Female Representation: How The Media Isn’t Supporting Half the Population
Imagine you’re a young girl, watching a new movie. The main character is a woman who always needs help from a man. She can’t do anything without a man fixing everything for her because she is so clumsy. You have noticed this in movies like Mean Girls, Snow White, and many more. But since the guy sees her as pretty, she ends up with him. You later find out she is a damsel in distress, a common trope depicted in film and TV. You feel uneasy watching this movie and might wonder, “Do I need guys to do everything for me?” or “Should I be a damsel in distress?”
Why should a young woman feel she must act a certain way to be liked? Many young girls are forced to think about their body image way before they are even in high school. A study done by the National Organization for Women states that 53% of girls at the age of 13 are unhappy with their bodies. What is causing these girls to feel this way about their bodies? Sadly, the root of it is female representation in media.
Many classic movies are not as amazing as they might seem. I, like many other young girls, watched the movie Mean Girls. The only thing that bothered me about this film was Karen Smith, one of the mean girls. Unlike her, all the other mean girls had a personality other than being “dumb.” The movie highlighted Karen as a dumb blonde who was only good for her looks. One of the lines in the movie by Janis Ian, who is one of the “loners” says, “That’s Karen Smith she is one of the dumbest girls you’ll ever meet.” Why does she have to be dumb to be the pretty one? It’s a common trope in films that is truly offensive. It makes girls think that they need to act dumb to be seen as pretty. In the whole movie she is only seen for her looks, but once she talks everyone laughs at her and she isn’t taken seriously. Even though this movie is trying to make fun of mean girls, why do women always have to be dumb? The film is trying to grasp an important idea but fails with the sexist female representation.
You may think that Mean Girls isn’t a recent enough example to show the sexist female representation in media, but many new TV shows portray this. An example of a recent TV show is Ginny & Georgia. Georgia the mom is portrayed as a gold digger because she was married to someone rich. An article by the Berkley Spectator states, “After an underprivileged childhood, Georgia becomes portrayed as a gold digger who scams men for their money. However, how does this illustrate women?” Since Georgia isn’t as rich as her husband and the men she dates she must be married or dating them for money. That tells young girls that if you marry someone rich it isn’t for love because you are just a goldigger. How in 2023 is it okay to express this sexist stereotype which is a show targeted toward teens?
It isn’t just movies that are lacking in female representation. The news, which is something most people watch every day, has a large female demographic. A study done by the Women’s Media Center states that women made up 44.7% of the local TV news force in 2019. Even though women are almost equal in this force to men, the women hired all look the same. Another study done by Texas University saw that 95.8% of female news anchors have straightened hair. Young girls will group up to think they have to look a certain way to be taken seriously. The women shown daily on the news don’t represent the different types of hairstyles people have. There needs to be more diversity to allow young girls to achieve their goals without thinking they need to look a certain way. This doesn’t allow the news to expand and diversify. It’s upholding beauty standards that most of America can’t follow, which is putting a new generation of women down, not bringing them up.
Even though some of this media may target younger women, it still affects how older women see themselves. These examples highlight the key problems in media. Whether it’s highlighting what the perfect body is, or not showing enough female representation. A study done by Stanford College states that 70% of women feel worse after looking at magazines. Why do women always feel pressured to look a certain way? Movies, TV, Music, etc. That should be something fun and a creative outlet. Social media keeps putting in women's faces that they need to look a certain way with perfect influencers that all look the same or videos targeted to get the perfect body. Doing something enjoyable shouldn’t consist of harmful body images.
Not only are movies, TV shows, and social media harming women's self-esteem, but video games also are. In a study done by Video Gamers in the United States, 49% of women play video games. Almost the same amount of men and women play video games, so why is it catered towards men?
Games like Grand Theft Auto show sexist female representation. The female characters all look the same because they are all skinny, which doesn’t represent the different types of female bodies. As well as the cover of these video games that highlight these unrealistic beauty and body standards. How is it okay for women to be seen only pretty if they look a certain way? Games are a way for people to escape work and take a break, but women can’t get a break. They are constantly being shown they aren’t pretty enough in all forms of media with unrealistic beauty standards that are unachievable. It’s unfair how women are being overlooked on a platform that they almost dominate. There are some games like Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Legend of Zelda which have good female representation. That doesn’t mean video game companies should stop creating video games like these.
In our society today it’s nearly impossible not to compare yourself. With images of unrealistic body standards being shown constantly in the media. It’s hard to escape this, harsh standard that is being put in women’s faces. Young women shouldn’t have to be told they are anything but perfect. As a society, we have to stop this cycle of unfair body and beauty standards that are made for one type of person. In doing so we should say words of affirmations to other women. Nobody knows what people are going through, and saying something positive to a stranger or a family member could make their day. We must also hold the media accountable for the horrible female representation shown. So many young girls now compare themselves to others, and that shouldn’t be the norm. What would happen if there were no more toxic beauty standards shown online and women felt confident in their bodies? We will never know until there is a change in female representation.