Miss Representation
I had to walk away from this documentary once or twice out of anger and frustration. Although I was previously knowledgeable about the over-sexualization of women I had not realized the degree to which it is influencing women in power. There are a few common themes that I grasped from this documentary and the first is that sex sells.
In a world where advertising influences the media, we see that the sexual nature of women is commonly connected through the selling of a product. Products anywhere from liquor, perfume, cars, and even cheeseburgers are surrounded by images of naked or sexually dressed women to grab the attention of the audience. For women, the message is "to look sexy like me, use this product!" For men, the message is "you can get a woman like me if you use this product!" Although these women have been digitally altered, their seemingly flawless appearance is used to imply the quality of the product they are representing.
Another theme I found is the objectification of women in power. Women who are running for positions of power are not identified in the media by their platform, but rather their platform heels. A woman's looks are the only topic of discussion when it comes to their public ratings which ignores the ideas that these women work so hard to represent. As said in the documentary, we are a nation of 'teenage boys' who cannot make sense of women without focusing on their physical qualities.
The last theme I want to discuss is the idea of emotions when it comes to women of power. Women in powerful positions have only two options: The Bitch or The Emotional Bimbo. If a woman shows little emotion in the media, she is thought to be a hard and cruel person with lack of empathy. However, if they are shown to have emotions, they are seen as weak and incapable of making important decisions. It is so frustrating to see how much women are manipulated in the media which affects the political sphere.
It's difficult to understand why this great nation uses women as a sex symbol!
ReplyDeleteRough to watch -- It's not like I was unaware of this kind of stuff but seeing it in front of your face and hearing all about it just really put's it in perspective. It's sad.
ReplyDeleteGood post
ReplyDeleteWhen a woman quits her job they always note she wanted to be with her family... when a man quits a power position... he wants to explore different opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThis nation is simply forgetting the values in which it was founded. The Declaration of Independence of the Unites States of America states and makes it clear that "all men are created equal" statement also found in the Bible. Our society is being destroy by the media and their sexual exploitation.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn, I loved (hate that it's true though) what you said about the only platforms women have that the media is interested in is their shoes. It's a ridiculous reality. It's like a woman can't be smart and beautiful without being thought of as less and a woman who's smart without "beauty" isn't as desirable. Both are lose-lose situations that need to change.
ReplyDeleteAs I pointed out in my post, I was blown away at the subtle jabs women get in something as simple as a news article title; using the verb "complains" for a woman instead of "states." The interesting thing is that many components of this documentary were already known to me to some extent; sex sells, for example. When it was all put together in 1.5 hours, however, I genuinely felt sick. The United States is supposedly one of the greatest nations to live in, and yet the fact that the blatant disrespect for those representing over half of the population is considered the norm was shocking to say the least.
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