#missrepresentation

The main idea behind Miss Representation was that the different forms of media are largely responsible for the way that women have been perceived throughout history. Women are shown as objects for men to look at and admire, and media provides a “template” for the way women are supposed to look, act and be treated. This problem is contributing to the trend of few women in positions of power. The portrayal of women in media has also contribute to the rape culture of today’s society.

In class we talked about the objectification of women, and that was heavily discussed in the documentary. They also examined the concept of gender roles. Throughout history women have been expected to follow men and stay in the background. They are expected to change their bodies based what is in trend and what men see as pleasing. They also mentioned how boys are expected to act a certain way and not express emotions. We also discussed in class how society believes that women are unfit to hold positions of power because they are seen as “emotional” and are expected to focus on taking care of their children, and the responsibilities of a powerful position could get in the way of that. Even women that hold positions of power are often objectified and oversexualized. Women that are outspoken and stand up for themselves are called names such as a “bitch” or compared to a nagging housewife.  

I was surprised by the clips that were shown of radio hosts talking about women such as Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. I was shocked that people would publicly say horrible things like that. I was also surprised by some of the things some of the women who were running for office were told by people when they were out in public. It stood out to me that the portrayal of women in media is not a new issue and it has been around for many decades, media has such a large impact on society. They pointed out older women are often overlooked and not given jobs on television or in movies because they are seen as outdated; I had not thought about this before. It was also sad to see the way the media has a negative effect on young children.

Yes, I agree with the perspective of this movie. I am glad that many of the women that were interviewed in this documentary were women in positions of power. It was eye opening to see that way that they were treated by the media, there accomplishments were overshadowed by the way they looked and the fact that they were a woman. I am glad that they also interviewed men because they also have an important role in fixing the way women are treated and they can also be affected by the media. I think they should have interviewed more models, actresses, singers and other women who are the ones who play an active role in the media. They face a lot of pressures to be “the perfect woman” and it would have been interesting to see their perspective.  

Today’s post will reflect on sexism which is discussed throughout the film Miss Representation. The United States is built on the idea of equality for all. And even some of the most patriotic and conservative of Americans can admit that our history is dark and jaded. They can admit that not all people have been treated fairly and with respect. But, they’ll argue, things have gotten better. They’ll say things are certainly better than pre civil war, pre women’s voting rights, pre Jim Crow, etc. But what most people won’t reflect on is how and why things “got better”

I argue that social issues, in particular sexism, are still highly prevalent in our society. One of which being that women of a certain age have little to no value. In the entertainment industry, it is no secret that women are expected to conform to a youthful, fit image. It’s not just enough to meet the male standard of having almost impossibly slim figures, as actress Margaret Cho was expected to do. Actresses like Daphne Zuniga recalls subjecting herself to botox. This traumatic experience left her scarred emotionally and may very well mean the end of her career. This is such a widely known phenomenon that there was a sketch featured on Inside Amy Schumer that revolved around Julia Louis Dreyfuss celebrating her “last f**kable day”. Age is just one factor in this equation that the media uses to determine what roles an actress is allowed to portray.

I argue that women in positions of power, which includes famous actresses, but in particular politicians face unfair standards and expectations. Hillary Clinton, political ideologies aside, has faced sexist and bigoted opposition at every turn in her career including in her most recent presidential bid. Political pundits from Fox and MSNBC are shown in Miss Represenation saying that Hillary reminds them of a nagging wife, that Hillary is too emotional, that she was a bitch. These sexist attacks, aside from their inherent untruthfulness and visciousness, also prevent intelligent political dicsussions about possible candidates. Many people opposed Hillary Clinton over policy or over her personal beliefs. Many of these people were young women.

