When you turn on the television, a car commercial appears with men justifying driving an expensive, powerful sports car by complaining about what women need in their life. Although women slowly gain economic power, the media never portrays them as leaders, reflecting American culture's view of women. Sexism is prevalent in American culture and the workforce, teaching sexism while denying its presence. Americans must change their culture to prevent sexism because it oppresses women. The media, one of the most influential reflections of culture, underrepresents women and presents them in stereotypical positions. Paula Lobo and Rosa Cabecinhas, professors of communications at the University of Minho, highlight gender discrimination within the media in their article “The Negotiation of Meanings in the Evening News.” Women make up only 21% of news topics, which depict them as passive, sentimental, victims and caregivers. They rule soft news, like fashion programs, playing a mole role for passivity and frivolity (Lobo 5). From research, it is evident that the media presents women as objects to add drama. To effectively change the culture, the media must stop promoting sexism and its objectification of women. To deny people fairness is to deny their fundamental rights. Equity is impartial, equal and fair treatment of others. Placing a stereotype or classification on a person treats them as an object and not a person. Martin Buber, renowned philosopher and theologian, states in his book Me and You, that the encounter with a “You” changes the entire perspective. A person “is no longer He or She, limited by other He and She, a point in the grid of the world, space and time…” People distinguish people as both objects and subject (Buber .. .... middle of paper... ...rk Ltd., 1958.PrintFarrell, Warren. Why Men Earn More: The Surprising Truth Behind the Wage Gap - and What Women Can Do About It, 2005 . Google Books, April 18, 2011. Krefting, Linda A. “Intertwined Discourses on Merit and Gender: Evidence from Academic Employment in the United States.” . Academic research completed January 18, 2011. Lobo, Paula and Rosa Cabecinhas. “NEGOTIATION OF MEANINGS IN THE EVENING NEWS: Towards an understanding of gender disadvantages in access to public debate.” 5 (2010): 339-358. EBSCO Web. April 26, 2011. Roth, Louise Marie. Academic research completed. EBSCO. Internet. February 1. 2011.