Gender Issues In Miss Representation

Miss Representation, the 2011 documentary directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Kimberlee Acquaro, is a bold and eye-opening montage of images, facts, figures and clips that clearly depicts the media’s attempts to sexualize, degrade and objectify women while intentionally showing a lack of representation of women in power. According to the film, on average “teens spend 10 hours and 45 minutes each day” on media consumptions which includes watching television and movies, listening to music, reading magazines, and surfing the internet. The media as a tool serve both as “the message and the messenger” and as such is in position to greatly influence society’s thoughts and actions, as well as the value and belief systems. The message being sent to women and girls states that the only value and worth they hold lays with their looks regardless of what they have accomplished; simultaneously, the message sent to men is that the only thing important about women is how they look. Jean Kilbourne, Senior Scholar at Wellesly Centers for Women describes how photos of women in print today are digitized to the point of creating “The idea image of Last Name 2

The documentary explains how women and girls are more susceptible to peer pressure which leads to feelings of inadequacies, lower ambition and lower self-worth; in addition, they are more vulnerable to attacks leaving them as prey to men who judge them more harshly as a result of media propaganda. All of these issues combined often results in sever and often lifelong medical issues such as eating disorders, body dysmorphia, depression and self-injurious