The Media, Real Women and Gender Oppression

I think it is nearly impossible to reflect real life in a television or movie. The media, in general, makes reality so distorted that I’m not sure it’s even distinguishable in some cases. Take fake news, for example, it not only distorts our views of reality, often it gives straight misinformation. In movies, it’s impossible to represent the complexity of day to day life in less than a couple hours. Not only that, Douglas tears into the idea of the reality TV and how it really does not depict society or women. Shows like The Real Housewives, Jersey Shore, and Keeping Up With The Kardashian, just to name a few, have given young girls a completely unrealistic view of women and femininity. The ways women are pictured in the media continues to reinforce gender stereotypes that ultimately oppress us in society. They expose gender inequality when you look at the way these women are portrayed and sexualized. The saturation of powerful fictional characters in the media truly does give the illusion that we have reached a greater peak of ‘enlightenment’ than we really have. It’s clear that in the media women are portraying an unrealistic view of women and femininity. I think it’s unfortunate that the media makes it so difficult for young women to differentiate the glamor of Hollywood and acting compared to the real world. I don’t feel that the media adequately reflects women’s real lives because it’s impossible to capture its intricacy. The media draws attention to unconscious reminders that women, while they can be powerful, are still inferior to men.