Women's Issues

Where do we draw the line?

            Media has a major impact on how society views itself and it also influences standards people use to judge each other. Society today spends at least 31 plus hours a week on media sites like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Kik to name a few. People further spend about 17 plus hours listening to music and about 4 plus hours reading magazines weekly (Miss Representation). Often when reporters, journalist, and broadcasters have an opportunity to present news in a positive influential light, they choose to take the more entertaining role than quite often is negative.  Real life expectations can be especially hard on women due to the ever rising expectations for the perfect woman brought on by media displays. The message of mainstream media today seems to be that woman equals sex symbol. Women are multifaceted and gifted. They shouldn't be forced to drawn a line to be accepted by society.

Medias’ presentation of women hints and screams that to be intelligent and proficient is not enough.  Cory Booker Mayor of Newark, New Jersey stated, “Young women look at how Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin were treated during the presidential races and may now be discouraged from running for major political offices.” During the 2008 Presidential races, people seemed to be more concerned about what the female candidates clothing, appearances, and mannerisms than the context of their message. Hilary Clinton faced attacks based on her gender (Lowen). The 2008 Presidential races were historical in various ways. One historical point of the 2008 event was that there was a female candidate for presidential and vice presidential offices.  A Boston Globe reporter noted that Hilary Clinton, a previous New York senator, “had a remarkable resume and an enormous network of political supporters and donors” (Miligan). Hilary once stated ``I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas,'' but instead pursued a career in law while my husband was in the governor's mansion” (Miligan). To the contrary Jezebel.com posted its headlines as, “Hilary Clinton's presidential poker face is completely Inscrutable.”

In the documentary Miss Representation, it displayed various ways that women are tainted in society and media these days.  Some alarming statistics according to the documentary Misrepresentation are that: “53% of 13 years olds are not happy with their bodies, 17% of female teens engage in self-mutilation behaviors, 20% or more teens have premarital sex, 1 in 18 men are in jail and 70% of women in the work force are mothers.”  While parents are working to provide for their families, latch key children are left at their own discretion to watch the negative images of drama, violence, and sexualized scenes on television for entertainment. According to the American Psychological Association, there is a direct link between watching TV violence and displaying real violence. It seems like every other day that there is a news headline with some type of violence that was instituted by or involved children. Who is responsible for this increase in juvenile related violence, bored kids, over worked parents, poorly filtered TV shows? 

Do media broadcasters have a responsibility in what it presents? Or is main stream media just giving people what they think they really want? Yes, in the United States of America we do have freedom of speech and freedom of press (Constitution). Freedom is having a right to choose. Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in this world.” The United States is a country built on a foundation of values that include freedom, justice, equality, peace, capitalism, brotherhood, hope, hard work, and success to name a few.  There is an old wise saying that verses; “anything worth having is worth its cost.” However, popular society at some point must ask its self, at what cost is success worth.

Hagans 4

Works Cited

Carlin, Diana B., and Kelly L. Winfrey. "Have you come a long way, baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and sexism in 2008 campaign coverage." Communication Studies 60.4 (2009): 326-343.

Lawrence, Regina G., and Melody Rose. Hillary Clinton's race for the White House: Gender politics and the media on the campaign trail. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010.

Lowen, Linda. About.com Women’s Issues May 5th 2008

Miligan, Susan Boston.com, Hillary Clinton enters 2008 presidential race

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff  |  January 20, 2007

Newsome, Jennifer. http://www.missrepresentation.org/