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Misrepresentation Of Women In The Media

Decent Essays

Miss Representation conveys that media is derogative to the most powerful women in the United States. People learn more from the media than any other source because it is the message and messenger. Americans devote about 10 hours and 39 minutes daily to consuming media (Howard). The media’s misrepresentation of women in movies, television shows, and advertisements negatively shapes politics, our national discourse, children’s inquisitive minds, and ultimately society. The danger behind these stereotyped images of women is that their effect is subconscious, meaning we slowly become accustomed to a sexist portrayal of women without even immediately realizing it. To cease our unrealistic, prejudiced expectations of women, a culture change is necessary. Early on, adolescents get the message that a woman’s worth is mostly based on her looks, not her intelligence. This norm is harmful to girls because they end up comparing themselves to an impossible standard and feel ashamed when they cannot achieve it. Conversely, boys end up judging real women much more harshly and start treating them like objects. Because adolescents have different interpretive and emotional abilities from the rest of society, they are a particularly vulnerable group of people. They are often exposed to the things they see in movies, television shows, and video games with little to no mediation. The director of the movie, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, worries about the pressure her daughter will feel to be like

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