Alexis Reed Blog Post #3: Miss Representation

       The Miss Representation documentary focuses on women and the influence the media has on them. The document provides statements from a variety of people, ranging from doctors, comedians, to high school students. I found the documentary to be interesting and eye-opening.

      One of the quotes that I found interesting was by Jim Steyer. He explained in the documentary that “…kids are more vulnerable. They have the same maturity as adults and that’s nuts!” I found myself agreeing with this statement because kids are more vulnerable. Children are very impressionable and the way media showing a thin, beautiful model as a good thing changes their perception of their own body. Whether it is a boy or girl, a child is still a child and due to the media, they are going to grow up with the impression that skinny is beautiful and good, while “more curves” or ugly and bad. In a recent news article, a mother told ABCnews that her 6 year-old daughter thought her own body was fat. The mother was surprised and questioned why she thought her body was fat. The child responded that a girl had asked her why her “…tummy was so fat?” in the bathroom. ABCnews then brought a panel of girls ranging from 3-8 years old and showed them pictures of girls their age. They asked them whether or not the girls needed to lose weight and why. Most of the girls responded that the girls in the pictures needed to lose weight in order to “…look like the girls on tv and in the magazines.” This article just emphasizes the influence it has on children. Young girls who shouldn’t even be worrying about their body image are already thinking they need to lose weight if they want to look beautiful in the future. Kids are kids, they should be worrying about who has cooties and which color is prettier.

     Another quote I found interesting was the quote by Gigi Durham. “Media is disempowering women.” I found that Beyonce’s Superbowl Half-Time Show performance would fit this quote best. Beyonce, who performed with Kelley Rowland and Michelle Williams, was described as “the leather-clad trio who looked like a walking, strutting advertisement for a dominatrix-boutique franchise.” The media also described Beyonce as stomping her libido all over. Beyonce response to the Superbowl show was “I know how to entertain.” The media painted Beyonce as a sex object. And her claim, “I know how to entertain” solidifies that painting. Many people view Beyonce as a sex object and many women and girls want to be like her. But the thing is, sex objects have no real power. They don’t have the type of power that Oprah Winfry has. Even though I like Beyonce’s music, I sometimes cannot take her seriously because of her “sexified” image.