are surrounded by unattainable standards of motherhood. The rise in the ideals of maternal perfection is primarily attributable to the media’s false construction of reality, specifically the emergence of the celebrity mom profile and the increasingly consumer driven society. It is interesting to consider the presence of celebrity mom profiles in advertiser-supported magazines that are targeted to an upscale demographic with immense purchasing power. The juxtaposition suggests that image depicted is one that can be purchased. Welfare mothers are prime target for this consumerist exploitation.
The strong correlation between the idealistic new standards of motherhood and the rise in consumerism is especially problematic for welfare mothers who struggle to feed their children, let alone lavish gifts upon them. The media twists consumer ideology so that problems are easily solved by purchasing the appropriate product. Television advertising suggests that children cannot be responsibly and effectively raised without expensive toys meant to stimulate their growing minds. While this ideology of consumerism plagues middle-class mothers, it entirely negates any hope welfare mothers have of being able to compete among “good” mothers. The celebrity mom profiles that cover magazines also reinforce the ideology that consumer goods lead to a happier and more fulfilling experience as a mother. However, with hired help, the chances of being a happy and relaxed super-mom dramatically increase.
In contrast to glossy magazine covers, welfare mothers are featured in news exposs about increasing drug use, high crime rates, unemployment, and chronic welfare dependency. Sheltered by class privilege and crippled by ignorance, the mass audience internalizes these images, and is socialized into believing that welfare mothers are inherently bad, and a drain on society as a whole. Suddenly, the media has created a villain; welfare mothers are to be looked down upon, scrutinized, and ultimately shunned. These two categorically different mothers, welfare moms and celebrity moms, are rarely portrayed side by side; they are presented in opposition to each other, each symbolizing a set of norms and values that are based off of economic status.
Welfare mothers provide an outlet for the media to unleash their frustration with working mothers. Women of every social class are told that they must choose between the corporate world and domesticity. The two outlets never coincide, and it is presented as socially unacceptable and almost reprehensible to combine the two. Welfare mothers must work to feed and shelter their children; idyllic fifties domesticity is not an option, however a modern take on fifties domesticity characterizes current television programming. Sitcoms from the fifties and sixties such as Leave it to Beaver, and Bewitched seemed to embody the ideals of domesticity that were so prevalent during the period. However, looking back on high rates of teenage pregnancy, the increase in cases of depression among women, and martial unhappiness, it is easy to argue that fifties and sixties programming provided audiences with a mere illusion of the golden age. Similarly, modern programming neglects to address the presence of welfare mothers. The one-dimensional images of women on television not only overlook mothers in the working class, but also mother’s from any social sphere who balance a career and children, which excludes these women from legitimization by the mass media.
In order for welfare mothers to receive the legitimate media coverage and public support that is necessary for social change to occur, the impossibly idealistic media generated norms of motherhood must be broken down. A new process of media socialization must begin, stereotypes must be acknowledged and dismantled. In addition, this new treatment of welfare women must have a lasting presence on television. As soon as the novelty of celebrity mothers wears off, hopefully the imperfections of “regular” mothers will be celebrated, thus lessening the pressure on modern mother’s to posess superhuman powers in both the workplace and the home.