Girls in the Media
In one week American teenagers spend 31 hours watching TV, 17
hours listening to music, 3 hours watching movies, 4 hours reading
magazines, 10 hours online. That’s 10 hours and 45 minutes of media
consumption a day. (Source: missrepresentation.org)
That's a whole lot of media consumption! This seems to be the direction the world is moving to - it's easier to message or poke a friend than to call them on the phone... but at what point are youth educated on understanding what they see?
This clip from Miss Representation demonstrates how media values women - for sex, youth, and beauty. Women role models aren't easy to come by. Even in "inspiring" tv shows like Glee, the lead female, Rachel Berry is constantly bullied for being ugly/fat/un-sexy/weird... and she has very "girly" character flaws - she's incredibly vain and thinks she can control/change her boyfriend... Almost every episode she seems to have made some mistake that she has to apologize to Finn for! Reminds me of Serena from Gossip Girl who also seems to be apologizing every few episodes to either Blair or Dan for gossiping, lying, cheating, or sneaking around. Luckily she's beautiful and otherwise perfect (cough), so she's always forgiven. In both shows I can count on one hand the female characters who are strong role models.
So what are girls to do when these are the types of role models they look up to 31 hours a week? We have to turn to teachers, parents, guardians, and family to help girls weed through the difference between media and real life.
What do you think?
I could go on and on about this... but I would rather hear what you have to say! What do you think about the role models that girls have in media (tv, internet, magazines, music)?
Stay Beautiful,
Lisa
Hey all! I purposefully didn't write a lot hoping that I would get some response about your take on female role models in the media! Please share your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteBuffy the Vampire Slayer...the two main lead female roles are extremely powerful (Buffy & Willow), while the two lead male roles typically help out where needed (Xander and Giles). Even in the spinoff show Angel, there are both strong female and male leads. Great shows :D
ReplyDeleteSweet! Too bad it's not still on...
DeleteAlthough I am no feminist, I do agree with the issues raised. Talking about issues of female identity in my media studies class actually angered me. The majority of girls in that class had no idea how demeaning the media sometimes is to women, or if they were aware they didn't care. When talking about the disgusting way women are treated in Kanye West's video "Monster", one girl actually said that I should get with the times, it's 2011 and it's his art! Why that garbage video is even allowed to be aired is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, my heart breaks when women who have the potential to be such strong female leaders/role models, destroy that potential. Take Rhianna for example, she was a victim of domestic violence, but she pulled through and became a survivor of that abuse. Now instead of being an advocate for abused women everywhere, she makes a video that GLORIFIES being in an abusive relationship! (We Found Love)
I think it is so sad that it's almost being accepted as okay for women to be treated in such disrespectful ways.