For my digital story I am going to reflect how the media portrayed the ideal woman, what role women play. When I was growing up I had a happy life, I loved me until about seventh grade when the way I chose to represent myself got questioned, who I was was not considered pretty and that hurt. Boys did not like me for who I was because the media showed them what woman should look like. Some days during my eighth grade year it was hard for me to go to school, to face the mocking because I was not what most guys were looking for. Going to an all girls high school really improved my self esteem and taught me that it was okay to be who I was, but unfortunately that did not change the boys view of me, they still compared me to the girls in the media. Everything they knew about women and relationships came straight from the media, no matter how much I tried to just be myself there was always something that they wanted to change about me.
The way the media portrays women is not realistic for how we really look. Despite the constant change that was demanded from me to be their dream girl, attending an all girls catholic high school helped me be myself and change for no one. But unfortunately there are young girls in this world who do not have that positive influence, they see how women are portrayed in the media and think that it's how they need to look.In the media female athletes are looked at for their bodies not their talents. In an article from times magazine “ “Medals aren’t enough: Women athletes still have to sell sexiness” (thirdeyemom) the author states, “despite the progress women’s athletics have made since Title IX in 1972, the law that required girls and women’s sports to get equal public funding, female athletes are still asked to walk the narrow line between empowered and sexy in order to earn endorsements” (thirdeyemom). This means that despite the funding for women athletics, they are still not getting recognized for their athletic abilities.
The movie 'Miss representation' in my opinion does a great job of providing the facts and demonstrating how women are under appreciated. Throughout the film they provide statistics that show how drastic the media has become in putting down women. “ 53% of 13 year olds are unhappy with their body, that number increases to 78% by age 17” (Miss representation). This is only one of the many statistics that demonstrate how the media downgrades women. This film is brutally honest because unfortunately women are looked at for their bodies over their intellect. In this film the question of ‘When is someone going to stand up to ?’ came up and that is a fabulous question because we can talk about it all we want, but unless actions are taken nothing will be different in ten years time.
The ways women are portrayed in the media has directly affected my own life recently, raised in a catholic family and attending catholic school for 12 years, I knew that marriage is where sex belonged and the media made me question my beliefs. As i watched anything from ‘gossip girl’ to ‘mean girls’ premarital sex was constantly the focal point of relationships, that made me wonder did the catholic faith have the idea of sex wrong? No it’s media that is distorting God’s purpose and intention for sex, it’s supposed to be life bearing, not recreational as it has become. Girls see sex being portrayed in the media as fun and okay before marriage, is that the message you want a 12 year old girl to receive everyday? The statistic of premarital sex in today's society shocked me, “ more than 20% of teens have sex before the age of 14” (Miss representation).
I want to use this digital story to raise awareness about how the media stifles young girls and women from being individuals that are valued for more than just their bodies. I am going to use Stupeflix to create a video that demonstrates how the media portrays women and how I was able to ignore the media and be myself. I chose this program because I plan on combining still pictures and audio tracks together to create a video that highlights the negativity of women in the media. This video will raise awareness of how women are under appreciated.
Work cited
Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer S. Newsom. Perf. Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Condoleeza Rice, and Gloria Steinem. Netflix. Jennifer S. Newsom, 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
Thirdeyemom. "“Miss Representation”: How Women Are Truly Viewed in Society and Why It Damns Us." Thirdeyemom. Wordpress, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014
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