The documentary Miss Representation describes the struggle of female leadership. It is based on the way the women look, the way they carry themselves, and the way they brutalize themselves to fit in with others. This documentation allow different women to tell their ways that the media have slashed them, and allow others to stand up for women. Women portray themselves to fit as the image that has been altered with to get it to look that way. Margaret Cho explains that her show All American Girl was cancelled because she had problems with the network who aired the show because they constantly said was not thin enough. That is a prime example of today's problems with pursuing your dreams as an actor or pursuing your dreams as a model. You have to change your physical features to fit in, and if you do not you won’t get in. The documentary revolves around the media, which is something that tries to make you be something you are not. The media portrays women as unstable creatures. Some women have gotten comfortable enough to think this is the way …show more content…
Women were only second-class citizens. They were supposed to stay home cook, clean, achieve motherhood and please their husbands. The constitution did not allow women to vote until the 19th amendment in 1971 due to gender discrimination. Deeper in the chapter it discusses the glass ceiling. Women by law have equal opportunities, but most business owners, which are men, will not even take them serious. Women also encounter sexual harassment and some men expect them to do certain things in order for them to succeed in that particular workplace. The society did not allow women to pursue a real education or get a real job. Women have always been the submissive person by default, and men have always been the stronger one, and the protector. Since the dawn of time, the world has seen a woman as a trophy for a man’s arm and a sexual desire for a man’s
The documentary, “Miss Representation,” is a film about how women are perceived in the media. It is written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She is an actress and a film maker who advocates for women. In the beginning of the documentary, Newsom discusses her struggles as a young woman surrounded by the pressures of looking a certain way. This film is targeting mainly women of all age that has experienced her struggles. Jennifer Siebel Newsom effectively convinces the audience of “Miss Representation” that the media has molded women in a negative way through statistics, celebrities’ and younger generation’s testimonies, and clips from the media.
Today, women and men have equal rights, however, not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man’s place, not a woman’s, just like it was a man’s duty to vote and not a woman’s.
For a very long time, men always had a higher status than women. In marriages during the beginning of the 1900s, men were dominant over their wives. They were the providers and the leaders of their families.(Bernstein, 2011) For women, their main goal in life was to get married to a man that could provide for them financially. Women did not attend college or have careers, so having a man asking for their hand in marriage was a need and a privilege. Originally, marriage contracts stated that any property that the woman owned automatically became his once they were married. (Bernstein, 2011) Even though marriage contracts were changed so that women could own their own property and they gained the right to vote in 1920, women were still looked down upon. (Bernstein, 2011) Until the 1980s, rape within marriages was legal because technically it was the wife’s job to have sex with her husband. (Bernstein, 2011) Women literally only seen as something for men to marry so they had someone provide them with children and to take care of them
Women were granted the right to work in labor industries, as all the men joined in the World Wars. Even though women were still discriminated in the workforce by receiving lower pay than men, the number of women working increased around the United States. After women began changing the labor industries, their voting rights were granted, changing the political views of the United States. Even though women were discriminated against throughout society in the 1920’s, they still fought for their rights as women that deserved an important role within our society. This change in women’s attitude has influenced women across the world to value themselves and their importance.
In Miss Representation movie, Jennifer Siebel Newsom determined how the society and media affected to women these days. There are many countries which judge women that they are not important in society such as Vietnam, China, and even the United States. The media play an important role in society because it helps us to receive the news every day and entertains. But, the ways media portrayed are completely making the negative effects for women. People usually use the media to illustrate that women are weak and they should not be in the same level with men. Also, women couldn’t get into the high position in government because nobody would listen to them. Jennifer Siebel Newsom made this move because she was fearful that her unborn daughter will grow up in the
In fact, the 19th century was an age where women were characterized by gender inequalities. Women were excluded from taking part in public life, especially in areas pertaining to politics and professional occupations. Therefore, middle and upper class women often stayed home, caring for their children and running the household; women were expected to remain subservient to their fathers and husband. In Gretchen Ritter’s “The Constitution as Social Design,” she writes “before the 20th century women’s place in the political community was conceived of relationally. As wives, daughters, servants, and slaves, they were represented in public affairs through their husband, fathers, and masters. They had no independent civic status” (Ritter, 2-3). However, by the 1830’s and 40’s the social and political climate began to change when women activist questioned the subservience to men; and formed rallies to challenge the norm. These groups of women worked to gain equal rights, higher education, and most importantly, voting rights. As a result, the roles of women began to dissipate, in search for
The television and film industry have gone to far extremes to shape the women we see in our everyday lives to be very over-idealistic, these women always seem to have their hair and makeup done, fancy clothes, and incredibly thin bodies. People don’t understand how much harm and pressure all these materials put on women. This idea the film and television industry has created for not only wome...
Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.
Women were always expected to stay home and take care of daily chores. Compared to the men, the women weren’t treated as equally. Women were treated as property towards the men. Everything a woman owned, a man owned. I am going to discuss what has changed from the beginning of women’s rights till now. I will also talk about specific time periods and what has occurred during those periods. An example of a major contributor to women’s rights would be Susan B. Anthony. She was an American civil rights leader to women during the 19th century. A more specific time period would be sometime around the 1800’s or later. She also was involved with Women’s suffrage. Susan also made an impact on those women. Susan was a leader instead of a follower, and even though she wasn’t the most know leader or activist in women’s rights, she still tried to make a contribution to her community. She made a commitment to the women with no rights, and had the quality of a leader. Another thing she tried to do was giving. She tried to give freedom with nothing in return, and never lowered her expectations for anyone. All I think she asked for was a chance to prove that confidence was the right answer. I also think that she supported them as well as they supported her.
The mass media over the years has had such a profound role in creating an image on how women should be viewed. From their appearance to what their duties are in everyday life, the media has made sure to depict unrealistic images of women. These images have caused not only the male public but women themselves to believe that they must attain a certain kind of body or occupation to fit into society. Women often feel obligated and pressured to comply to this praised image of perfection.
Many women saw that this change was stupid and irrational because not every woman could go out, go work in a factory or work long hours because some women had children to take care of. Some women agreed with men that women should follow a man’s footstep without any questions because they were a weaker sex and “cannot be good leaders in business, publicities and academics ”(Sexism 1). Women also didn’t want to get used to “some customary behaviors in the workplace as ‘sexual harassment”’ (Philosophical Feminists 4) because men still didn’t respect the female body like the radical feminists wanted men to do. Even today men still don’t respect the female body because men still don’t see women as equal to men. Women still question if feminism is here today such as “revealing clothes, designer-label stiletto, and amateur pole dancing” because men don’t see women as equal because of how they dressed and that society sometimes did not approve of it. Some women think that today laws aren’t equal enough because women still don’t get the same amount of money in certain jobs and women, back then, wanted laws that made them equal to men that protected but many were “protective labor laws [that] were overturned (Feminism 5).” Many women didn’t want to get into this lifestyle because it was scary and just wasn’t normal. Women were used to just staying home and just listening to what their husband would say. Today, one sees women
The title Miss Representation emphasizes that the way we portray women in the media is a
The lives of women and the attitudes toward them was a process of change in American literature from early America through the “American Literature in a Divided Nation”. In early America women had limitations and had very little rights. They were only used to produce children and maintain the household. They were not involved in politics, literature, or the government. Meanwhile women from the nineteenth century had more rights compared to those from early America, but still badly mutations to their freedom. By the nineteenth century more women went to school and had a better education, though they were still expected to do their duties. As you read poems and books of women from early America and women in the nineteenth century you can see
Women have been humiliated in so many ways such as making their own decisions and the same equal rights as men. Women had no authority whatsoever within their family or outside of it. Their role was just to maintain the house, to take care of the children and to cook for the family. Some of them were very ‘fortunate’ to have semi suitable occupations, such as teachers, nurses, jewelry makers or office assistants. Even though their wages were very limited, they wanted to work to show somewhat their independency. In the 1800’s, women had a very rough time in society. They were not allowed to vote or voice their opinion. They had to stand by and watch men decide on their own personal rights. Men didn’t believe that women were capable of making complicated decisions and that it should be left up to the men to decide on everything. Men didn’t believe that women were intelligent enough to do anything. They thought that women were meant to be at home education their sons to be more knowledge and their daughters to be housewives. Their lives were very rough since they had no rights. It was hard for women to have any type of education since no schools would accept women students. They weren’t allowe...
Women have always been essential to society. Fifty to seventy years ago, a woman was no more than a house wife, caregiver, and at their husbands beck and call. Women had no personal opinion, no voice, and no freedom. They were suppressed by the sociable beliefs of man. A woman’s respectable place was always behind the masculine frame of a man. In the past a woman’s inferiority was not voluntary but instilled by elder women, and/or force. Many, would like to know why? Why was a woman such a threat to a man? Was it just about man’s ability to control, and overpower a woman, or was there a serious threat? Well, everyone has there own opinion about the cause of the past oppression of woman, it is currently still a popular argument today.