This paper reports the plausibility of sociological theories in explaining the role of the media in dealing with sexual harassment. It argues that the feminist, social learning, and functionalist models hold the media responsible raising public awareness on sexual harassment and its impacts. However, the paper favors the social learning model because it avoids the ‘blame game’ as does the functionalist theory and the orientation to favoring one gender as the feminist approach does.
Feminists are at the frontline in pushing for a social transformation of a lack of equality between women and men (Minic, 2007). The advent of the media has been heralded as one of the most significant books in pushing the feminist agenda (Rana, 2017). The Fourth World Conference of 1955 in Beijing, China was one of the biggest indicators of the effect that feminists could attain through their movement. The conference established a consensus that would promote the rights of girls and women since they are fundamental to the process of developing any society. As a result, all governments of the world have been under pressure to champion the rights of women and girls in the society.
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Sexual harassment is one of the forms of social vices that feminists have cited alongside others that have denied women a fair treatment. The media, according to the feminist agenda, is meant to protect the rights of women and girls through spreading the message on the need for equality within the society (Minic, 2007; Rana, 2017). Feminist will want the media to have sessions of mass education that will raise the public awareness of the dangers of sexual harassment on development. This explains why the media outlets worldwide have been on the forefront in championing the rights of women and girls (Rana, 2017). In addition, it is reported that the media outlets are considered as the civil watchdogs for cases of sexual harassment. They attract the attention of the public on the existence of the cases of sexual assault and attract the appropriate reaction from feminist groups, which are mostly Civil Rights groups and governments (Minic, 2007). The feminists also believe that the media is a link between the public and the legal systems that deal with the cases of sexual harassment advanced towards women.
The social learning theory emphasizes the impact of the society on the development of characters of people in future. It theory proposes that children live and learn from their parents and environments, which influences their personality (O’Rorke, 2006). It means that social learning theory proponents see the society as the cause of bad (such as sexual assault) or good deeds of individuals. This theory, though variant from the feminist ideology since it does not push the feminist agenda, has a correlation with the feminist theory. For example, feminists hope to impose their ideology on the society, which the social learning theory considers to have an impact on the social behaviors of people. The two models, therefore, overlap on the fact that the society needs to be transformed if the vices of sexual harassment are to be rooted out completely.
The social learning theorists believe that media outlets could be an ideal tool for influencing the behavior of individuals (O’Rorke, 2006). It is understood that good morals are founded on environments that cultivate such morals and vice versa. The role of the media, in this case, is to teach the society the morals valued among them, which includes a need to stop sexual assault. The media, therefore, is needed to come up with sessions of mass media education, which emphasize the direction and stance of the society on issues of violence and sexual harassment. An environment where people understand the defined moral codes of behavior has an influence on the moral upbringing of the children, which is why social learning theorists believe that the media should be consistent in teaching morals (O’Rorke, 2006). In addition, social learning proponents would relate the reduced incidences of sexual harassment to vigorous media campaigns to impart the accepted moral standards within the society (O’Rorke, 2006).
The functionalist theorists believe that a failure of one part of the society results in the failure of the whole society (Fourie, 2002). Proponents of this model also believe that each element of the society is fundamental to the success of the entire unit. For example, a functionalist theorist would want to consider that parents have the role of raising their children according to the standard codes of moral conduct that the society upholds (Fourie, 2002). The theorists will also want to blame the existence of crime within a society to a lack of proper policies to regulate crime. Similarly, the functionalist theories would want to blame the media for increased rates of sexual harassment among the society members. Their reasoning is similar to that held by the social theorists; the media has a role in influencing the character of the public. However, the functionalist theorists do not stress on the effect of the environment on the character of individuals as the social learning proponents do. Instead, the theory emphasizes the fundamental role that each section of the society, families, the legal system, and others, has on the success of a given society (Fourie, 2002). In addition, the functionalist perspective does not champion the needs of balance in the treatment of people of all genders as the feminists do. However, the model has a consensus with the rest of the theories through stressing the need for a regulatory mechanism to restore a state of normality within the society. Therefore, the functionalist theories task the media with ensuring that the society is at balance, that issues of sexual harassment are eradicated (Fourie, 2002).
The social learning theory is more appealing in explaining the role of the media in the issue of sexual harassment. First, the feminist theory is not preferred to the rest because it pushes the agenda of one gender, the female gender. This model ignores the fact that cases of sexual harassment and inequality have also been extended to the male gender. In addition, feminist ideologies might struggle to gain relevance among cultures were such ideologies as an equal treatment of both genders are not upheld. This means that efforts of proponents of the theory to deal with sexual harassment will be delayed. On the other hand, the functionalist theory is not favored because of its ‘blame game tendency.’ Most people do not want to shoulder the blame for the actions of others. For example, it is not realistic to blame the government for all cases of sexual harassment because of different agents of character molding within the environment. However, the social learning perspective holds the society at large responsible for its misfortunes expressed in incidences of sexual harassment. Teaching morals to the society is more desirable because it does not pressurize individuals or given groups of individuals, but all people. The theory hints, therefore, that the role of the media is to create a culture of moral uprightness among the society members, not to champion the rights of one gender against the other and not to blame one section of the society for problems that arise.
In conclusion, the social learning theory, the feminist theory, and functionalist theory are relevant in explaining media coverage of sexual harassment cases. They, in common explain the fact that the society should be sensitized about the dangers of sexual harassment. However, this paper has argued that the social learning theory is more plausible since it avoids to lean on the side of one gender as the feminists do because sexual harassment is a reality for both genders. It additionally avoids blaming one section of the society as the functionalist theorists do. Instead, the social learning theory emphasizes that the media should cover cases of sexual harassment with the aim of transforming the society and influence the character of children in future.
References
Minic, D. (2007). Feminist Media Theory and Activism: Different Worlds or Possible Cooperation. 20 Pieces of Encouragement for Awakening and Change , 282.
O’Rorke, K. (2006). Social learning theory & mass communication. ABEA Journal , 25 , 72-74.
Fourie, P. J. (2002). Media studies . Lansdowne: Juta.
Rana, B. (2017). Feminist Perspectives on Media . Retrieved 5 May 2017, from http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=378
