english.... due in 10 hours...... essay...... read first!!

Running head: Misrepresentation of Women in the Media 1

Misrepresentation of Women in the Media 4

Misrepresentation of Women in the Media

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Misrepresentation of Women in the Media

Women have been considered inferior human beings in the human race for a long period of time (Mary, 2017). Their roles had been limited to that of a housewife in the recent past. This has however changed, women are currently afforded equal statute to that of men in the society. The United States law on gender equality recognizes each gender and gives equal opportunities to each of one of them (McBride, & Parry, 2016). There has been however an emerging trend in the media that has returned women to some form of slavery. The media has presented women as objects of beauty. Jean Killerbourne convinces the audience of ‘Miss Representation’ that the media has been the tool that has fostered the misrepresentation of women through the use of the following methods: Statistical analysis, real-life scenarios, and specialist in given fields to justify this proposition.

Women have been depicted to be of value only if their body matches up to that of a model. The media has painted a conventional body style that a perfect woman must-have for her to be considered as valuable to society. This has caused several women to resort to outrageous habits in order to fit into society. Anorexia is a common symptom associated with most ladies who want to cut their weight and body size in order to fit into the perfect woman size. According to the statistics in the documentary, 53% of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their body increases (Killerbourne, 2011). This proportion increases to 78% as the girls grow to 17 years of age. In addition to this, about 65% of women in the US have an eating disorder. These statistics show how media has influenced women in society to try and match the model's body size and shape.

Some women have changed their lifestyles in order for them to seek approval in society. Presently, the world measures people on the basis of their education level, wealth among other things. Women, however, have had a lot of difficulties finding approval through these common measures that are generally used by most people. This is because the media has set a different measure that is only queer to them. Women must be attractive and beautiful for them to find approval in society. In the documentary, Jean displays the life of a single mother who was well educated and self-sustaining but still could not be at peace and respected by other people (Killerbourne, 2011). This made her change her lifestyle and try to look beautiful so as to get approval in society. Also in the documentary, young girls at school are going through a hard time coping with others and being accepted. They have to make themselves take after a particular way as displayed in the media on girls who are their peers. Failure makes them rejected at school and unwanted by others. This shows that media has successfully contributed to misrepresenting women in society.

Expert analyses in the field related to gender and human psychology agree that media has contributed to the misrepresentation of women. In the documentary, the chief executive officer (CEO) of sense media agrees to the proposition of the damage the media has done to women and the girl child (Killerbourne, 2011). In his analysis, he states that on average a girl child gets fully developed to think and behave like a woman between the ages of 18-24 years, however, due to the influence of media, children between the ages of 8-10 years are thinking and behaving as like adults. Media has made the girl child develop a wrong perception of his position in society at a very young age. This has made most of them live by those traits and get comfortable because it is what was instilled in their minds from time to time.

In conclusion, the media has done a great role in misleading a lot of women. Most women find themselves in tough positions that make them resort to outrageous characters so that they can blend in society as approved by the media. A lot of counseling should be done on women and the girl child to enable them to understand that they are not slaves to the media approval of how they should be. Also, the media should be used to send a different campaign that cherishes and bestows relatively equal approval measures to the men.

References Jean. K. (2011). Vimeo. Miss representation (available at https://documentarylovers.com/film/miss-representation/) Mary. (2017, September). Importance Of Women In The Society. Retrieved from WForum: https://women-s.net/importance-of-women-in-the-society/ McBride, D. E., & Parry, J. A. (2016). Women's rights in the USA: Policy debates and gender roles. Routledge.