I recently watched a documentary called "Miss Representation" and was quite impressed. There wasn't anything terribly shocking in it but seeing all of the little things that bother me about politics and the media put together into one film really affected me. Here are just a few of the statistics discussed in the film that resonated with me*:
"53% of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies. That number increases to 78% by age 17."
"In 2011, only 11% of protagonists in films were female."
"Women make up 51% of the US population... however women comprise only 20% of congress."
"35 women have served as US governors compared to 2,319 men."
Can we really be surprised at this, though? Look at just a sampling of recent films; women are portrayed as sex objects with no real goals except to "get the guy." I cannot open a magazine - whether fashion or decorating themed - without seeing unnaturally thin models plastered all over the glossy pages. Even a teen who is, by medial standards, well within the healthy weight range, looks much different than the photoshopped women that cover billboards and other advertisements. What a sad, sad world we live in.
I myself was lucky enough to grow up in a household where gender stereotypes weren't hammered into my head from a young age. I was allowed to play with whatever toys I wanted (including Hot Wheels and other "boy" toys), and went to work with my dad, a landscaper, often. I played outside, got dirty, and went through a phase where I didn't want to wear froofy dresses. All fine by my parents, who always pushed me to follow my goals and attend law school, even though historically the practice of law has been male-dominated.
I want my daughters to know that their value does not lie in their bodies or their appearance. I want to raise them to be strong, to go after what they want, and to not let gender stereotypes limit what they want to be "when they grow up." My daughter wants to be a stay-at-home mom? Wonderful! I was blessed with a stay-at-home mom and know what a job it was to raise us brats :) My other daughter wants to be the president of the USA, a fire chief, or a police officer? Equally awesome. I want to empower them to take control of their lives and not be impeded from joining male-dominated careers. I want them to know they have just as much choice regarding what they will become as their male classmates.
I struggle, even decades before I will have teenagers, with figuring out the best approach. How to I limit their exposure to sexualized media and empower them to be strong women? I don't think a completely sheltered approach is necessary or even helpful, but I also don't want them to think they need to become man-hating bra-burners either.
In all seriousness, though, I hate that I don't have a perfect "plan" or an answer to this problem. What I hate more though is that the society we live in requires to do so much damage control in order to raise strong, confident girls and respectful boys (I realize that teaching my boys about gender stereotypes and female sexualization is also necessary but that's a whole different blog post). Miss Representation has many excellent suggestions at the end of the film which I have filed away in my brain for the future. Honestly, all I can do is open the lines of communication with my kids and pray for the wisdom to teach them what's best.
What are your thoughts? Is the sexualization of women too dramatized? Or is it far more dangerous than portrayed? How do you hope to raise confident girls and respectful boys? I need more things to file away in my "future-parent-of-a-teen" section of my brain :)
* Source: www.therepresentationproject.org/statistics
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