Response to Missrepresenation

        A sociological analysis of the documentary Miss representation reveals that the media of television and film in particular have constantly portrayed women in stereotypical roles as sex objects, wives and mothers or catty females. On television they are seldom given roles that make them seem intelligent or in an equal or superior position to men.  The social roles that women are assigned on the shows also lets  us realize that they are viewed only as a means of keeping the audience's interest in any particular show. Because people watch television for various reasons,including entertainment, the shows producers seek to gain the male audience by showing only the women who they consider the ideal of beauty. As an example of the kind of female that is likely to be seen on television there were clips from the Dukes of Hazzard showing Jessica Simpson as a young ditsy slender female in tight shorts and a skimpy top. This kind of image is being used to socialize boys to believe that women should be viewed as sex objects. In addition, an image of a young woman in sexy skimpy clothing give girls the false belief that they are the right models to imitate.
           According to Martha Lauren (M.D) one of the women who was interviewed during the documentary, women who are seen on television shows only represent the 20 to 30 year old age group, when in fact there are 40 percent more women over the age of 40 who were involved in the television industry, so the shows producers have made a conscious choice to eliminate actors who aren't in the age range of their target audience. Female directors are also overlooked because in the industry's view they are not equal to the men. According to the the director of the film Twilight  she  was turned down several times when she first had the idea for the movie and even after she gained fame as a director  the movie studios still would rather give most directing jobs to a man instead of her.
        The documentary also revealed that women in power are often ridiculed in the media by the male television hosts and journalists like Bill O'Riley and others , and the directors expressed their concern that this  practice could impact young girls who aspire to be in a position of leadership since they might be discouraged if they felt that this would be what they would have to endure if they ever became leaders. Girls and boys who were interviewed for the documentary all expressed concern about the way they felt women were portrayed since in their opinion it impacted the lives of both girls and boys who often seek to form their identity based on the images that they see in the media.