Miss Representation film - 2011

The film Miss Representation, ‘explores how the media’s misrepresentation of women has led to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence.’ The short film interviews politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academic, high school teenagers, etcetera, about the way the media represents women. It also discusses how there are less women in power for example, only 17 percent is in Congress in America. It is an interesting film because it talks to all different ages and positions of women in power, for example a high school student says, ‘There is no appreciations for women intellectuals, it’s all about the body and not about the brain.’ Even from a young age women are conscious of the media’s influence around them. Another student says that she was worried about her weight in the 5th Grade and is still worried about her weight in 8th grade showing nothing has changed over the years.


The quotes below really stood out to me from the film:

Pat Mitchell the President and CEO of “The Paley Centre for Media’ says how ‘the media is the message and the messenger, a powerful one.” – This is exactly what I want to show in my photography; that the media is a powerful influence on women, leaving some feeling the need to change their appearance to become more ‘beautiful’.

Jim Steyer the CEO of Common Sense Media says, “People try to do more and more shocking things to break through the clutter, they resort to violent images or sexual offensive images or demining images.”

Margaret Cho a comedienne, actor and activist says, “The media treats women like shit, and it’s horrible, and it’s like I don’t know how we survive it, I don’t know how we rise above it.”

It is evident that the majority of us are aware of the media’s influence and the impact it has on us, but we are stuck in a rut and don’t know how to break away from it because the media has such a powerful hold over some of us. This is also affecting the women in political and high powered positions within the world, being dominated by men, for example Congress. The link below it to the trailer of the short clip.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkIiV6konY