Progressive voters who supported women’s rights found Hillary’s policies and establishment connections to be troubling. However, I argue that these criticisms are tainted by the baseless misogynistic drivel of those who refuse to vote for women on the basis of gender stereotypes and sexism. Her policies no longer become the point of discussion, it becomes about her credentials, about her husband’s affair, about her appearance and tone. And these aren’t right wing outsiders, the men featured calling her bitchy or emotional are either major news network show hosts like Tucker Carlson or celebrities and historians like Penn Jilette and the late Christopher Hitchens. Instead of doing the same type of logical and mental work that they’d do when arguing for or against a man, they result to appearance and tone and her sexual value.

The 2011 documentary, Miss Representation, explores the realm of media representation in film, television, politics and the professional world. While this documentary does a stellar job of explaining the limiting and derogatory images of women in television and its impact of young women, it fails in its discourse to give a voice to women of color. I argue that overarching concepts of women’s activism need the necessary intersections of race and class for any progress to be made.

The film used a montage of “women’s history”  in order to display agency over the years that holds true today as a counter argument to why women do not deserve the positions of power, prestige and authority that they now inhabit. Unfortunately, the producers erred in beginning women’s history with the rights that only applied to white women. Majority of the images were of white, middle class women with some level of power and biographic availability that enabled participation in such movements. The  “Feminist” movement has and does not generally feature the interests of Black, Chicana, Asian, Native American and Third World Women. These women were forced to assemble into their own distinct spheres of feminism in order for an agenda to be reached. The film failed to identify the individual and intersectional struggle that face women of color in comparison to white women. In order to show real progress, it should not be limited to the contributions and victories of an inclusive representation of women in this country. 

Primarily, these intersections are necessary for any progress to be made that is multicultural and expansive in practice. The mission of Miss Representation as both a film and a cultural object is to inspire and cultivate change among young women by ushering in a new era of representation. This film counteracts this by leaving out Black and Brown women's history. What I hope to see in the future, is a more accurate display. The imagery for women in different groups is varied. Indeed, each do face subliminal messages that perpetuate negative stereotypes and tropes, but the film focused on those of white women.

Even the Miss Representation website features more white female faces than any other race. In my opinion, films in the future that aspire to inspire, must include a realistic vision of the future. It spoke about the need for feminism in Disney films, and didn't mention that there is only one Black princess, one Asian princess and no Hispanic princesses. This is a representation issue: So why isn't it addressed? The agenda is focused on issues that face predominantly white people for a white audience.

Secondly, using terminology such as "all women" is in need of lexical refinement. The word, woman, encompasses women of all classes, races and sexual orientation. Without regard for how these different identifies dace different forms and layers of oppression, there is no progress. Without this, we rely on "universal" and "default" which of course is white. Events such as the "Women's March on Washington" symbolize how his universality operates. The goal of the march was to address the needs of women as a whole. The issue was that an outstanding amount of white women were present, overpowering the mass amount of people. Without necessary intersections, women's rights are limited to problems that only face white, perhaps middle class women. Moreover, marches such as these exemplify the use of women of color as tokens for faux solidarity. In nationwide events such as this march, women of color must choose whether to support an often exclusionary call to action, when their own issues have gone underserved by white people in this country.

Lastly, privilege is not acknowledged when we have these conversations concerning women's representation. Without doing so, we are left with an imbalanced argument that reverts back to the default of white feminism. While women are underrepresented on television, their Black and Brown counterparts are nearly invisible. This is not to say that white women should not have their platform to voice their opinions on the lack of representation, but they should use it to spread awareness of its immensity among other women as well.

Overall, films and projects such as Miss Representation should take an intersectional perspective when analyzing the issues that face women in this country so that a more truthful understanding of the realities they face can be reached.

