Is the Media Really Sexist?
Yesterday, a friend of mine sent me a provocative trailer for the documentary Miss Representation, which premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival and has since then had local screenings across this country. The film is about the media's overly sexualized portrayal of women and the harm that this causes to adolescent girls and boys, whose expectations of body image, sex, and how to treat each other is being manipulated by the pop culture (the film's argument goes). The movie, which was broadcast by Oprah's flailing OWN television network in 2011, has been reviewed to great acclaim, critics on all sides embracing its anti-raunch message of girl power.
Here's the trailer:
Miss Representation lays its ideas on so thick that it's hard to disagree with its premise, argument, conclusion, the whole shebang. We see a Sarah Palin interview in which she is asked about whether she has breast implants; we see a news segment referencing Nancy Pelosi's plastic surgery; we see the headline "Condi Rice, Dominatrix," accompanied by an image of the secretary of state wearing black leather boots. In another part of the film, images of anorexic models, nearly naked pop singers, and bikini-sporting Miss Americas flash across the screen, as we are bombarded with one frightening statistic after another.
Women, we're told, hold only 3 percent of "clout positions" in the media. Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population, and yet only 17 percent of Congress—putting the United States 90th in the world in the international ranking of women in legislatures (we have less women in office than China, Iraq, and Afghanistan). And finally, as professor Caroline Heldman of Occidental College explains, when girls and boys are seven years old, an equal number want to be president of the United States. By the time they're fifteen, the gap widens considerably. What a sexist country we live in! Or so we're left to conclude.
When I see these figures, I don't think "media sexism," I think that women are making choices about the kinds of lives they want to live. Take the example of women holding only 3 percent of clout positions in the media. That's undoubtedly a small number, but one explanation for the absence of female leadership in this industry is that by the time these already successful women are old enough to assume these high-powered roles, they're choosing to bow out of the market to raise children or to pursue other endeavors (their husbands are often as successful as they are, if not more so, meaning that the household can sacrifice two incomes for one).
On the issue of the presence of women in Congress, I read the numbers a little bit differently. If we have less women represented in our legislature that China, Iraq, and Afghanistan, then couldn't that be interpreted as a sign of the health of our society and the successes of feminism? Women here, unlike women in Afghanistan, have won their political and social battles. So they may be more interested in attending to the other aspects of their lives rather than running for office or even going to the voting booths to cast their ballots.
In terms of the number of girls who want to be president at fifteen, can't we grant that they may have changed their minds in the ten years that they have had to develop their identities as young women? I highly doubt that these girls are giving up dreams of the Oval Office for dreams of being a Victoria's Secret model. They probably have decided that being a doctor, teacher, or vet (that was my choice at fifteen) is more meaningful to them and suits them better than being president. Why the gender gap? Women tend to be more practical, compassionate, and less power hungry than men.
But all of this seems to be completely left out of Miss Representation. What we get is one-sidedly feminist. Comedian Margaret Cho complains, "The media treats women like [expletive deleted] and it's horrible. I don't know how we survive it. I don't know how we rise above it." Jean Kilbourne of the Wellesley Centers for Women, agrees: "No matter what else a woman does, no matter what else her achievements, their value still depends on how they look." White letters flash across the screen and we learn that "the media is sending a dangerous message to young people." Then it cuts to a young girl who bemoans the fact that "there's no appreciation for women intellectuals. It's all about the body, not about the brain."
Maybe I'm living in a different media world than all of the people in this film, but when I look at pop culture, I see a very different picture of women. Some of the most popular depictions of women in the pop culture today are not overly sexualized. To the contrary, women in today's media come off as smart, witty, and even frumpy (30 Rock), or incredibly successful, educated, and career-oriented (Grey's Anatomy), or in control of their households (Modern Family), or in control of their sexuality (Beyoncé's Single Ladies [Put a Ring on It]).
