Miss Representation Essay

Can you imagine what females could accomplish if they spent as much time volunteering to local charities as they did worrying about their physical appearance? So many dreams, goals, and aspirations are thrown away because of something as simple as low self-esteem. The film Miss Representation focuses on that exact social issue. Various people come together in this documentary to tackle the matter of gender stereotyping through the media. We will cover gender stereotypes, the role media plays in shaping them, and what can be done.

“Miss Representation” is a documentary film in 2011 which is made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Messages in the film have implicit meanings that women need and want to be positive role models and have their interests in social and life. Miss Representation is a film about how media portrays women in society. The trailer for “Miss Representation” is eight minutes and 52 seconds long, so it gives a lot of information overall the film. It is started with the quote “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any” and many news sentences about teenagers spend time for media which take attention of audiences. It’s like a real report because the film is on interwove interviews. In addition, the trailer has a lot of

In Miss Representation, many female actresses, news anchors, politicians, directors and producers talk about how females suffer a lot of social, political and economic inequalities in today’s society. There are double standards against women in magazines, on TV, in movies, the news, politics, and the workplace. The media is an influential part of modern culture. When women are portrayed as objects for men to use -- never as the protagonist or president -- and when female news anchors are objectified, this will cause girls of all ages to begin viewing themselves as objects. Girls grow up in a world where their voice does not count; where our culture does not embrace them in all of their diversities, where

The documentary “Miss Representation” deals with and discusses the sexualization of women within the media. It showcases everyone from movie stars to political leaders, and broadcasters to fifth graders. With such a wide range of women being showcased in the documentary, it goes on to prove that all women (and men), are affected in some way by this major problem within our media. The documentary showcases the sexualization of women in the media, the lack of powerful and independent women role models in the media, and the constant advertisements of sexual women throughout the world.

Miss Representation, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Kimberlee Acquaro, is a documentary that discussed the misrepresentation of women in America. The film has gathered a whole cast of empowered women from the media including Katie Couric, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho and many more female journalists, authors, directors and actors. The purpose of Miss Representation is to expose the unfair depiction of women and hopefully make a change in the way we look at the media. The film shows stories of both famous and non famous women and how the misrepresentation of women in the media has affected their lives.

Miss Representation speaks to many of the principles of representation we have learned in this course. The film’s overarching message that there are not enough good role models and too many bad ones for women in media directly relates to the ideas of descriptive representation. Moreover, the consumption of media that objectifies and sexualizes women, as well as the call to boycott said media, while not stated in the film, is based upon the ideas of representative claims making and the acceptance and rejection of these claims.

This chapter ties in with the film as they both agree that mass media undermines and misrepresents women and has deleterious effects for all. The only platforms women are given in media are the motherly, homemakers or those seeking love or pursuing a romantic interest. The narrative media has portrayed of women is narrow-minded. Even when there are women who are in the political/leadership arena, they are criticized for their physical appearance first and their policies secondary. Women who do not fit into the straight, beautiful, young, White female trope, then their stories are not told or they are ridiculed. The stereotypes media illustrates are one-sided even though women are getting more involved in the professional world. Women do not have as much footing in the media industry as men do, there are few networks geared towards women. These networks cater to the negative stereotypes of women—that they are competitive, vain, catty, followers, domestic

‘Miss Representation’ is an American documentary, released in 2011 by Girl Club Entertainment. This movie goes through the detrimental effects that the medias portrayal of females has for our society. These unattainable, yet expected standards of beauty are leading young women down a dangerous path of depression, anorexia, and other psychological issues. Miss Representation expands on the idea that mainstream media has heavily contributed to the demeaning representation of women. Powerful women are especially affected by this, as their achievements are overpowered and overshadowed by their looks, becoming condescended by the derogatory portrayals of females presented in TV shows, movies, magazines, videogames, music videos and even toys.

The video, “Miss Representation”, produced by Jennifer Siebel Newson, brings to light the challenges that women endure on a daily basis due to stereotypes and the media’s negative and one-minded representation of women. Women are viewed in a certain way that makes them receive less respect in positions of power, because as the video shows women are viewed for their bodies and looks versus their intellectual knowledge. The video shows that women are not appreciated for their academic achievements, but they are appreciated for their dress size, makeup, hair, and overall looks. In today’s society, young girls grow up to think that men will only want them if they look

I found the Miss Representation documentary took a feminist approach in analyzing media representations of women (e.g.: in Hollywood, Reality TV, and magazines). There was also plenty of discussion on how women are limited in positions of power (especially in politics), due to sexist representations and ideologies. I believe the film was arguing that feminism is still needed (and that we are not in a state of post-feminism). For example, I found the social media campaigns at the end of the film to be promoting feminism.

Film Trailer Analysis Miss Representation is a brief trailer that broadcasts how we receive messages through the media. The trailer begins with short research notations that showcase how often American teens use media. The trailer sends the message that the media is a very powerful tool and explains how we perceive a majority of our information through social media. The video then transitions into sending a strong message regarding how the media portrays women. The trailer emphasizes that media portrays women as more of a sex symbol and looks rather than what they have to offer.

Miss Representation was an overall good film in portraying how women are currently underrepresented in our current society. While some of the content in this film were not really new, it probably gave a good “heads-up” to people who may be ignorant of how women are being treated in our society. What most surprised me about the film was the fact that television shows and movies are made mostly toward male viewers. When I watch television shows on my free time, I generally do not even consider the audience it is for. It usually seems like it is normal for anyone to watch. It may be possible that the shows I watch are not part of that group as it is not possible for me to watch every single show that is available.

Women’s representation remains an ongoing issue that not only affects the lives of women, but the entire society. Females have been raised to believe that appearances will get them far in life instead of other factors such as intelligence and the ability to succeed without depending on their looks. Along with the hindering misconception of females’ level of intelligence, the media continues to support the minoritization of females. Students must realize that to change how society perceives women, students are the ones that need to take action. A way to target the issue of women representation is by using some of the most powerful platforms in modern day such as, advertisements, films, and magazines. Having students focus on changing the demeaning aspect of women in the media, students should join the #NotBuyingIt campaign from the Representation Project, which allows consumers to identify companies that use offensive stereotypes to sell their products and bring light to the issue.

In today’s society the media has a huge impact on how both men and women view themselves. It tells people what they should wear, what they should like, what type of body is acceptable and so much more. It has an affect on everyone no matter where you live or how old you are; the media always finds a way to effect you. In this paper I will be talking about how the #likeagirl campaign by Always shows how the media shapes the way young women, those who have already gone through puberty, and younger girls think about the phrase “like a girl” and what the stereotypes tell them to think. I will look at how when we are young we still believe that we can be whoever we want, but as we grow older that vision slowly fades. I will also look at how the

Negligent misrepresentation - A person is liable for negligence if they make false statement and have no reasonable ground to believe that the statement they made is true.