“Miss Representation” (2011), a
documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newson, examined the under-representation of
women in positions of power while also examining the ways women are continually
portrayed in media. One of the most
disturbing sections of the documentary focused on the representation of female
journalists. For example, Katie Couric,
being a nationally known female news reporter, struggled for years with the
fact that her appearance, rather than the stories she reported, were the focus
of media attention. It appeared media
were more interested in creating a “cat fight” between Katie Couric and Diane
Sawyer, judging Couric based on her personal relationships, or continually
commenting on her physical appearance.
By degrading women of power through the continual judgment of physical
appearance, young women watching the news learn that a woman’s worth,
regardless of how successful she is in the workplace, is still determined based
on appearance, and that she, being a woman, cannot (and will not) be taken as
seriously as a man. Tying into the
discussion of Katie Couric was the discussion of female news anchors on cable
networks. On these cable news reports,
women reporters are seen as being hyper sexualized as they prance around the
set in high heels, tight skirts, and low cut tops. It appears based on the images on screen that
the women are a prop for the older men who are there to report the news and
again enforces the idea that a woman’s main purpose is to be a sexualized
object for male entertainment. Yet, the
aspect of the news segment that I found most disturbing was the scene of the
woman demanding a story on Paris Hilton not be the headline of the news, while
the male reporters simply laugh in her face and continue to air pictures of
Paris Hilton and describe her “sexy body”.
Not only was the woman being ignored and disrespected by her male
counterparts, but she was prevented from discussing issues that matter and
instead forced to stand by while the male reporters judged women based on
physical appearance. This incident reveals that even when women do make an
impact in a male-dominated workplace, they are usually viewed as inferior and
their input matters less.
The other aspect of “Miss
Representation” (2011) that I would like to touch upon is the
under-representation of women in the government and the decisions that are
being made in regard to women’s health.
How is it possible for decisions to be made regarding women’s
reproductive rights when there are no women involved in making the
decisions? Women’s reproductive rights
have become a hot topic in the upcoming election, given many conservative
leaders are fighting to restrict availability of birth control and
abortions. I feel that because this is a
women’s issue, women should have equal say in the matter. When men make
decisions on the power women have over their own bodies, the women are
ultimately going to lose. The first step
in having more say in women’s issues is electing more women into positions of
power. In doing so, we will begin to
remove the male domination of power and add a female voice into government
currently controlled by men. When you
add in the fact that not only the government, but also most media industries
are also dominated by male input, we are able to understand why women’s
interests are so under-represented.
I think that one of the most moving quotes that captured the essence of
the entire documentary was stated by Rosario Dawson: “Women need to be writing
their own stories.” If women are able to express their stories and their
desires, we (as women) may be able to make changes that will not only influence
our generation but also generations to come.
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