Jennifer Siebel Newsom's Miss Representation

Ever wonder how hard women worked in order to obtain the same rights as men? Can you imagine being a female during the nineteenth century and marching to protest the right to vote? Throughout our history, the ability of women has been questioned. Many individuals view women as inferior to men and feel that women are incapable of fulfilling the roles that were originally designed for men. But, even now in the twenty-first century, women still face prejudice and are seen as simple objects. In the film, Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom focuses on how the media has influenced society’s perception of women and how this has effected the ability of women to pursue leadership positions. Newsom’s film persuades the audience that the media’s portrayal of women is inaccurate and must be addressed in other to prevent the objectification of women. Miss Representation focuses on the problems that women experience as a result of the media. For many years now, our society has become

Many of the people interviewed also shared facts, statistics or even personal experiences about the objectification of women. One important point that was brought up is that “a lot of advertising is based on making people feel anxious and insecure” (Newsom, 2011). As the film points out, this is a major issue because it sends the girls the wrong message. Instead of encouraging girls and women to be themselves and love their bodies, the media insists that they look a certain way. This often results in violence in which women and girls inflict self-harm while trying to perfect their image. Not surprisingly, the film notes that “65% of women and girls have an eating disorder” (Newsom, 2011). This is yet another result of the pressure that females receive from