Feminist critique of media representations of women in 'Miss Representation'

Miss representation is a program targeted at women which talks about many different issues such as genders, races, ethnic backgrounds, media views and religions. During the extract there were both advantages and disadvantages in terms of media exposing women. One advantage to media is the fact that women have a chance to speak their about their opinions and beliefs for example this can be done through the use of newspapers, TV, radio and the internet. The use of this will have a positive effect on women and make them realise the rights they have and both gender roles and the way you look doesn't matter. However a disadvantage of the media is the fact that they can manipulate the way women are portrayed and can put a negative view on the way people see women. As well as the media makes the rule that all women need to look perfect and must be a specific size and therefore makes everyday women have lose self-esteem issues and feel like they aren't perfect. The media also tells the public what a women should be and what they should do through TV programs, films and the news. Examples of this are pretty women, because i said so, The Notebook, Bride wars, confessions of a shopaholic. However there are films that portray women in a different way in a good way that are Thelma and Louise, The hunger games, Frozen, Lucy, suffragette, a league of their own. Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, Ellen Page are all examples of actresses that break the stereotype of women within their films. It’s also the case that most films don't even pass the Bechdel test (asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.) Only about half of all films meet these requirements, according to user-edited databases and the media industry press. The test is used as an indicator for the active presence of women in films and other fiction, and to call attention to gender inequality in fiction due to sexism.