Blog Post 6

The documentary "Miss Representation" thoroughly shows the struggles of media pressure when it comes to women in media whether they be actresses, models, or even politicians. I think it's good that they brought up the important issue of eating disorders and societal expectations of women's figures. It provided the concerning large statistic that "65% of women and girls have an eating disorder." The documentary says "How you look is equal to your worth," and it seems to be a true statement of what we see today. Women are expected to be beautiful and thin with exaggerated parts or facial features rather than being able to contribute to society in some way without regards for their appearance. It brought up the point that computer/digital editing is having dangerous consequences by making impossible people for mass consumption. The model themselves who are photographed cannot even look as they do on the cover. I had never really focused on the media's portrayal of women politicians and their reception based upon their looks until "Miss Representation" brought it up. The demonization of Hillary Clinton based primarily upon her looking different from the standard woman in media such as an actress or model. The fact that how a woman looks somehow limits her ability to lead a company as CEO or lead a country as President is ridiculous. The documentary mentions the double standard of how the clothes are important with a woman but not with a man. That a woman cannot be too revealing but also cannot be fully covered and modest. It shows examples from both end with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. It doesn’t start with politicians though, it starts with even newscasters. They need to be wearing revealing clothes just to draw in viewers and prove worth for the news station rather than having good intellect like a man. This documentary has really just reaffirmed what I already knew overall; the media doesn't treat women equally and expects things from women that it doesn't from men when women are more than just their looks. 

Blog 6

Growing up in the 21^st century, the media has had a huge impact on my life. I never felt like the messages I received from the media directly influenced me until I was able to grow up and reflect back. So many of the messages we receive are targeted towards making people feel self-concise about themselves. I use the word “people” because I truly believe that this affects not only women, but also men; women may be affected the most but men can also be influenced by these messages.  I thought the documentary “Miss Representation” did a great job of bringing some of these toxic messages to light. Body image for example, is definitely one of the biggest topics to tackle. While growing up, I didn’t have negative thoughts towards my body, but I’ve never exactly thought highly of it. I didn’t realize that I was subconsciously being influenced by the images the media was putting in my head. That’s what’s so sneaky about the media; most of the messages are subliminal. Even within “Miss Representation”, there were subliminal messages. The women who were interviewed throughout the documentary were well dressed and had their faces and hair done. These women were sitting there talking about how the media has influenced the way they think they’re supposed to look, but at the same time, were giving in to those expectations. This is the part where I get confused though. In all honesty if I were on television, I would also want to look my best. But is that because I’m subconsciously giving in to what the media has told me to do, or is it because I genuinely feel that way? 

Blog Post 6: MISter-Understanding

  After watching Miss Representation I was thankful that it also addressed the two sides of the problem with the media's portrayal of women and that it destructive messages effect both girls and boys from a young age. As a boy we are given media that is meant to embody our role society. Originally I thought the message was to be manly, strong, good at sports and physically impressive. And that has been the predominant idea of a man since my dad was young. Now that I'm older I have noticed the concept of masculinity and what is portrayed as attractive has shifted allowing men to be more open about being nerdy and being accepted. The new message to men though is the idea of sexual conquest as a reward. From music videos to television the over sexualization of women has created a situation where men are in a way conditioned to expect sex from a prospective partner and that in of itself to the purpose of it. It is a very negative outlook because it devalues women and their sexual identity as a thing that must be won and can be discarded after achieving the 'goal'. This idea also affect women as they are also condition to believe that only was to hold onto a male partner would be to offer him sex and ultimately is perpetuating the same idea. It also puts pressure on men who have not had sexual experience. They feel that they are somehow defective and are intimidated the women they do have their first experience with would mock them from their lack of said experience. The media's portrayal of women are not only causing problems for girls growing up in this media over-saturated society but also the boys who grow up not know how to reach perceived social ideals and convincing themselves that those images of women are real.