MEDIA refers to different types of communication and ways of sending messages. For example, television, radio, and the newspaper are all different types of media. New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technology. Most technology that people refer to as "new media" are digital and can often be manipulated or changed.

FEMINISM is the idea that men and women are to be treated equally. A person who considers themselves to be a feminist favors political, economic and social equality for women and men. It is both an idea as well as a movement that has taken place all over the world and in different ways so that women and men can have the same opportunities. An example of this is the suffragist movement in Canada where a group of women organized and protested so that women in Canada would be able to vote and make their voices heard the same way that men were. Although there have been improvements in women’s rights since 1918 when women were protesting to get the vote many women in Canada and all over the world still do not have full respect and equality.

Feminists can be anyone, even men. There is a wide range of feminist beliefs and ways of expressing your beliefs and sometimes not all feminists think alike. But if you support the idea that men and women are to be treated equally then you are a feminist.

Other Resources:
Wikipedia Feminism Page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
Geek Feminism Wiki:
Resources for and about women in various communities
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Geek_Feminism_Wiki

GENDER is a category that a person can identify with, and in the media it is often male or female. When looking at the way we are represented in the media, we have to look at the concepts of gender and ask what it means to be a boy or a girl and how this is seen in the media. In images that we see of girls in the media they are expected to be nice, passive, play with dolls and wear pink. Kind of like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ11M9r6CuI&NR=1

On the other hand, boys are often seen as being aggressive and much more active than girls. For example, look at the differences in this advertisement for a product that is marketed for boys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMzxTC0SI9s&feature=related

In the messages that we get from advertising, TV and other media sources tells us that women need to be attractive, slim and tall physically. This can affect our self-image and as we know, not all women fit this image of a woman that we see in the media. We see hundreds of advertisements a day and the images we see tend to undervalue women, make them simple, and make women look like passive people. For example: 85 per cent of the time, more than half of the commercials featuring girls place them in the home. Most of the girls I know spend a lot more time outside! On top of this, the unnatural bodies we see in advertising can also make many women feel bad about themselves. Media activist Jean Kilbourne says "Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight." Many feminists are working towards a more realistic way of representing women in the media.