This past week, I watched a 2011 documentary called Miss Representation, a play on the word “misrepresentation.” The documentary examines the overwhelming amount of objectified images of women in the U.S. media, the use of things like photoshop to create impossible ideals of women’s bodies, the emphasis on women’s appearance, and the lack of realistic women in the media. Even as someone who has been acutely aware of these issues, this movie really brings home just how bad this problem has gotten (for example, according to Miss Representation, out of all the U.S. fiction, only 16% have female protagonists).
Most significantly, this documentary focuses on the impact this emphasis on female appearance and objectification has on women politically. It claims that American girls are socialized (in large part through the media) to be ultra concerned with their appearance and that those girls who are the most concerned with their appearance feel less politically powerful. Studies have been done that show that in elementary school, an equal amount of girls and boys want to be president, but when these kids are re-interviewed in high school, the number of girls who feel they can be president has dropped significantly. Miss Representation also shows how female politicians are treated differently by the media than male politicians, making comments about how terrible Hillary Clinton looks or asking if Sarah Palin got breast implants. When was the last time you heard a news report on those gray streaks in Romney’s hair or speculation on whether Bill Clinton should get botox? This is just a piece of what the documentary discusses, but it paints a picture of how the media affects how people see women and as a result, how women are limited to certain representations.
I know a lot of people wonder when I or anyone else talks about poor representations of girls/women in the media (from commercials to movies to books to manga) how a piece of fiction can really matter. Miss Representation explains how better than I ever could by presenting a larger picture. These representations of women are everywhere and both girl and boys are exposed to them from childhood. Even boys’ and girls’ toys are segregated to socialize them to a certain role; boys get traditionally manly things like building blocks, cars, tools, etc. while one look at the girls’ toy aisle reveals a sea of pastel pinks and purples, makeup, fashion, and Barbie and Bratz dolls. We become used to seeing objectified and sexist images of women so, if one doesn’t stop to examine things more closely, it’s easy to miss them. So, when I talk about a book or movie that I feel poorly represents women, it’s likely not just that one piece of fiction, but one example of a bigger trend I see in many movies, books, manga, and so on.
If you have any interest in the U.S. media misrepresentations of women, even if you are a skeptic, you should definitely try to see Miss Representation. It goes over multiple issues related to this problem and really gives a good example of the larger impact a seemingly small thing can have on a society.
Gagging on Sexism 
I saw this documentary awhile ago and I agree – it certainly is eye-opening. Not just because it highlights the inequalities of how women are depicted in media, but also the inequalities of women as producers of media. My favorite point the film made is that whenever women have gained social power that power has typically been taken away through sexualization – such as when The Miss America pageant was started the year after women were given the right to vote. I’ve written some of my thoughts on Miss Representation on another of my blogs: http://crystal-lewis.blogspot.com/2011/10/women-and-power-miss-representation.html
I also thought that was an excellent point about how women’s progress is diminished by sexualization. On a smaller scale, I’ve noticed a similar occurrence in some manga. Tsunade from Naruto and other relatively powerful female characters are given ridiculously big breasts and skimpy outfits. They’re allowed some power (although that is often undermined as well), but they’re kept in a familiar place by objectifying them. The overt sexiness overshadows pretty much everything else.
Anyway, as you said in your other blog, it’s interesting that pretty much all the images discussed in Miss Representation were of white women. There’s plenty of poor representations of all women no matter their race after all. It gets back to the issue of the general under representation of minorities in comparison to white people.
Yeah, I’ve been aware of the male versus female politician differences for a while now. And it’s not just appearance. They also ask things like how the female politicians balance family and work, whereas rarely is it asked of male politicians cause you know, it is expected that women must do the double load of job and house. I’ve seen it applied to male and female athletes as well. : /
I’m always shocked that people don’t see the lack of good female protagonists. You really have to be off in your own little world not to notice. Same goes for race. (I mean, even before I actually took feminist classes and looked at the media in a more analytic way, I was aware that racial diversity was really lacking, even though it didn’t bother me on the same level as lack of gender equality if only because I was a kid and I didn’t really see the bigger picture. I just knew that I wanted more female heroines). In fact, I didn’t think it was as low as 16%. I thought it would be around 30%. Might be my Japanese media consumption that makes me think that though because the one thing I really appreciate about Japanese media is that the protagonist aren’t as skewed to one gender, I feel. (Whether they are good female protagonist though, is another question).
Yes, athletes are another group with that issue. I think the issue arises more with jobs stereotypically associated with men. Miss Representation mentioned a scenario where two women happened to be best qualified for head firefighter and police officer, but people’s initial reaction was that it was a conscious effort on the part of the government to put women in those positions. Some people also overlooked the two women at press conferences because they expected to see men.
It’s really shocking when one takes a close look at the media and sees just how skewed it is. As you said, it’s skewed in both gender and race. It would be interesting to see how Japanese media compares to American media in terms of the percentage of female protagonists though. It definitely feels like there’s a pretty equal amount of female and male protagonists in manga and anime, but I haven’t really analyzed that aspect before.
You’re probably right about that. Even with female politicians or politicians of other races, there is this underlying idea that they are there for “diversity”. No one really voices that belief, but you feel it in the ways people regard and talk about politicians.
Yeah, it definitely would be interesting. I wonder how analysis of something like that would go. Pick random 100/200/500/etc. current (published between 2006-2012) manga and see how the numbers fall? Granted someone with knowledge on stats and probability would need to do this because there is always a chance that it just so happens you got more shoujo/shounen manga and it slightly skewed numbers. But the numbers would definitely be interesting~
The latest commercial objectifying women is the Hardee’s ad using sex to
sell a really obnoxious looking burger! Goodbye Hardee’s ….the kids will miss spending my $$$$ at your place! Not what I want any little girls or young women to “aspire ” to!
We, women, just made a very loud statement in this election. That attitude, guys, won’t fly anymore!
Hardee’s commercials are terrible. I’ve done some posts on them and other company’s who make the poor decision to use sex to sell their products. As you said though, a powerful message has been sent with this past election; let’s just hope they understand it!