This week’s reading basically paints a picture of older people, especially elderly women. Instead of emphasizing their great value and their many contributions to society, the chapter makes them sound worthless. It is important in my opinion to realize that the older you get the more experience you have and the better suited you are to make more experienced decisions. I agree that TV makes old people seem weak and vulnerable but I strongly disagree with this view(1).
In many TV shows all of the older ladies are made to look like useless members of society who have no input in discussions and are more often than not on ust asked a question but their information or explanation is never followed. This is manifested because media depicts women as sex objects and subservient to the more dominant male figures and the media creates a myth that once a women reaches a certain age, they will no longer be able to achieve beauty.The fact that our society focuses on external beauty, which we cannot control rather than internal beauty. If women are not made to look like old decrepit ladies, they are often made to look like the typical annoying mother figures that are constantly nagging and getting on their child or husband’s life just like in everybody loves raymond with Marie who is Ray’s mother. Despite the constant bashing and indirect formulation of stereotypes of women on television shows, there still exists women in powerful roles such as Judge Judy who is a very respected and powerful woman who has a respected job. She not only has her own television show be has numerous other accomplishments in her life. Unfortunately these types of women are not usually shown on television because they are not as entertaining as the silly “dumb old lady” characters that are more popular on mainstream media(2).
In society today certain images and stereotypes are reflected on women everywhere. Women are pressured to have hard bodies and silky hair, along with sparkling white teeth and abs of steel, but where do these stereotypes come from? Is it from the books they read or the schools they go to? Or maybe it’s from two of the most popular forms of media today; movies and television. Everyone is supposed to look like Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears or Jessica Alba.
Millions of women are gathering around the television set to soak in negative images of themselves and others. Females are subjected to millions of half-naked women with perfect bodies, sparkling personalities, and flawless faces. Younger females feel insufficient, and older females fear aging. This image of the “perfect” person is not only very desirable, but also extremely unattainable. The television industry has successfully convinced American women everywhere that there is something wrong with all of them, either their teeth aren’t white enough, or their hair isn’t shiny enough. The major television corporations sell their products by convincing consumers they have imperfections which can be easily fixed by buying something; usually something that they are selling. For example, if you are slightly overweight you buy weight loss pills or shakes, and if you have wrinkles on your face you buy anti-wrinkle cream, which by the way does not exist. the following video just proves my point.
I think that we need to change the way that we view the media, as well as change our ways. We would have to start looking at the media in a critical perspective.We should not always beleive everything that we see, we can not always act like a sponge and just simply soak in everything that we see only to later spit out the same and copy what we have seen. The women would have to choose better idols not follow them because of their looks but follow then for what they have done such as their accomplishments, its time for change in the media. Dont you think?
1.http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/media2002/reports/OP3Sanders.PDF
2.http://darlinggender.blogspot.com/
