A Response to Miss Representation

Sexism is not a new idea. Sexism in media is not a new idea. However, I didn't know how bad it really was until I watched the documentary Miss Representation.

The first thing I noticed was how girl started to feel pressure about their bodies at such young ages. What was even more astonishing was how they knew they were feeling pressure to look a certain way and to act a certain way. In one of the interviews, a professor talked about how young girls are experiencing the same emotional maturity as a someone who is in their 20s. However, I felt little glimpses of hope after watching the interviews with the kids. They all knew how messed up the media was in objectifying women and how they instructed men to look at women as objects. These kids are our future so if they can spot the problem now, maybe they'll be able to change it when it's their turn to take over.

The other area of sexism that the movie talked about was women in the work place. In the movies, female bosses are portrayed as bitchy, therefore furthering the stereotype that if a woman is in a leadership position she must be a horrible person. The movie stated that this stereotype prevents women from trying out for leadership positions in their job or in politics.

The movie also went into the idea that when two women have the same career, they're instantly enemies. Katie Couric talked about how she was always pitted against Barbara Walters in her career. It is ridiculous because this never happens to men who have similar careers.

Lastly, the movie went into how women were overtly sexualized in the media. Even female journalists wear revealing clothing in order to increase appeal which can lead to an increase in viewers. In music videos, especially rap videos, women are used as props and as sex toys. In some media, women are raped and abused. This has lead to increase in violence against women which is unfortunately growing.

This documentary really opened my eyes to how vast sexism's reach really is. Hopefully everyone who watches this documentary understands that this problem needs to be fixed in order to have a brighter future.