according to who?

the movie from class last week stirred up a lot of emotions for me. i left class having mixed feelings about what we had just watched. i agree that women are heavily portrayed as sex symbols and objects, but parts of the movie were somewhat disturbing. i am so glad that i have the gospel to guide me in the right direction and tell me who i am supposed to be and how i should treat myself. i'd be so lost if i had the media to depend on. according to them i should be unhealthily skinny, have flawless skin and perfect hair, wear expensive clothes but i'm also being told to be an independent/strong woman, a successful business woman, to not depend on and trust men, etc. neither sound like who i should be according to my heavenly father, yet both ideas are being shoved into my face from every angle. here are some thoughts i had about the movie...

-daphne zuniga was an advocate on this movie, yet in a tv show i watched (one tree hill-i watched somewhat faithfully...a little embarrassed to admit) she was mostly portrayed as the hoochy mom who was a successful business woman, divorced, and so worried about looking young, stylish, and having sex. i know she was just playing the role of "victoria" but you'd think if she felt strongly enough about the portrayal of women in the media that she wouldn't have taken that part. i found it slightly funny that probably many of the women (or at least the celebrities that were featured) had gotten plastic surgery, spent thousands on clothes and salon visits, and cared a lot about their appearance. i could be wrong, but that's my assumption. 

-the other women that were featured on the show appeared to be normal-no work done, showing who they really are-but the message i got from what they were saying was that unless i become the ceo of a company or run for president, i will not be considered successful. what about the women who want to be stay at home moms? they're implications of what determines a successful woman was degrading to those who don't feel the need to aspire to be the next president of the country. they went on and on about how brainwashed we have become to feel like we need to look a certain way but in a sense they're trying to brainwash us to think that we need to act a certain way. 

-it is so sad and wrong how women are portrayed in the media. this negatively affects us women but i loved that they pointed out that the media does not make it easy for men to respect women. we shouldn't just be worried about the media affecting women and their self esteem. the media is affecting us all-women, children, men-and that's something important to be aware of.