The media’s misrepresentation of women in the work industry
- Brianna Vaca
- Apr 24, 2025
- 6 min read
Griselda Valle has followed the same schedule five out of seven days of the week for over 30 years.
She wakes up bright and early after a long night of work to her other job, which is being a mom to her two daughters. She gets the two of them up, makes them breakfast, helps them get dressed, does their hair and gets them out of the house before 8 A.M. by herself as her husband is already at work.
“It is not easy having a full-time job and having to take care of two girls even with a husband in the picture,” Valle said. “He works days, and I work nights, but we get it done.”
Once she drops her daughters off at school, she returns home to get ready to go to work. Valle has been a checker for Albertsons Grocery for over 30 years (will input exact date) and only recently she became a key holder for her work, which according to Valle, is the “5th string assistant manager.”
Griselda Valle has been an employee with Albertsons for over 30 years but still feels as if she is a new employee by the way she is treated by her colleagues.
Even with becoming a little more in power at her work, Valle still often feels belittled and often taken advantage of by some of her colleagues who have a little bit more power than her, both male and female.
“They are not fair with their hours and shifts. They give the men more early shifts than the women,” Valle said. “I am not asking for early shifts every day of the week, but it would be nice to have some every so often.”
Even with 30 years of being an employee with Albertsons, Valle said she still often feels like they treat her like she is a new employee.
“They belittle women into thinking they are not as strong as the men,” Valle said.
She often gets scheduled to work at night and even sometimes overnight, which she says sometimes makes her miss plans and special events with her family including field trips, holiday dinners, movie nights, etc.
On top of what Valle faces at her own workplace, when she turns on the TV to watch the news and sees any coverage regarding women in the work industry, she often sees the coverage misrepresent and stereotype not only her, but all women in the work industry.
Valle believes that there is often not enough coverage of women in the work industry in the news, especially with women in higher power. If there is any, it is often more negative than positive.
The most recent instance Valle has seen of this was when the Los Angeles Fire Chief, Kristin Crowley, was fired by Mayor Karen Bass due to her efforts on handling the wildfires in Los Angeles back in February.
Valle said she watches KTLA 5 news the most and recalls only seeing negative things about this whole situation and it made her viewpoints on the whole situation change.
In media and news coverage, women in the work industry, specifically women in higher leadership roles are often very misrepresented. They are often stereotyped as not being emotionally stable and are only noticed for their looks, rather than their achievements. Numbers of women in higher leadership roles are often less than the numbers we see in men.
According to a 2016 report from the American Association of University Women, a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls nationwide, “Despite record-breaking numbers of women elected to public office in 2018 and increasing public attention around gender equality in Hollywood, women remain underrepresented in senior leadership roles.” Which can include managerial roles.
Even in political leadership, for example, only 18% of state governors are women, with the other 82% being men.
According to a technical brief, “Forecasting Women in Leadership Positions” from UN Women, in 2023 shows that only 36% of women in Europe and Northern America are managers, which has been a consistent percentage since 2017 and is also estimated to maintain the same in years to come.
With several statistics showing lower percentages of women in higher leadership or managerial roles, we are seeing the major gap between both genders. The coverage that women in the work industry get from major news outlets such as CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and local news outlets such as KCAL and KTLA, is only continuing to decrease due to the male dominance in several work industries and higher leadership roles.
When there is coverage about women in the work industry or women in higher positions at work, it tends to be more negative than positive. For example, a news package from MSNBC in 2023 discusses how AI, artificial intelligence may take over more jobs from women than men by 2030. The package goes into detail on women in office jobs and retail jobs could see the biggest cut.
On top of the lower numbers of women in higher power or leadership roles in the work industry, and the potential of AI taking over their jobs, women also face several stereotypes that often make it difficult to get along with their colleagues and to work in general, which has also led them to leave their jobs in the end.
An article from 2021, from WKYC 3, a news station based in Cincinnati, Ohio, written by Maureen Kyle, talked about how women in the work industry were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and how it also added to the on-going gender gap.
According to the article, “Before the pandemic hit, for the first time ever, there were more women in the workplace than men. Now statistics show we are back to 1980s level,” Kyle said.
Two mothers, Mykka Gabriel and Bianisha Smoot, both had to quit their jobs as a teacher and a therapist during the pandemic to take care of their children. They are just two of the many women who were forced to leave their jobs during the pandemic that added to the increased numbers of there being more men than women in the work industry.
Women in the work industry who are also mothers are also often portrayed as being incapable of maintaining their own job because they are often the primary caretakers for their children. They are also often treated less than their other colleagues.
Carla Pineda, a commercial bond underwriting manager for over 18 years and a mother of two children only recently became a manager two years ago. She believes that in her workplace, she often felt misunderstood by her colleagues.
“I think it is a common thing for women to say the same thing,” Pineda said. “Everyone has had an experience. Being in the corporate industry specifically, the women are often seen as less than the men. The men speak with more authority.”
She also said when women are given a chance to speak, herself included, often many people, because of how the news and media represent women, they think of the common stereotypes which includes women being loud and emotional.
According to the article, “Gender Stereotypes and the Biases They Foster Against Women in the Workplace” by Andie Kramer and Al Harris, “These negative stereotypes - ‘Women are not as good as men in power, competition and leadership” - operate to limit and otherwise obstruct women’s career advancement. They obstruct their actual talents, ambition, and power.”
“I would feel like I was not always included in conversations and when decisions were made without my opinion there was no way for me to make any changes once they were made,” Pineda said.
Pineda also believes that when it comes to how women in the work industry are portrayed (which is often stereotypical), many people often take what they see and use that to view the world, which is also known as the cultivation theory.
On top of people utilizing the cultivation theory in their daily lives, which adds to the portrayal of women in the industry in the wrong way, as a society we are moving away from making progress to represent these women properly.
In the most recent months, we have seen two very popular news anchors, Hota Kotb and Norah O’Donell leave their jobs as hosts for Today and CBS Evening News. Both Kotb and O’Donell have also since been replaced by men, which is another instance of men taking a women’s job, which is still an ongoing issue.
Women in the work industry, especially those in higher positions such as CEOs and managers have brought more diversity to the work industry but are often overlooked due to how society views them.
For Valle, Pineda, and every other woman in the work industry, they want to close the gender inequality gap that is still very large today in 2025. Hiring more women and sharing their incredible stories on how they got to where they are today, will only help bridge the gap.
With the way the media has been moving for the last couple of years, both Griselda and Carla are hopeful that things will get better for women in the work industry but work still needs to be done.
“The gatekeepers to women’s career advancement can be sensitized to these stereotypes; women can learn to communicate in ways that avoid or overcome them; and organizations can adopt policies that combat their operation,” Andie and Al said.
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