Macho Hollywood spawns dozens of blockbuster films every year, most with a predictable recipe of the following: million-dollar budgets, violence and loose women with cleavage, cleavage and more cleavage.
"Miss Representation," which was shown last week at the Reitz Union, is the refreshing exception. This must-see documentary unveils the media's vendetta against all things female, from advertising to the government, and the increasing sexualization and dehumanization of women.
The film features several influential women with even more powerful, positive agendas: Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Geena Davis, Rosario Dawson and Rachel Maddow, to name a few. These women speak of personal experiences of degradation and persuasion to change their appearance to the media's liking.
To label "Miss Representation" as a film stemming from the feminist movement would be misleading. The film is a well-rounded and bipartisan approach to showing viewers how women are being disrespected on a day-to-day basis and what the implications are on society as a whole.
The war of female appearance over accomplishments has come to its peak with the dawn of this media-saturated age. With more access to more TV shows and websites than ever, girls at an impressionable young age are exposed to a mistakenly superficial portrayal of the ideal woman: skinny, beautiful and willing to fulfill any man's needs.
Women, who comprise 51 percent of the country's population, according to the film, are holding much less power at the top of industries and government than should be acceptable.
Rising rates of depression and physical abuse are becoming a pandemic among young women who sacrifice their healthy body image for one that our culture finds acceptable.
Women are making slow gains in terms of influence. Only 17 percent of Congress is female, and the majority of the world's most profitable media industries only have a handful of women on the board of members. The inequality in the corporate world cannot be ignored.
The film does a fantastic job of pointing out that women are being held to a higher standard than men. In several TV segments shown in the documentary, women in power were constantly scrutinized for every outfit and hairdo, while also having to answer questions that would never be directed toward men.
One of the more resounding highlights the video points out is that we, as women, are our own worst critics. As women, we strive to mold ourselves into the picture-perfect woman, and we criticize other women who deviate from the norm or who choose to pursue goals that do not involve being on the cover of a tabloid.
"Miss Representation" made me aware that female degradation is a double-edged sword: Society teaches men at a young age to be masculine and to crave power and prestige. These shallow expectations are molding men into emotionless people who are taught from video games and action flicks to see women as nothing more than sex objects.
While I applaud RUB for showing this exceptionally well-made documentary, it is disappointing that last week's viewing was the first time "Miss Representation" was shown in Florida. I hope, however, that this will be the first of many thought-provoking films with little or no female degradation to be shown in the UF cinema.
Women should support films like "Miss Representation" that advocate better media portrayals of women. Change is possible, but realizing that women are being bombarded with sadistic messages is the first step to a more balanced, accepting world.
Colleen Wright is a journalism freshman at UF. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
