Sexism can be found everywhere, but it is incredible how it is so present in media and there is an actual hierarchy, for me this has been a shock after another, not because I´m innocent, but because I have been so optimistic for so many years that I thought things actually have changed since my mom told me how it was when she was younger or even when my grandmother was young. It is not just about what we get to see, but also what happens behind the scenes. I found a quote from a woman in the "male-dominant media":
" The reason you see us on TV is so you don't notice our absence in the room marked 'executive producer' or 'CEO' or 'network president'...You get to a certain place where you would reasonably expect to that the next executive producer job will be yours, for example. Then you see younger, less qualified men promoted over you. It's much harder for the women on the management side that it is on the air." Linda Ellerbee, she's a journalist who has done several jobs on NBC News, including Washington, DC correspondent, also host of the Nickelodeon network's Nick News.
Women do not just exist to serve a man, a family, put everyone´s needs first, and be happy with that. NO! Wolf says "In fact, 61 to 85 percent of women, a 1944 survey found, ´certainly did not want to go back to housework after the war´" (Page 63).
Power, to me, is such a contradicting and complicated word, everyone wants it but not everyone can have it, therefore there are haters that will hate on the ones who have it, but will be scared at the same time. Many, if not all of us, feel incomplete when we don't have control or power. Sadly, even in the 21st century, there are still so many boundaries for women, that even when it comes to having the same job as a man, such as a CEO of a company, women should wear heels, why? Because it makes them taller, and since it isn´t enough that they studied and worked striving for the same position, it is not enough, it never was, but it hopefully will be in the future.
Have you noticed how in sports women are not as recognized as men, even though they train just as hard as men, they still have to wear almost nothing and "be sexy" and "desirable" so people watch them and pay attention to them. Don´t you think this is getting a little "old" and that men should get over themselves? It´s definitely time to be equal, are we ready for it?!
When it comes to racism we all have experienced some sort of discrimination. But it is also present in ads that surround us. I don´t watch T.V. but even when we look at many T.V. shows, there are all the white guys and girls, and the one black guy. How come there is always ONE woman (smurfette principle) and ONE black, ONE asian or ONE hispanic person? I see it in cartoons and I don´t even think much about it, but after being in this class, I think about everything twice, and I´m surprised every time I find new things to complain about!
Take a look at this:
Women are always being compared to this unrealistic criteria just like Anthony J. Cortese said in "Constructed Bodies, Deconstructing Ads: Sexism in Advertising."
"The perfect provocateur is not human; rather, she is a form or hollow shell representing a female figure. Accepted attractiveness is her only attribute. She is slender, typically tall and long-legged. Women are constantly held to this unrealistic standard of beauty. If they fail to attain it, they are led to feel guilty and ashamed" (Page 54).
Unrealistic standards that women are supposed to follow? This is probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard!! I am a woman, and I do most definitely disagree with this! Thanks to a strong mother and a father that knew how to balance things out while raising me, I wasn´t necessarily influenced by advertising as much as others might be. I am thankful that I have my ideal of how I am supposed to look and feel good about my self, no matter if I meet those "unrealistic standards" or not.
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