Sexism in the Media

I recently watched the a documentary called MissRepresentation.  MissRepresentation was created by Jennifer Newson and in the film countless individuals talk about the current situation of sexism in the media. I was inspired by the film and felt that I needed to do some research on my own.

MissRepresentation Trailer 

The first thing I researched was sexism in advertising.  In the film 'Mona Lisa Smile' I remember Julia Roberts character talking about the way advertisements portrayed women.  Advertisements would specifically state that women were meant to be in the kitchen.  So what were some of the most scandelous advertisements from the early 1900's?  Here's an article that I found on Vintage Advertisements : http://www.amusingplanet.com/2010/09/45-vintage-sexist-ads-that-wouldnt-go.html But here are a few that caught my eye: 

So has advertising today changed at all?  Sure it's not as up-front and in your face as these old advertisements, but it's still there.  Here's an article from the most offensive ads of 2012: Advertising Fails 2012 and I do believe that my most favorite out of all of these is the commercial that dumbs down science enough so women can understand it: 

In the film MissRepresentation, I believe Lisa Ling, executive producer and host of OWN's "Our America" said it best "As a culture, women are brought up to be fundamentally insecure and always looking for the time when that knight on a horse will come and rescue us or provide for us."

I believe that there is a problem that we as a culture are facing.  The United States is 90th in the world when it comes to the number of women in state legislatures.  Girls today continue to have distorted body images about what is perfect.  I whole-heartedly believe that women need to stop dumbing themselves down and start remembering the women who fought so hard to get us where we are today.  Inspiring women such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou and many others.  These women are the women that we should be celebrating.