Of course there will be raunch and sex in pop culture, but that's not all that there is. For Miss Representation to blame media executives for sexualizing women, all in pursuit of a profit, is not only unfair, but it's a distortion of the facts.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Trace Urdan
I would not cast it in such judgemental terms Diane, as parenting is very hard work and these images and messages are everywhere. For example, the teachers at school gossip to my kids about Glee plot twists and American Idol episodes -- and these are good, responsible teachers. My kids are Giants and Niners fans which we condone, but that means seeing too many beer commercials.
But it is true that if your daughter's schedule is filled with homework and sports, there is very little time left over for nonsense. · 27 minutes ago
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far.
Sep '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
I like you analysis, Mark (as usual). I know that for me, since I've started interacting on the web (e.g., here on Ricochet) I watch much much less television (couple of shows a week and football). And your last point is very apt for my little girl: she never watched a television show where she wasn't also drawing or playing with Legos.
Mark Wilson
Or bad math. Never trust statistics unless you can examine their data. Even if you believe the individual numbers for TV, internet, and magazines, you can't just take the averages of several interdependent values and add them together. The kids who watch a lot of TV probably don't use the internet as much, for example. Or they do them all at the same time, like reading magazines while listening to music. · 5 minutes ago
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Good Lord, what's the matter with you people? Who wouldn't want to live in a world where Margaret Cho's idea of society has been completely manifested?
Sorry, personfested.
May '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Thanks Leslie! I did a little arithmetic on the back of this here envelope and they apparently arrived at 10h 45m by adding up all those weekly hours and dividing by 6.
Aug '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
James Lileks: Good Lord, what's the matter with you people? Who wouldn't want to live in a world where Margaret Cho's idea of society has been completely manifested?
Sorry, personfested. · 3 minutes ago
Womynfested - you brute .
Sep '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Especially since Margaret Cho's idea of herself is rather confused.
James Lileks: Good Lord, what's the matter with you people? Who wouldn't want to live in a world where Margaret Cho's idea of society has been completely manifested?
Sorry, personfested. · 1 minute ago
Aug '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
My fifteen year old sits in the tv room, with a macbook on her lap, cellphone in her hand, playing Call to Duty with the game headset attached. How she can manage to kill anyone is amazing, while texting, updating her status, and talking with her squad members in the game as they race thru battlefields ..
I am too impressed to be worried about media overload. Much less sensory overload. Didn't we yearn for sensory deprivation at some point in the 70s ?
Apr '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
(Allegedly) sexist media: #firstworldproblems
May '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Fredösphere
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far. · 44 minutes ago
Whoa Fredo.
Do you have kids? Perhaps you are homeschooling them when they are not churning butter or spinning with eyes cast down.
Mar '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Did *any* of those feminist women being interviewed go in front of the camera without makeup?
Of course not.
Blaming men is fun and easy, but image-obsession is a girl thing. I tell my gorgeous wife that I like her without makeup; she still puts it on. I tell my daughter to eat more: she still skips food to be thinner.
And I am quite sure that I am not alone: many men like their women natural - women, not men, want implants and facelifts.
Feb '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Trace Urdan
Fredösphere
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far. · 44 minutes ago
Whoa Fredo.
Do you have kids? Perhaps you are homeschooling them when they are not churning butter or spinning with eyes cast down. · 3 minutes ago
Boy Trace, you are so funny. Homeschoolers are so weird, ha ha.
Mar '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
The line "people cannot be what they cannot see" is so obviously and totally false (and depressing). Is this the justification for affirmative action?
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
It is also not credible. They are in school about seven hours a day.
Jul '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Mark Wilson
Or bad math. Never trust statistics unless you can examine their data. Even if you believe the individual numbers for TV, internet, and magazines, you can't just take the averages of several interdependent values and add them together. The kids who watch a lot of TV probably don't use the internet as much, for example. Or they do them all at the same time, like reading magazines while listening to music. · 1 hour ago
I don't know which study Diane is referencing Mark, but if it's this one, it does take multitasking into account. It also reduces for media used while at school.
