On Tuesday, March 27, I went to a very enlightening film put on by women's week. This film, Miss Representation which began at 6p.m. and lasted roughly a half hour was extremely captivating. I had no clue what to expect going to the movie, but was completely shocked by what I learned by watching it. I took two pages of notes on the movie and the discussion of this controversy. The movie begins with a woman finding out that she is pregnant. The woman is still very excited when she finds out she is having a girl, but she takes a look at the world around her and the damage that today's culture does to girls. Here begins her drive, her motivation to show the world how woman are still treated lesser than men in society and how that needs to change.
The film goes through many interviews with successful woman and their thoughts on this issue, as well as their advice in the matter. Some of the people interviewed were Katie Couric, Condelleza Rice, Margaret Cho, Rachel Maddow, Nancy Pelosi, and numerous others. There were also interviews focused on high school boy and girls and what they thought about women in leadership roles or how the media is dominated by men and portrays women as objects.
Throughout the film, there were inspiring quotes that would appear on a white backdrop between footage. One said, "You can't be what you can't see" meaning that girls growing up don't ever believe they can be in strong leadership roles like men are because they are not show female role models in that position. It talked a lot about how we need to have more women in politics because when making decisions in an all male environment, they are lacking the insight and experiences of a woman which could mean a lot in certain situations.
This whole film, especially that idea, reminded me greatly of Self- Made Man by Norah Vincent. I believe that the film showed both sides of gender and how they are misunderstood, not just the male side like in the book, but both made a lot of the same points. For example, in the book when Vincent visited the strip club she focused on how woman are objectified by men. In the film, it talks about media an how the media is in the hands of men, and that because of that so many female journalists are objectified. You see local news casters wearing low cut shirts and showing a lot of leg. This part of the film began to make me angry because they showed news clips and footage of men saying sexist quotes about women. For example, when one of the women interviewed was running in a political campaign, she would get asked "who will babysit your kids?". The media would never ask a male that. As a journalist major, it made me sick! But I'm glad there are still great role models out there ahead of me like Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, etc.
The higher up in a career or political office, the less woman and people of color exist. One of the reasons society has become okay with this and that nothing has been done is because Hollywood makes it seem like those are the roles that are suppose to get played. Only 16% of protagonists in films are females. Also, only 10% of writers, producers, etc. are woman.
Therefore, woman aren't being allowed to tell their own story. The number of news stories about women or girls is less than 20%!! This is rediculious! Another point the movie made that was shocking, but true was that "women will watch stories (movies) about men, but men will not watch stories about women", meaning women will watch actions and dramas where the leads are men, but men will not go to movies called "chick flicks"where a woman is the lead character. However, on the flip side, the movies that have strong female leaders and are action films (like salt, electra, cat woman) only appeal to men because the women in them are objectified women and use their body to sell the film.
This film made me really take a step back and see how few opportunities we give women! I was really glad that I witnessed this film, and I now know more than ever it is important to be a good role model to younger girls, and that I should mentor whenever I get the chance. I also need to believe in myself and look up to those successful, strong, powerful woman that were portrayed in this film.
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