Last night I went over to JMU for a screening of the movie Miss Representation. It was all about the portrayal of women in media today, and while it was enlightening, it left me feeling depressed about the state of our society. It's hard to summarize the film's message without just going on a rant, but it talked about everything from violence against women to the fact that very few movies have female protagonists (and when they do, the main goal is finding love, from a man of course) to the need for good female role models to how this relates to hypermasculinity and men's "emotional constipation," as someone put it afterwards. One of the main points was the extent to which even accomplished, powerful women are judged so much on their appearance as opposed to what they've done with their lives. Some of the clips of newscasters and such really made me wonder how people can get away with saying the things they do. I know I hear a lot of questionable comments and let them slip without thinking much of it, but some of the examples were absolutely blatant sexism. Made me feel like such an angry feminist. It was a very good reminder that there is no reason the degradation of women needs to be acceptable or ordinary.
Watch the extended trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pM1fW6hNs
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