Today’s Featured Comment
From Barbara Elaine Singer – “Life Reinventor Coach”
There is a documentary film going around right now called MissRepresentation about how women are portrayed in media and the effect on women, especially young girls. So much focus is put on appearance and very little put on intelligence. Girls don’t even try because the standards are put so high. You can join the movement and sign E-petitions to advertisers.
Check it out at http://www.missrepresentation.org
Newest Miss Representation Trailer (2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection) from Miss Representation on Vimeo.
BTW, I think Dove is a sponsor and their spokes person is Mandy Moore. Dove is organizing a march in Washington DC for girls and their role models. I just read about it. I think they are on the right track.
And I just read an article about someone calling Hilary Clinton “fat.” You think she is a little focus on peace talks and has a travel schedule that it out of this world?? Here is a woman who holds one of the most important offices in our government and all we can do it pick on her weight? Same for the female German Chancellor. We never see comments like that about a man.
[This comment was originally posted in this conversation. ~ Eds.]
The creators of MissRepresentation suggest that media portrayals of women make it harder for women to feel powerful and achieve leadership positions. Do you agree?
If you’ve seen MissRepresentation, how did you like it?
Read more recommendations from VN members
"It is easier to be whole and perfect with mind/body/spirit all on the other side of the door." - So true! In fact, that is downright awesome.
Very beautiful. I meditate when I get home from work. I get up at 5:30 and just can't get motivated to get up any earlier. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I immediately go to prayer. It's comforting. Teresa
Yes, chatting, especially about anything sexual is cheating. If my husband was doing that I would consider him cheating on me. Be sooooo careful when meeting this man, people can be who they want to be online.
Do you agree that media portrayals of women make it harder for women to feel powerful
No
and achieve leadership positions?
No
What stops women is men and other women who continually promote men over women.
Men because they think men are intrinsically superior and women because they see other women as competition.
Only when the women who do move up pull up other women behind them and when women support the women above them rather than try and pull them down will women ever gain positions of power.
Only when we have power can we make a change for women in general.
The media is not to blame.
We must rise above blaming men. If I am not mistaken, it is women performing in the “degrading” videos. It comes back to parenting and helping create confident women. As long as we point fingers and blame, we women behave like victims. Let’s put on our big girl panties and get out there and EXECUTE. No excuses. When the media behaves badly, call them on it. I refuse to let others distract me from my goals. We all make decisions in life, very seldom is someone else making our decisions for us. I read this great book: http://www.shambaughleadership.com/stickyfloorbook/ .. insightful from my perspective.
I made decisions while raising my children to be at home as much as possible. That slowed my career down .. now that they are in college, I am in full swing again and moving.
I’m 50 and the fortunate benefactor of Title IX and I’m so sad to see so many things haven’t changed for women/girls in the media, but also see much change in the real world. Let’s not forget more women are enrolling and graduating from college then men. There will be more women representing the United States of America at this year’s 2012 Summer Olympics and there are many more statistics of women/girls succeeding and out producing their male counterparts.
I think we’ve done a good job with our girls and need to continue, as well as not support, especially financially the media and company’s that take advantage of the negative stereotyping of women/girls. I think when women support women instead of feel threatened or competitive we’ll know we’ve risen to the next level.
Long term, I believe the problem is not the way we’ve been raising and teaching our girls, but in fact the boys. I won’t go on related to this matter, but I”m sure many of you will understand. I believe it needs to start there as the girls will continue to out perform and even eventually break ceilings and levels they aren’t supposed to, even when it comes to power and money.