Reflections on Miss Representation

I have been running a young women's circle at my organization every month since August of last year, turn out has been low lately I decided to spice things up a little by watching a documentary about women in media called "Miss Representation". I discovered "Miss Representation" a couple of years ago but had not had the chance to watch it. We opened this screening up to everyone in the organization because we thought the men should also learn about this since many times they support and spread sexist messages and act out in sexist, violent ways towards women at times influenced by the messages that the media spreads about women. There was some rich points made that I want to highlight and reflect deeper on.

1. The representation of women in politics, and powerful positions in the media. The documentary shed light on how sexist, disrespectful, shallow women like Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi are constantly being represented in the media when they get spotlight. There was a huge focus on sexualization of women like Sarah Palin and Condoleezza Rice because in our society we are used to seeing women as sexual objects. In interviews, news articles there was a constant focus on if they had surgery, what they were wearing, what they looked like versus their experience, skills and stance on social issues. Sometimes something happens so much it becomes normal and you don't even realize it's wrong. This was eye opening for me because I had not considered the difference in how female politicians were being portrayed versus male. This happens with women in the spotlight in general. There' s a famous interview with the cast from the Avengers where the men are asked about their characters developments and the hardships in their portrayals while the women were asked what did they do to get in shape for the role, or how much weight they lose. You see this also in award show red carpets where women are constantly being asked what they're wearing- a focus on the physical versus talent, personality etc.

2.Growing up in the Bronx Hip hop has been a constant part of my life. The first english song I learned was "Killing me softly" by the Fugees and Puff Daddy was always plying on the TV. I have really distanced myself from hip hop music in the last 5-6 years. I don't seek out new music or new artists like I used to and a lot of it has to do with the portrayal of women in hip hop music and music videos. It is disrespectful and degrading and it really angers me because young girls see that stuff all the time and grow up feeling that their only worth is their looks. If you don't fit into these standards of beauty you spend your whole life feeling ugly, uncomfortable- hating yourself and torturing yourself trying to achieve a standard of beauty that many times is impossible to achieve. I'm still struggling with it , I'm still trying to accept myself with all that I am. No one should have to live with all that pressure, men certainly don't. I feel like I have to battle everyone to be accepted, to be loved for who I am sometimes and it's so tiring and frustrating.Men judge you through these standards they are also contaminated by these messages and they treat women with the same disrespect they see on TV and in their communities all the time.

3. This brings me to my 3rd point. -------The large number of physical abuse, rape and murder of girls and women around the world, below are some statistics -----1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime -----17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.1 -----9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003. A lot of this comes from women being dehumanized, used as a prop or as a product to sell other products, as a physical thing to derive pleasure from but not a human being with feelings desires, with heart and dreams. Men don't see women as people they see them as something lower, something other then a human. That's why the instances of violence against women and sexual abuse are so rampant in our society. I have to live in fear of men from the moment I step out of my house and it should not be that way. Men who tell you obscene disgusting things, who touch themselves while looking at you, or who follow you around. People joke about rape like it's funny. I live in terror of the thought of that and I'm not alone. And their might not be justice for me, a lot of women get raped and get blamed for it. This needs to change because the impact is becoming deadly and I haven't even talked about the damage of these images on young women and the huge amount of eating disorders and plastic surgeries young women due in search of beauty standards. A draw back of the documentary was the lack of focus on the struggle of women of color specifically which is much greater hen white women whose blond long straight hair, blue eyes often the ideal look that's propagated in the media. I am glad we saw this documentary because it shed light on things we don't regularly talk about in our lives, I hope it makes people feel the anger and outrage I feel and take action. We can help end this by educating our children to think and behave differently and supporting people by creating spaces like the women's circle.