Media still has long way to combat gender stereotyping

The Only Way is Essex (Image: Lime Pictures)

ITV is a television network that Britain can be proud of. They have produced some of the finest dramas, documentaries, news coverage and day time shows. Coronation Street is the world's longest-running soap opera, enjoyed by nine million people every episode. Let's put it this way, there is at least one programme on any of ITV's six channels (including "The Store") that someone likes. If you don't like anything ITV produces, then one must question if you have ever watched anything on their channels?

I admire ITV as their six channels are very distinctive. For example, ITV offers mainstream shows like Coronation Street, Downton Abbey and Jeremy Kyle Show which are aimed towards the modern family. ITV2 attracts the younger audience who are into the celebrity culture while ITV3 focuses on the older audience, showing repeats of classic shows like Colombo and ITV4 offer a wider variety of films, documentaries and sport attracting a more niche audience. Let's not forget to mention CITV which is aimed at young children, and The Store is for those who fancy their chances in their games.

Detailing each target audience by each of ITV's channels shows a clear trend. They offer something for people by their interest. If people like to know how their favourite A (or Z)-List celebrities are doing, then they know which channel to switch on to. ITV2 served a valuable purpose by providing shows which did this. However, the channel may lose this purpose.

I came across a story recently that they are to produce a new free-to-air channel with the purpose to aim towards young women. The channel ITVBe will feature shows such as The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) and Real Housewives. At present, they are shown on ITV2, but executives have decided to make this move "to develop what is currently part of the ITV2 schedule – reality and non-scripted shows, which are very popular with young women and housewives with kids – into a distinct channel proposition, aimed more squarely at that audience."

This decision, in my eyes, is a daft one as it seems they are heading back to the dark ages where people are judged by their gender. When I talk about the "dark ages" of the media industry, I only mean this time 40-50 years ago. Men had significant advantages over women in the media. It was very rare to see a woman present a TV show but for those who did, received much smaller recognition than male presenters. The first female newsreader was Barbara Mandell of ITV in 1955 but TV had been going on for decades before. Women in the media were shadows.

Thankfully, this has all changed and women have greater recognition in the media spotlight. Britain is lucky to have arguably the greatest female presenters, journalists and directors. From Gloria Hunniford, Angela Rippon and Moira Stuart, to Fiona Bruce, Natasha Kaplinsky and Caitlin Moran, to Holly Willoughby, Emma Willis and Alex Jones - the list is endless. Over the past 10-15 years, gender stereotypes have been a decreasing issue and for those who have thought of it as a problem, are strongly condemned.

The media industry has led the way to ensuring that stereotyping men and women would not happen and that has been down to those who have demanded common sense. A journalist is now more of a woman's job than a man's while both genders can produce breathtaking and award-winning broadcasting programmes. Not only that, we are now seeing an increase in women watching sport, and at the same time, it is now seen acceptable to see a man religiously watch reality shows, a thought which was previously laughed upon. These are the changes which are widely celebrated, which leaves me baffled as to why ITV announced their intentions to launch a channel aimed at women. Just because TOWIE may arguably targets the young female audience, why should a channel literally state this?

The move won't stop men from watching ITVBe, but it's a ridiculous move for ITV executives to make. They have implied that 'men don't watch shows like that', while women 'only watch shows like that'. It's almost like ITV saying men should keep to watching men in boots and women watch women in heels. This is what people had campaigned against. We're in the 21st Century where people could watch whatever they like without someone saying 'but isn't that a girl's show', or 'isn't that too blokey for you'?

This move is embarrassing for a very-well respected television network which has done so much good for the British public. But they have stooped to a level we all hoped we moved on from. They should show that media continues to lead the way in stamping on stereotypes. The media has become so powerful, we rely on it on a daily basis, whether it's through the internet, billboard advertising or newspapers. From this point, media has done well not to segregate what men watch, and what women watch. However, what ITV have announced proves the industry still has a long, long way to go. But despite the exceptional progress, let's not start looking back now.