If a group of 15-year-old girls were asked how they perceived themselves, their response might be something along the lines of “I hate my body; I’m nothing like the women in the magazine ads or the perfect, skinny celebrities on TV.”
These girls would not be alone.
In the United States, 78 percent of girls hate their bodies by age 15, as stated in “Miss Representation,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s documentary revealing the skewed perception of beauty in 21st century media.
The film was aired Nov. 3 for a group of eager American University students collectively sharing awe-inspiring moments throughout the compelling film.
According to the star-studded cast, including notable celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Geena Davis and Katie Couric, media shapes our lives and perceptions in terms of what beauty entitles.
But exactly how far reaching is this damage?
Interspersed throughout the documentary were interviews with high school students. As one of the students, Ariella, pointed out, “There is no appreciation for women intellectuals. It’s all about the body, not about the brain.”
Throughout the film, images of Jessica Simpson at the car wash in her bikini and a flock of damsels in distress — once again, you guessed it, in bikinis — running towards a man wearing Axe body spray, were juxtaposed with images of the few but distinguished women leaders, such as Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton.
By casting the images of scantily clad, objectified women versus powerful, macho men through the advertisements and television clips presented in the film, the viewer is able to grasp an understanding of the pressures adolescents currently face.
Boys grow up with the notion that, if a woman doesn’t have C-cup boobs, a round booty and a waist thin enough to fit your arms around twice, she just won’t cut it. In this day and age, being strong and smart simply is not enough.
Instead, women are measured against impossible standards. The images shown in the documentary also depicted the stereotypes in the television and movie industry: women are either scripted as the ditzy airheads seeking love, the aggressive bosses or the “fighting fuck toys” in action movies, as stated by Caroline Heldman, a politics professor at Occidental College in Calif.
Unfortunately, these images and convictions of women as sexual beings who should be judged solely on their physical appearance are all around us, and will not be suppressed unless more women disregard the stereotypes and instead focus on excelling intellectually.
A panel discussion followed the powerful film, which succeeded in evoking strong emotions toward the corruption of the media industry and common misperceptions of women.
Mariah Craven, director of communications and marketing for The Women’s Foundation, which provides resources for economically vulnerable women and girls, and Youngmin Yi, research and program assistant at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a leading think tank focusing on addressing women’s issues, spoke about the media industry from communication and fact-oriented perspectives.
Craven brought up an interesting point about advertisement images during the discussion — in particular Julia Robert’s recent Lancôme ad where her face appeared flawlessly airbrushed — in which advertising companies should have to label their images as Photoshopped or digitally altered, as to not further add to the unattainable “perfect image” that our society has welcomed with open arms.