Update: I should say it attempts to account for these things. I've only glimpsed through the methodology, I haven't really studied it.
Update 2: The 10:45 figure cited doesn't include multitasking. When that's accounted for it drops to 7:38.
Edited on Jan 24 at 11:14amMay '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
DocJay: "Don't you think that's sexist?"
"What's wrong with being sexy?"
Spinal Tap. · 1 hour ago
"Smell the Glove" one of Spinal Taps finest albums.
Sep '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Mama Toad
Trace Urdan
Fredösphere
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far. · 44 minutes ago
Whoa Fredo.
Do you have kids? Perhaps you are homeschooling them when they are not churning butter or spinning with eyes cast down. · 3 minutes ago
Boy Trace, you are so funny. Homeschoolers are so weird, ha ha. · 10 minutes ago
Wasn't it Rob Long who said on a Ricochet podcast that one of his gay friends who was watching Glee turned to Rob and said "these guys really have to dial down the gay."?
I'm just sayin'.
May '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Mama Toad
Trace Urdan
Fredösphere
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far. · 44 minutes ago
Whoa Fredo.
Do you have kids? Perhaps you are homeschooling them when they are not churning butter or spinning with eyes cast down. · 3 minutes ago
Boy Trace, you are so funny. Homeschoolers are so weird, ha ha. · 11 minutes ago
Knock that wart off your shoulder Mama, no one was attacking you.
I admire homeschoolers and am heartened by homeschooling as a growing phenomenon. But not because teachers in schools are watching Glee. And not for the purposes of shielding children from all outside cultural influence.
Dealing with the predominant media culture and making wise, informed choices in response to it is part of responsible parenting. Avoiding it is not. Dismissing a teacher's competence or value because she watches Glee refects an immoderate stance.
Jun '10
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Boys and girls who grow up without fathers, who grow up without ever witnessing a healthy marriage relationship, often don't achieve a complete emotional maturation. Emotionally, they remain teenagers. They also tend to drag their peers down with them. If consumers were more mature themselves, they wouldn't put up with all the garbage, and it would gradually disappear.
Feb '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
Trace Urdan
Mama Toad
Trace Urdan
Fredösphere
I'm with Diane. If the "good, responsible" teachers are watching Glee, then your baselines of goodness and responsibility have shifted too far. · 44 minutes ago
Whoa Fredo.
Do you have kids? Perhaps you are homeschooling them when they are not churning butter or spinning with eyes cast down. · 3 minutes ago
Boy Trace, you are so funny. Homeschoolers are so weird, ha ha. · 11 minutes ago
Knock that wart off your shoulder Mama, no one was attacking you.
I admire homeschoolers and am heartened by homeschooling as a growing phenomenon. But not because teachers in schools are watching Glee. And not for the purposes of shielding children from all outside cultural influence.
Dealing with the predominant media culture and making wise, informed choices in response to it is part of responsible parenting. Avoiding it is not. Dismissing a teacher's competence or value because she watches Glee refects an immoderate stance.
· 16 minutes ago
Fair enough. But the wart is actually on my nose, that thing on my shoulder is a toad.
Aug '11
Re: Is the Media Really Sexist?
I attended a screening of this movie a month ago at the request of several liberal arts professionals--I think they were hoping that, as a female IT professional, I'd be sympathetic (and help fund a related project). The trailer is a good representation of the movie--heavy on sexist imagery and very little on alternatives or potential remedies. Actually I timed it--one hour and seventeen minutes into the film, there was a quick flurry of recommendations ("turn off the TV", boycott Fox News!") for ten to fifteen minutes and then credits. I'm no expert on production values--I'll defer to Rob Long on that score--but overall, I thought the quality was pretty poor.
What struck me was how unrelated this material is to my life--both working in a male dominated industry and as mother of a now 24 year old woman. My daughter is a typical media consumer, but I can't imagine her internalizing this stuff--she's too busy working on her dive master certificate or the environmental cause du jour to be bothered.
You know that the producer/director is married to the lieutenant govenor of California?