William Quincy Belle: Miss Representation: You can't be what you can't see

Wikipedia: Miss Representation
Miss Representation is a 2011 American documentary film written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It explores how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in influential positions by circulating limited and often disparaging portrayals of women. The film premiered in the documentary competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Synopsis
The film interweaves stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Dr. Jackson Katz, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem to give an inside look at the media and its message. The film’s motto, “You can't be what you can't see,” underscores an implicit message that young women need and want positive role models, and that the media has thus far neglected its unique opportunity to provide them. The film includes a social action campaign to address change in policy, education and call for socially responsible business.

official web site: Miss Representation Org: a call-to-action
The film Miss Representation exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.

In response we created MissRepresentation.org, a call-to-action campaign that seeks to empower women and girls to challenge limiting media labels in order to realize their potential.

We are uniting individuals around a common, meaningful goal to spark millions of small actions that ultimately lead to a cross-generational movement to eradicate gender stereotypes and create lasting cultural and sociological change.

Uploaded by amillan2004 on Oct 13, 2011
Miss Representation Extended Trailer
An overlook at the Hegemonic society that utilizes the media as a tool to dictate gender expression. This sets into motion the subordination of women in our society and that value that they hold as individuals politically and socially.

BlogHer - May 23/2012
Miss Mare's Comments on Miss Representation by Mary Kathleen
[About the film:] A lot of the information and statistics were not really new to me. As a social worker, I have had several classes on women's studies, gender studies and human sexuality. It did bring the topic back to the forefront for me, however. When it comes to women in the media, I am most bothered by how women seem to be portrayed as sexual objects. There is always this need to be sexy, pretty, thin and desirable to men and this is often placed above all else. I am also very much bothered by how easily women are labeled as "crazy" or "bitchy" or "nags." This is especially seen when women are running for public office, as was shown in the film with reference to Hillary Clinton and others. And in terms of politics, it is no surprise that women are barely represented in our political system.

Straight.Com - Apr 17/2012
Projecting Change: Miss Representation is a long-overdue punch to the gut by Miranda Nelson
The statistics will make you gasp (did you know 15 percent of sexual assault victims are under 12 years of age?) and the heartbreaking voice-overs will elicit tears. All in all, Miss Representation is an excellent overview of this under-the-radar epidemic perpetuated by the mainstream media.

Indiewire - Oct 18/2011
Review: 'Miss Representation' Exposes An Ugly Truth That Needs To Be Seen by Katie Walsh
It’s no shock to anyone who has turned on the TV, read a magazine, spied a billboard or surfed the internet that media representations of women are problematic at best. At worst, they are a both a symptom and cause of a troubled society reaching a tipping point in its relationship with sex and violence onscreen.

The initial question about images of women in the media leads us down a rabbit hole that indicts the advertising industry for governing the content of the TV shows as vehicles for advertisements, which need to create insecurity in people so they buy the products, so the companies can keep buying ads on the networks, which have been deregulated by politicians, who refuse to go after the media conglomerates because they need them to get elected over the female politicians, who might actually get something done in this country, which would be bad, because CAPITALISM! You follow that?

Final Word
"You've come a long way, baby"? It would seem that you still have a long way to go. Certainly Rush Limbaugh's tirade against Sandra Fluke was a startling reminder that things remain the same. (see my blog: Rush Limbaugh: That's spelled with one F and one U)

In the above trailer for the movie, I note this exchange from The O'Reilly Factor:

Question: You get a woman in the Oval Office, the most powerful person in the world... What's the downside?

Answer: You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings?

Just how do you spell double U tee eff? I said that Rush Limbaugh was merely the tip of the iceberg and this dialogue, part of mainstream news media no less, underlines that gender equality may be nothing more than a thin veneer of political correctness over the true heart of America. Gosh Rush, tell me what you really think.

Do we really know what's going on? Does a goldfish know it's living in a fish bowl? Are we so caught up in our own culture, we may be accepting instead of questioning? We may be accepting what's shoved in front of us instead of questioning if that's what we want or whether that's what should be. Baby, ya gotta a long way to go.

References

Facebook: Miss Representation
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” - Alice Walker

Rotten Tomatoes: Miss Representation
On DVD: Feb 20/2012

Wikipedia: Virginia Slims
Virginia Slims is a brand of cigarette manufactured by Altria Group (formerly Phillip Morris Companies). The brand was introduced in 1968 and marketed to young professional women using the slogan "You've come a long way, baby." Some media watch groups considered this campaign to be responsible for a rapid increase in smoking among teenage girls. Later campaigns have used the slogans, "It's a woman thing," in the 1990s, and "Find your voice." A report by the Surgeon General of the United States has interpreted these marketing strategies as attempting to link smoking "to women's freedom, emancipation, and empowerment." This report also tied the increase of smoking among teenage girls to rises in sales of Virginia Slims and other "niche" brands marketed directly to women.

my blog: Rush Limbaugh: That's spelled with one F and one U
Recently, the world has been atwitter on Twitter and other social media commenting left, right and centre about one Rush Hudson Limbaugh. Of course, it is easy to pile on by calling him an anal orifice or a Neanderthal or a meany... (I consult my notes) oops, that's a f**kin' meany... however I can't help feeling there is more, much more not just to this particular story, but to what the story represents. This is the tip of the iceberg.