On November 16th we joined the other women’s social justice group on a visit to the Paley center for media. The center holds a collection of all types of media, from the 1920’s to present day. The collection includes radio, television, movies, the Internet, and social media. We attended a workshop while we were there focused around women and their portrayal in the media. At the beginning, the workshop teacher, Carolyn, asked us to name some women in pop culture whom we admire for any reason. Most of us talked about women who stood up for themselves and their work, no matter what the media threw at them. Then we watched a montage of clips from shows, movies, and music videos that all focused around the portrayal of women in the media. It was really interesting to see all of the different roles and stereotypes that women play in Hollywood. We realized that a lot of the shows have similar plot lines, themes, and characters, and that they affect the way girls see themselves in pop culture. Next, we watched two clips from old sitcoms in the sixties and eighties, and compared and contrasted the characters. Then we watched two clips from shows about vampires and talked about the ways that girls interacted with boys and men, and what they talked about. Something interesting that I learned on the fieldwork was that girls lose most of their self esteem during puberty. That’s when they start to doubt their athletic and academic abilities, and worry about their bodies.
