Miss Representation

Newsom, Jennifer S, Regina K. Scully, Geralyn W. Dreyfous, Sarah J. Redlich, Jessica Congdon, Eric Holland, Svetlana Cvetko, Caroline Heldman, Condoleezza Rice, Dianne Feinstein, Dolores Huerta, Geena Davis, Gloria Steinem, Jackson Katz, Jane Fonda, Jean Kilbourne, Jennifer L. Pozner, Katie Couric, Lisa Ling, Meenakshi G. Durham, Margaret Cho, Martha M. Lauzen, Nancy Pelosi, Pat Mitchell, Rachel Maddow, and Rosario Dawson. Miss Representation. Sausalito, Calif.: Ro*co Films Educational, 2011.

Miss Representation is a documentary film which brings to light the way women are presented in the media by use of statistics, interviews, and critical examination of various media outlets. The film looks at the motives behind media representation and demonstrates how, following massive deregulations in the Reagan era, they became geared toward maintaining the economy and upholding existing power structures and established norms at the expense of representing actual reality to even a slight degree. In addition to this, the film shows the real effects which these limited portrayals have on the people who at this point have little choice in whether or not to consume media in one form or another. These effects range from mental anxiety concerning body image resulting self-abuse and shame, to the establishment of a standard perceived need for the regular use of beauty products. The film ends by making a call for action against the perpetrating media outlets.