Miss Representation, Thoughts, Feelings, and What it Made Me See.

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               So, as any of you who read my last post know, we watched a movie called "Miss Representation" in English class.  My partner and I were assigned to look for sarcasm in the movie, and also to give the definition of sarcasm. For those of you whom didn't read my last post, if the idea of reading it strikes you as something that you might like to do, go right ahead, but if you don't want to, that's fine too. However, this particular post, is about what I thought, how the movie made me feel, and what it made me see. So, without further ado, let us begin.

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         The movie made me think about how media is representing girls and women in an unrealistic way, and setting impossible standards. My initial reaction to the film was "We can't continue to let this happen! We need to take a stand!".  However, I do realize that this has been going on for a long time, and it would take a while to get things going. Many people have tried to take a stand, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But if we all work together, we can solve more than just the way media is portraying us girls and women. But I won't get into too much detail on that in this post. The impossible standards are those based on photoshopped images of the models that can be  seen in a lot of places. In real life these women are beautiful, but apparently they are not beautiful enough. These doctored-up images are so perfect, that it is impossible to look like them, unless you edit a picture of yourself, or have lots of surgery done. People have developed eating disorders trying to look like these images, and even models have developed eating disorders trying to look "good" enough. Some men and boys whom have grown up in this kind of society can even begin to believe that if a girl or woman doesn't look or do things the way they are portrayed, then they're  not good enough. Like in politics. Women have been harassed for being in politics, and have been told that it is only for men. This is not true. Yes, men have good ideas, but so do women. It  takes the point of view from both sides to solve a problem. It is very hard to resolve an argument, or a problem, with only one party speaking.

    It's sad, but even girls and women think this way about themselves. In fact, since I couldn't go to the grocery store, or watch t.v, or even go on some online games without seeing these images, or highly sexualized video game characters, I began to doubt myself, and they way I looked. I didn't as much as I should have, and felt that I was always being negatively judged no matter what I did, even by complete strangers! It has taken a toll on my self confidence, and I still struggle with that. My Mom and friends found out about my not eating as much as I should, and helped me through all of that. I am trying to regain self confidence, but it's very hard in a world where women must meet certain, impossible standards to be "perfect".

    Media not only portrays women and girls by their looks, but, as pointed out in the movie, they also portray girls and women by their "attitude". In lots of T.V. shows and cartoons, women and girls are shown as catty, only wanting to get the boy, if their smart, then their considered a know-it-all. But if they're "dumb" they're considered cute, and easy.
In both television and real life, names that I can't post here,  are used to demean and insult women and girls.
All of these things are touched on and  explained in the movie "Miss Representation", and I will include a link to the site at the end of this post.
This movie was a real eye opener, it was very interesting and compelling, and I learned quite a bit from it. I would encourage you to watch it, no matter who you are! I hope you enjoyed reading this little rant, and if you wanted to, maybe comment on what you liked, and/or what you think I could do better? I'm always looking for feedback on what to do better, and it's nice to hear what other people have to say.

Thank you for your time,
~Sylvie

(Link to website mentioned in paragraph)
Link to Miss Representation website