I'm sure some will agree with me that today's society and culture has gotten a little bit out of control. I say that with sarcasm, with "little bit" being more like, ridiculously out of control. While I'm definitely not a proponent of reverting back to the conservative ways of the 1950s, I am upset on how raunchy our culture has become, particularly when it comes to women. Hollywood has been no help in providing young girls with healthy, strong role models, and has done a great job in further perpetuating stereotypes about race and gender.
Keep up the great work, you bastards.
The women's liberation movement of the late 60s and early 70s made great gains for us, women. We take it for granted today, of course, because I, personally, don't know what it is like to have someone tell me I can't do something because I am a girl.
And with the exponential improvement in technology over the past decade, social media and page cluttering advertisements have entered our lives, forcing us to consume media like we drink water.
And don't get me started on mainstream media. It makes women feel miserable about themselves. They've been successful in making us feel so vulnerable that we should take out that money we earn (from jobs and career opportunities an earlier generation fought long and hard for us) and spend it on junk, including, but not limited to designer labels, make up, shoes, purses, expensive underwear... the list goes on and on and on. The media tells women we need to be unrealistically skinny- to the point where we're about to look like we should hit the grave, not the runway. We should be tall and light skinned, and forgets about celebrating the diversity among us. We should wear pounds of paint, excuse me, I mean make up, to validate ourselves in society. Less is more, is really, what our motto should be when it comes to clothes. No wonder teenage girls dress up like playboy bunnies every year for Halloween. And those out-dated beauty pageants? Why are they still there? We should be long gone with contests based on looks and body figures. These are still broadcasted on television, and these companies have even taken the liberty to bring pageants to colleges across the nation. COLLEGES?!? These institutions are sanctuaries for learning and research, NOT pretty faced contests.
The mainstream media is even having us, for the most part, convinced that our appearance is what matters, nothing else. Beauty over brains in the message in an abundance of advertisements seen in teen magazines and movies. It certainly does not do well on reflecting the working women of today- nor do they seem to give us credit for having brains and interests not involving a man, with chick flicks vomiting up the same old theme of a single working women who has everything... except a husband... oh no!
And to quote from Mona Lisa Smile, "What will future scholars think when they study us?" I am embarrased to even think about what they would think about my generation.
After much ranting on a topic that has been bouncing in my head for awhile now, one thing comes to my mind to resolve this issue.
For one thing- mainstream media is corporate capitalism, and the capitalist system is pushed by our government, by our democracy. Call me crazy, but democracy is "for the people", so the government should thereby be for US. Not against us, not filtering our heads with the capitalist consumer propaganda.
Remedy? Here's my prescription: Be a conscious consumer. Be media literate. See degrading images of ourselves through a fish bowel, make it not part of your world.
DON'T BUY INTO IT. Conformity is contagious- The more of us who do it, the more of us who do it. Profits go down, and rauchiness and sexism will no longer sell.
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