Don’t let the TV fool you
Whether we know it or not, television plays an integral role in the life of the average American. Whether it was back in the 1960’s where families would gather around the single television set in the family room and soak up their favorite nightly programs, or today, where we watch everything on the go or after the original airing date and time. TV and its programming follow us everywhere. As we know by now, every new technological invention undergoes their 4 stages, and eventually end up undergoing digital convergence, meaning the same product is available in many different forms and means of access. Television undoubtedly followed this pattern of convergence as we traveled from one screen (the original family-room television), to three screens (viewing television programming on the internet via network websites), and beyond with the use of smart phones, tablets, and other media capable devices (Campbell 199-200). With TV being constantly and easily accessible at our beck and call, we as media consumers have a lot of power over what we watch and when or how much we watch of it. But the converse, that media controls its media consumers, holds true as well since the media successfully and repeatedly exposes them to various hegemonic and mainstream ideas and advertisements.
Miss Representation, a Netflix documentary, effectively depicts just how the media controls its media consumers, and beyond, by manipulating society’s depiction and representation of women and/or femininity. Not only does this affect girls who see themselves as imperfect because of the media’s high standards, but it also teaches boys to prefer and seek out girls who look like the ones on the media (which is nearly impossible) and put down those who do not represent the media’s idea of the perfect woman. From extreme photoshopping in magazine advertisements to the portrayal of the “bitchy” woman boss, Miss Representation reveals and emphasizes all the atrocious and violent misrepresentations of women in the media. How does the misrepresentation of women relate to television? As aforementioned, with the immediate and constant access of television media at our fingertips, women and men are constantly bombarded and influenced by media messages regarding women, their image, and their desirable traits.
Today, an increasing number of girls struggle with self-esteem and body image as a result of their portrayal in the media. A primary example of the deliberate portrayal of women as over-emotional, drama filled, unintelligent members of society is the documentary’s segment on reality TV. In this portion of the documentary, we see reality star women throwing punches, spitting in each other’s faces, having ditzy moments, and crying hysterically. With this being the primary manner in which females are depicted on television, women develop the idea that this is how they’re supposed to behave if they’re going to be approved by society, and if they fail to behave this way they will be deemed imperfect or not good enough. Additionally, men learn from these programs that this is how women should act, consequently favoring women who behave over-emotionally and under-intelligently. Up until more recently, plus sized women or even average sized women were rarely depicted, teaching men and women that the desirable woman’s figure is a size zero and has no curves, stretchmarks, dimples, or imperfections in general. From this representation, young women and teens learn that the only way to achieve such body results is to starve themselves. Every day more and more young women develop eating disorders to try to compete with society’s imposed idea of the perfect woman.
Why the sudden rise in body image and self-esteem issues if television has been around for decades? As we’ll discover, with the evolution of television came the evolution of women’s representation in the media. Since the majority of people have easy access to media outlets they are constantly exposed, whether subliminally or consciously, to the current idea of what society deems to be a perfect woman. 50 years ago when families watched TV for an hour every night, females did not share the same experience. Back when television was recently emerging, networks consistently aired family friendly programming so that families could partake in this activity together. This means there were no Girls Gone Wild or Teen Mom shows to influence young girls’ behavior and image. These types of shows probably had yet to exist because they were not appropriate for children. Furthermore, while watching certain programming for an hour a day can certainly influence a person’s thoughts, ideas, and behaviors, it does not have nearly as large an impact as a person who watches that programming for an hour on their TV at home then re-watches it again on YouTube, then scrolls through social media for hours or even days and sees commentary on what they’ve been watching. Accompanied with easy access to social media, society members no longer have fear of filtering their harmful words and thoughts, contributing to the problem. With more and more programs focusing on a negative portrayal of women, it doesn’t take much to find yourself in contact with a deliberate representation of a woman. So with the overexposure to media, not only does the longer and more frequent exposure time contribute to the skewed perception of how women should be, but also the different programs women are exposed to, compared to the family friendly ones in the 1960s, can make a difference in their self-perception and actions. Instead of just a handful of reality TV shows to choose from there are now dozens upon dozens, increasing the exposure of women and men to this faulty and harmful representation of women. Aside from our nation’s history of patriarchy and misogyny, the media has largely contributed to the diminishing of women and their body image. We as media literates should be mindful of what we’re viewing on television, or media in general, and be able to think critically enough to know that the representations of women in the media are more often than not a misrepresentation.
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