I remember watching the Miss Representation trailer long ago, before the documentary came out, and simply thinking "And people think women have made progress?"
Yes, without a doubt, women have made great strides over the last century, and it is a great thing. However, it seems that for every step forward that society goes, we take three steps back. The problem is inherently a cultural and societal issue. We have been so conditioned to view things through the perspective of a white, heterosexual male that it's okay to reduce women to objects or to ignore a woman's value in terms of intelligence and capability to serve in office and just criticize her for her appearance. This has become so much of a problem that even some women doubt the possibility of other women taking office, which is beyond ludicrous. What's worse is that women have become used to being put down through media, so the effect goes beyond the general public. It psychologically affects young girls, especially in terms of body image and self esteem.
What struck me most while watching this is how angry it made me, which is something I should have expected actually. It made me think of the things I do or say and how I can connect it back to things I've learned from the media. And it's really sad. I know I am not alone in saying that I have self-esteem issues and I have to live with them. Looking back on it, I got the whole self criticism thing from my mother, who often times stands in front of the mirror nit picking. And she got that from her mother. So in an essence, we are perpetuating the negative behavior and passing it on to younger generations. We need to become more aware of our actions and the things we say to change the way we think.
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