Misrepresentation Indeed.

In class we watched a documentary that covered the issue of how the media treats women called "Miss-Representation". It covered a lot of issues like how what we see makes us feel as women and what it makes us expect from ourselves, and how all of that makes men expect things from us and view us in certain ways. But what stuck out to me the most was how the media treats women with powerand women in politics.

What was brought up really frustrated me. The fact that there have only been 34 women as senators while there have been 2000 men, for one. There are many, many countries all over the world that have had women in power and continue to value them in their politics. The United States, for the first time since women have gotten the vote, is moving backward with women in politics, and the fact that the majority of congress is male it discourages women, particularly young women, from seeking a future in politics. But it isn't just history's fault. The way that media treats women with power is obscene. When you look at a male news anchor a male senator, the media talks about what was said. When the media is looking at the female version of either of those, they focus on what they wore and how they acted and whether or not they appeared bitchy. The only thing about women that matters, to the media, is look.

Take Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin for example:

When they were running in 2008, they both portrayed very different aspects of what people expect from women in politics. At one end, Hillary presents herself like all of the men out there, serious and willing to bust some balls to get her point across. Sarah on the other hand presents herself as effeminate and a family woman and basically lives up to everything the media has been wanting and taking steps back in our progress as women trying to live above those cruel stereotypes. There was a sketch on SNL that depicted this very well: Sarah Palin / Hillary Clinton SNL Open

The media wants to put us in these neat little boxes of how we are allowed to act and who we we are allowed to be and we let them.

It just horrifies me how large of a role the media plays in our perceptions of people. How can we assume anything about them based on the scued views of the media? If I can accomplish anything in writing this, it is to open up peoples' eyes to the fact that what you read and see and hear is only one part of the real story and not to judge someone based on one story that you hear. What will happen to the next generation and the generation after that if this is how women are being treated now?