Miss Representation is a documentary that came out in 2011, and it is all about feminism. More specifically, it is about women and their portrayal in the media, so naturally it was right up our alley. This film is narrated by a woman named Jennifer Newsom, a soon to be mother, and a survived of anorexia. The film shows women in politics, television shows, commercials, magazines ect. Not only does this movie show us how women are portrayed, but it shows us the outcome of the modern woman’s portrayal.
My group and I had all seen Miss Representation years ago when it first came out, so when we got together we decided to watch it again. Before I watched the film for the second time I tried to remember how I felt the first time I saw it. I remembered being shocked at some of the stuff I was seeing; half naked women pole dancing for a soda commercial?! But I didn’t have any real recollection of why these images affected me, but as I was watching the film for the second time, I realized. I am a young woman growing up with these images all around me. These pictures of photoshopped and sexy women weave their way into my life everyday. Not only that, but the role models that are set for today’s female youth are dumbfounding. Instead of having powerful leaders for girls to look up to, we have Kate Upton and Megan Fox, women who are known and appreciated for their body alone. So what does this teach young girls like me? That the only thing that matters in life is looks? That women are inferior to men? How are girls supposed to set higher standards for themselves when the only powerful women they see, are women that could be their grandmothers?
Without strong women role models, girls have no one to aspire to be like. What would the world be like if it was solely run by men and men alone? Oh I don’t know, take the first couple hundred years of America as an example; aka, Hell. Without women in leadership positions we won’t get anything done, so instead of teaching girls how to get the perfect summer bod, or to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes to re-apply lipstick, we should be teaching them exactly what we are teaching young boys; you can be and do absolutely everything and anything, no matter what you are.
