http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QxDsPmxues
During class last week, we discussed the different way men and women can be discriminated in various situations. In the video posted above the the creator addresses the idea of sexism in the media. He gives us various examples in the media where women who are suppose to be everyday women are depicted as thin and beautiful. He gives the example of the show Friends who is the story of a group of friends and how they interact in their everyday home life. All the women in the show are thin and beautiful, and all the men are average looking men at an average weight. He also gives the example of The Simpson’s which is an adult cartoon show geared to depict an average family, husband, wife, daughter and son. The wife is displayed as very thin, with a tiny waist. The father on the other hand is depicted with a beer belly.
These different examples in the media are one of many. Everyday, when looking at media examples we are bombarded with situations where the women must be thin to be beautiful. This gives children the idea that they should potray these figures because these are the one’s they are seeing everyday. The media feeds us what they want us to intake. The media should be more careful about what they depict. It is not fair for the media to tell us that we should look this way because this is the average American women. They should encourage individuality and that all shapes are perfectly acceptable as long as your healthy and comfortable with yourself.
