December 06, 2013
How the Media Failed Women in 2013
I'm not a feminist in the belief that men and women should be strictly equal. There are quite obvious physical differences and even some more hard to place differences in how our minds work. But there are not differences in how "well" our minds work. That is where I believe we are equal. Our life experiences shape who we are and how we think and reason and process life events. Because we are women we approach life differently, not from a position of weakness, just different. There have been so many strides for women over the past few years like Malala Yousafzai making Time's Persona of the Year and the thought that the United States might be the closest its ever been to having its first female President. But then...there are 24 states that have never, I repeat, never, had a female governor.
Take a look at this graph. The US lags so far behind....not even coming close to proportional representation. I've heard so many men (and women) blame, yes blame, this on the fact that women don't want to get involved. That running a political campaign places too much stress on their family lives. Or are we just perpetuating that cycle? My husband told me something crazy the other day...that if I ever wanted to run for office he would run my campaign. A man who isn't afraid of a strong women...now what if we had more of those?
The Huffington Post wrote an article on gender representation in US Government, "The 2010 elections saw the number of women in the U.S. Congress slip and the percentage of women in statewide executive positions decline to 22.1 percent from a high of 27.6 percent at the turn of the 21st century. It took more than 130 years for American women to gain the right to vote and it wasn't until 1933 that the U.S. saw its first female Cabinet secretary, yet there still hasn't been a female vice president or president."
Far and away women are seen only for their bodies...for the entertainment value that they can bring to men. They are used in sexually provocative ads to sell product...to sell themselves.
As Miss Representation - a movement working tirelessly to expose gender stereotypes in the media - highlight in their new video, the media has failed women miserably in 2013. From exposing the realities of photoshop to sexist advertising, their recent video shows how women continue to be stereotyped, undermined and objectified in the media.
The Huffington Post wrote an article on gender representation in US Government, "The 2010 elections saw the number of women in the U.S. Congress slip and the percentage of women in statewide executive positions decline to 22.1 percent from a high of 27.6 percent at the turn of the 21st century. It took more than 130 years for American women to gain the right to vote and it wasn't until 1933 that the U.S. saw its first female Cabinet secretary, yet there still hasn't been a female vice president or president."
Far and away women are seen only for their bodies...for the entertainment value that they can bring to men. They are used in sexually provocative ads to sell product...to sell themselves.
As Miss Representation - a movement working tirelessly to expose gender stereotypes in the media - highlight in their new video, the media has failed women miserably in 2013. From exposing the realities of photoshop to sexist advertising, their recent video shows how women continue to be stereotyped, undermined and objectified in the media.