We watched Miss Representative in class and it made me start thinking about how women are portrayed in media. I have already done a blog post before how black women are shown but overall women are shown to be sex objects by the mainstream media. I didn’t think much of it growing up, in fact I didn’t think about it at all but looking back it it’s evident. As a kid I looked up to Nicki Minaj. I watched all of her music videos and tried my best to remember all of her raps. So me being such a big Nicki Minaj fan, I watched all of her music videos and looking back at it now they were over sexualized to the core. The things that’s she wore and the things that she said all had something to do with her being sexualized. Looking back at this, this affected me greatly. I remember being super young and worrying about my weight because I didn’t want to be “fat”. I remember not eating when I was hungry due to the fear of gaining weight. I had the mindset that if I ate I would be less pretty and then people wouldn’t like me. Media taught me that. Media told me that the only thing that really mattered was how much I weighed. I watched an insane amount of Disney Channel growing up and all of my favorite characters were white and blonde two things that I am not. I remember thinking that I was ugly because I had kinky hair and my skin was dark. I remember being so jealous of my friends hair because they didn’t know what a hot comb was and that their hair was naturally straight. I believed that they had the “good hair.” Now I look back and wonder how much happier I would be if I spent all that time worrying about how I look and spent that time studying. I have a friend who's parents would not let him watch T.V or play video games at all. I wonder if I grew up like he did I would be different and if so how. Media needs to know that the image that they put out had real world consequences. Girls need to know that we are more than our waist size. Media has made a good majority of women hate the way that they look, now it’s time to love ourselves no matter how we look.Friday, May 24, 2019
Let's talk about Miss Representation
We watched Miss Representative in class and it made me start thinking about how women are portrayed in media. I have already done a blog post before how black women are shown but overall women are shown to be sex objects by the mainstream media. I didn’t think much of it growing up, in fact I didn’t think about it at all but looking back it it’s evident. As a kid I looked up to Nicki Minaj. I watched all of her music videos and tried my best to remember all of her raps. So me being such a big Nicki Minaj fan, I watched all of her music videos and looking back at it now they were over sexualized to the core. The things that’s she wore and the things that she said all had something to do with her being sexualized. Looking back at this, this affected me greatly. I remember being super young and worrying about my weight because I didn’t want to be “fat”. I remember not eating when I was hungry due to the fear of gaining weight. I had the mindset that if I ate I would be less pretty and then people wouldn’t like me. Media taught me that. Media told me that the only thing that really mattered was how much I weighed. I watched an insane amount of Disney Channel growing up and all of my favorite characters were white and blonde two things that I am not. I remember thinking that I was ugly because I had kinky hair and my skin was dark. I remember being so jealous of my friends hair because they didn’t know what a hot comb was and that their hair was naturally straight. I believed that they had the “good hair.” Now I look back and wonder how much happier I would be if I spent all that time worrying about how I look and spent that time studying. I have a friend who's parents would not let him watch T.V or play video games at all. I wonder if I grew up like he did I would be different and if so how. Media needs to know that the image that they put out had real world consequences. Girls need to know that we are more than our waist size. Media has made a good majority of women hate the way that they look, now it’s time to love ourselves no matter how we look.
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I honestly think that everyone needs to stop defining one upon their appearance because appearance does not define everything in life. And as for the girls, we need to just be who we are and not change our image for the benefit or pleasure of others. Remember, we are beautiful just the way we are and we need to take pride in that! There are somethings within us that others (models, actresses, etc.) do not have, which hold more value than beauty. We can do our best to stop supporting these generalizations so that the next generation won't grow up with the wrong idea of a woman.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I definitely agree that Nikki is over-sexualized because her music videos were how I figured out I was bi.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, though, the way women are shown in the media is horrendous, I agree with you on that. But what will change? The cycle of sex selling products or TV shows is too ingrained in society to change. What can change is the way we react to this representation in media.
As a kid, what would have been better for you is if an adult had explained that media is not reality. Awareness is key.
Good blog nekayla.
I agree that this standard media sets for women is definitely impactful and hurtful. Like you said, when I was younger I never thought much of the way women were portrayed through tv, movies, and music. It wasn't until we watched this video that I completely understood what media has done to me. I thought that what I saw was "normal," but I definitely am more knowledgeable after watching this film.
ReplyDeleteI think that for people who were isolated from media growing up they definitely developed different perceptions of women. I think another difference can be in how the oversexualization of women can affect both genders differently. For girls it probably has the effect you mentioned -causing them to care too much about their bodies and focus on some abstract standard of beauty as if it is the only thing they're good for. For boys I can see it causing them to see women more as sexual objects, instead of other people. I can't say I really know a better solution though, as the media isn't suddenly going to change overnight. Parents teaching their kids what is and isn't ok would be ideal, but can't really be forced.
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