a. activists, the "religious right," and minority groups
	b. pressures, commercial retaliation, and substantial restraint
	c. laws, pressures from interest groups, and difficulty meeting loosely defined standards of good taste
	d. financial threats such as cancellation of advertising contracts, public apologies, and the pop culture phenomenon

	a. Powerful as they are in social and cultural influence, the mass media in turn are restricted in numerous ways by other segments of society.
	b. Editors and producers are limited in what they present to the public by laws concerning libel, invasion of privacy, copyright, and pornography.
	c. Equally strong, and in some ways more restrictive, are pressures from special interest groups and difficulty in meeting loosely defined standards of good taste.

• threats of boycotts from activists
• demands for publication of favorable stories from activists
• campaigns against movies and TV shows by conservative religious groups
• complaints about racism in news coverage and editorial cartoons
• commercial retaliation by advertisers

	a. major supporting details
	b. minor supporting details

	a. radio
	b. television
	c. motion pictures
	d. popular music

• the exuberance of rock and roll
• the sexual revolution of the 1960s
• the drug culture
• protest marches against the Vietnam war
• fascination with "celebrities"

	a. educational institutions in 1994
	b. youthful anger during the 1950s
	c. contributing causes to American decline in the 1900s
	d. the growth of American popular culture after World War II

Stereotypes in the Media

Because of their enormous impact, the media need constant awareness to avoid portraying racial and gender stereotypes. Accusations against them in this regard are made from time to time, but, after a long period of offenses, their record today is generally good.
     The mass media did not create most of the social stereotypes imbedded in the American culture, although newspapers, books, and periodicals of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did enhance them. Primarily the stereotypes grew out of the societal circumstances and pressures of the times–for example, slavery and the Victorian tradition of masculine supremacy.
     The media did perpetuate the stereotypes, however, until World War II and for many years afterward in some instances. They were slow to recognize the deep social ferment stirred by that conflict.

The Role of Women. The fundamental change in the role of women is a case in point. Before World War II well-educated women who worked outside the home were primarily teachers, nurses, and librarians. Other young women tended to be stenographers. Or they were sales clerks, a role recalled by a hit song of the 1930s, "I Found a Million-Dollar Baby in a 5-and-10-Cent Store."
     When millions of men were sent overseas during the war, a grave manpower shortage developed. Housewives who went to work in war production factories were called by the slightly patronizing nickname "Rosie the Riveter." Other women worked outside of factories in various jobs vacated by men. For a time, the media failed to recognize that working women had become a social trend.
     During the following decades stories started appearing in the media about new job opportunities for women, the accomplishments of individual females, and the ways mothers combined their jobs and families. These became a driving force in the expansion of women's role in the world outside the home. Today visual and print coverage of sexual harassment in the workplace is an important educational factor in efforts to control that problem.

— Agee, Ault, and Emery, Introduction to Mass Communications, 12th ed., pp. 29–30

8. Identify the answer to the following chapter-end question.

In what way did World War II affect the traditional role of women in American society?

— Agee, Ault, and Emery, Introduction to Mass Communications, p. 40 

	a. More women became sales clerks and had songs written about their efforts.
	b. The traditional role of women in American society expanded to include working outside the home due to the shortage of men in their usual jobs.
	c. The traditional role of women in American society shrank as they become afraid to leave their homes due to bombing efforts by the competing powers.
	d. Women were influenced negatively by the lack of news coverage of their particular areas of expertise.