Miss Representation Analysis

Every day, children, teenagers, and young adults are unconsciously exposed to hundreds of images of women and men that portray powerful messages represented through television, magazines, advertisements, the Internet, etc…However, the media manipulates society and creates a distorted reality that some may over look. The attitudes and behaviors of society are be greatly influenced by what is repeatedly shown to them. The documentary Miss Representation explores how the media instills a distorted reality by unconsciously educating women and young girls that their sexuality is what gives one status, thus under-representing the power that they actually have. This social norm is not only shaping how society views women, but how women view themselves. …show more content…
This gender schema is deeply embedded in our culture from historical and social influence. According to the book Women, Feminism, and Media, there is an “ideal image of femininity” through media representation. The media conditions society to believe what women’s roles should be by identifying stereotypical gender norms.
“As a 1979 UNESCO report put it, to the extent that television programming provides information and mirrors real life sex roles, its depiction of women is inaccurate and distorted … Entertainment programmes in all types of format emphasize the dual image of women as decorative object and as the home and marriage-oriented passive person, secondary to dependent on men for financial, emotional, and physical support” (Qt in Thorham …show more content…
Each group received 15 magazine articles out of popular fashion magazines, however, the first group received images with people promoting the products and the second received advertisements without people. The researchers used attractive and “thin-idealized” (Harper and Tiggmann) women to evaluate the participant’s emotions and reactions to the images. The research shows that these images are significantly affecting the body image and emotions of women, leaving them with “higher levels of state self-objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative mood, and body dissatisfaction than women who viewed product control images” (Harper and

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