Miss Representation is a documentary film about popular culture and mainstream media’s influence on women in America and the under-representation or misrepresentation they face. Women seem to be facing a heavier amount of criticism online about their bodies and actions then men do. As the film talks about, the media and advertising portrays women as submissive to men while men are taught through these portrayals that they should be violent, in control, unemotional, and that women should be treated like objects and as lesser. This translates to real life and to the workplace as women in gaming, for example, face a harsh reality that being a woman in a male-dominated industry and culture means facing constant harassment and invalidation. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA)’s 2014 Game Developer Satisfaction Survey says that men make up 76% of game developers while women make up 22%. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2015 study on Gaming and Gamers, 48% of women surveyed report ever playing video games. This is a stark difference that leads to a misrepresentation in both the producers and developers of video games and the amount of strong female representation in video games. I argue that the game industry is male-dominated and should change itself to include other voices, such as the voices of women and those who don’t identify as men.

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of rape and death threats

The video above has female game developers and women in gaming talk about their experiences in the industry. As we can see easily from the video, the culture of gaming rejects women, and if there is a strong culture that does this, then it only makes sense that the industry does the same. Women such as Zoe Quinn are sent rape and death threats everyday and continually have a glass ceiling put over them. With an industry that doesn’t want to hire you or promote your work, how can women succeed in its current state? Men continue to dominate and male developers and producers continue to only hire men and only create well-made male characters. The game industry is rampant with a toxic culture of only supporting men and demonizing and dehumanizing women.

“Miss Representation” is a 2011 documentary that explores the representation of women in media outlets, including politics, news, television, and film. I argue that the American media needs to be held accountable for the projected image of women in media. Female body image is harmed by the different physical standard women are held to than men, sexually explicit and violent media portrayals of women are unhealthy for the minds of child viewers, and young boys are suffering from emotional illiteracy at the hands of media depiction of gender and sexuality.

The female body is highly scrutinized in the American media, while the male body is often held to a much lower standard of physical perfection. For example, in the news, women journalists are often objectified, and observations of the women center around her physical appearance. Young sexualized female anchors are often positioned next to older, less attractive male anchors. This was referred to in “Miss Representation” as the “grandfather with his second wife.” Similarly, in politics, some of the most powerful women in America are judged, not by their leadership skills and intelligence, but instead by their physical appearance. Hillary Clinton was portrayed as the cold-hearted “bitch” whose credentials were continuously questioned, while Sarah Palin was “pornified and ditzified.” In general, American women are pushed an unrealistic body image standard, and unfairly told through the media that female intelligence, leadership, and power are inferior to beauty and physical perfection. 

Additionally, American media is not held accountable for the degrading violent and highly sexualized depiction of women in media. “Miss Representation” discusses one sexualized image of women in media referred to as the “fighting fuck toy.” In action movies, women in lead roles are extremely sexualized, often dressed in tight and provocative outfits for the gratification of the male viewer. In addition to the “fighting fuck toy,” female sexualization extends into other genres, including children’s programming. Disney and other G-rated movies portray female characters in an overly sexual manner. Female hypersexualization in media is often paired with violence against women as well. This imagery is unhealthily exposed to children at a very young age, and violence against women is being justified in their young minds. This is a perpetuator of rape culture, and a factor contributing to the statistics that 1 in 4 girls experience dating violence in their teens and 1 in 6 are survivors of rape and sexual assault. Here, Jaimee Swift discusses hypersexualization of women in media, and proposes certain actions that can be done to end sexual exploitation of women in the media. Swift postulates using social media to bring awareness to sexualization of girls and petitioning to report media outlets that promote hypersexualization of women.

Similarly, media portrayal of gender and sexuality contributes to an unhealthy inability of boys to express emotions and seek mental help when necessary. Boys as young as 5 or 6 years old are presented a sexualized image of women that contrasts a hypermasculine, misogynistic image of men. Boys are told to “man up” and “be a man,” and taught to suppress their emotional or feminine side. They are not taught how to express themselves in healthy ways, which leads to the inability of boys to show when they are internally suffering or need mental healthcare. This emotional illiteracy is often expressed through violence and other unhealthy attempts at hypermasculinity. This trailer for the documentary “The Mask You Live In” discusses this idea of perceived masculinity as presented in media and the negative effect it has on young boys.