Women as Television Talk Hosts: Gender Makers or Gender Breakers

Abstract

Despite the gains women have made in the last several hundred years, patriarchy continues in this country. It continues because gender ideology - beliefs about men and women - changes enough to adapt to changing times while maintaining male privilege. The gender ideology that supports patriarchy continues because both men and women participate in keeping it going. Television has ·become an essential element of our culture. Therefore, it is an essential element for transmitting gender ideology and maintaining patriarchy. The women who are on television as talk show hosts hold positions of social power. When they use their power to support gender ideology, they are helping to maintain patriarchy at the expense of the women they are supposedly helping