Media Portrayals of Women: Creating Perception?

There were some interesting articles in the news the last few days on how the media portrays women.

The first one is in regards to films based on the theme of survival and how they portray men & women differently.  Female survivors tend to be presented in sci-fi/fantasy settings, but men are consistently portrayed in a 'based on a true story' way:
http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/11/18/hollywood_movies_paint_survival_as_a_mans_job.html

The second is about recent research which shows that men show just as much relational/social aggression as women, but this is not portrayed in the media in the same way as 'mean girls':
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/18/the_myth_of_the_mean_girl.html

The third is in regards to an upcoming by-election, where two women who have both written about economic theory/worked in journalism are facing off against each other:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/11/18/torontos_mcquaig_and_freeland_are_running_while_female_mallick.html
This article is an opinion article, and I'm not overly fond of this writer, but she does present a decent commentary on how female politicians are still portrayed in Canada.

I know that these are all from the same newspaper, but I don't think that makes these ideas or opinions any less relevant.  Since my daughter has been born, I've found that I'm looking a lot more into gender politics and these sorts of things.  Like any parent, I want to figure out a way to help improve the world for her - and I think a lot of these things are just as damaging to men (for example: the stereotype that boys aren't allowed to express sadness or hurt except in very specific ways, like physical aggression).

Since I was already looking at the question of whether the media is presenting reality or creating a perception when it comes to certain gender items (or possibly both? creating a perception is leading to a reality which is enforcing the perception?), these articles peaked by interest, especially since they were all published within a few days of each other.

On a final gender note, the paper also did a recent follow up on the story of baby Storm, whose parents decided not to let anyone know the physical gender.  I've actually met the mom and the kids a few times, and they were lovely, and are truly doing what they feel is best for their children (just like the rest of us).

http://www.thestar.com/life/parent/2013/11/15/remember_storm_we_check_in_on_the_baby_being_raised_genderneutral.html

Pet Peeves

My original plan for today was to write about how much I love the farmers market.  I do too - I really like going to the market, and seeing what is in season, and tasting local cheeses, and all that fun stuff.
My fridge, as of this morning's trip to the market, may contain 100% more nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, potatoes, carrots, onions and fancy sausages for the meat-eaters in the house than it did prior to the trip.  There may also have been some raspberries that never really made it into the refrigerator.

However, later in the day, I encountered one of my major parenting pet peeves: the male spouse performing childcare = babysitting phenomena.

This really tees me off.

When my spouse is looking after our child, he is not babysitting.  He is parenting.  Period.
He contributed to half of her DNA.  He is equally involved in taking her to the park, dropping her off at daycare, putting her to bed, giving her baths, and all the day-to-day parenting items.

If I go out to enjoy myself as a grown-up for a few hours, he is not babysitting our daughter.  He is parenting our daughter.  Almost no one would say that I was babysitting our child if my partner decided to go out for a few hours.

I did call out the person who used the term babysitting in reference to my partner tonight (and not in a rude, jerk way), but it just really . . . argh.

If you are a parent that I know, it is a pretty safe bet that you are an awesome parent, who doesn't 'babysit' your own child - you parent your child, regardless as to whether your spouse is immediately available or not.  Now we just need society to start treating you like the awesome parent you are, regardless of your gender.