Miss Representation

This time I am going to blog about something a little different, it has nothing to do with fashion, shoes, make up, or anything of that sort.

I came across this video on my facebook, and out of curiosity, I watched it. Boy was I glad I did that. It’s a trailer for the documentary called “Miss Representation”. From what I got from the trailer, it’s about how the media portraits women in such a limited way that we are bombarded with the notion that women are all supposed to be pretty, skinny and all about looks. There are rarely any instances where the emphasis is placed on a woman’s intellectual abilities, or their power and ability.

One quote that hit home to me was “you can’t be what you can’t see”. We are constantly exposed to media, and especially in such a technology-driven society, media infiltrates every aspect of our lives. On TV, in movies, on magazines, music, etc, we are constantly seeing and hearing people talking about a woman’s look, body, but how often do we hear about what really matters? Their intelligence and their determination and their power?

The power of media is far greater than we think. When I go on the street and look around, or even when I went back to my high school, I am astonished by how much older the girls look compared to their age. The amount of make up they put on, the way they dress, is absolutely abhor. I don’t blame them. They are just doing what they see. Think about shows like Toddlers and Tiaras. No offense but I think the show is absolutely ridiculous. All these little girls are getting layers and layers of make up on their already perfect, cute little faces, waxing their eyebrows, perming their hair, putting on fake nails, dressing in clothes that show way too much skin, doing moves on stage that is even inappropriate for people double their age. It breaks my heart. These girls are constantly thinking that they are not pretty enough if they didn’t win a pageant, that they are just not good enough. What the hell?

I am not saying wanting pretty clothes, putting on make up, and wanting to look pretty is wrong. It’s absolutely fine. The difference is why we want to do that. If you are putting on make up because you feel like you don’t look “good enough” without them, even though you hate putting make up on, well I don’t think that’s a good reason. I have seen and met too many girls who are scared of taking their make up off because their boyfriend has never seen them without make up and they are insecure about that. Why does that matter? If all he cares is your look, what’s the point? Girls need to realize apart from looks, they have so many things going on. What matters most is your personality, your intelligence, and your determination, not looks.

Sex sells. I admit that, but we need to also realize the detrimental effect that is having on the society, especially the next generation. If the only message they are getting is “girls are supposed to be skinny, pretty, sexy and hot”, how are we going to convince girls that they are as capable as their male counterparts (no I am not being feminist here, but I just believe that on intellectual grounds, gender plays absolutely no role), that they can achieve great things and make a difference in the world?

Think about it, and if you want to make a difference, to help girls realize they have the power, take a pledge at http://www.missrepresentation.org/ and visit the site to get more information.

Thanks for reading this huge rant, but it’s just something that really hits home and I really want to share with you all.