Ok. First let me say that recently I watched the documentary, Miss Representation on Netflix Instant. It's about how women are portrayed in the media, and while it does get cheesy at points, over all I think it is well done. Now, I've seen a lot of these "women in media" documentaries, but this one hit me in a different way than others have. I think it's because it wasn't just your standard "all women in the media are skinny" type of documentary. I have noticed those documentaries seem to take on a very whining tone. They also seem to demonize skinny women and take an us vrs them approach. I won't even get started on the "real women have curves" issue. (umm hello! some "real" women have curves, some don't, some are black, some are white, some are tall some are short and on and on. We are all REAL WOMEN!)
Ok, sorry, I'm back to my point.
Miss Representation focuses more on Politicians and News Anchors and the way these women in power are portrayed. For example, Senator "woman" COMPLAINED that the bill... vrs Senator "male" STATED that the bill.... and that type of thing. This documentary spoke a lot to how women in "power" are constantly being pushed back to being defined by their sexuality, relationships to men, and their looks.
So, now to the Buzzfeed list. "11 Things Powerful Women say to Themselves." All but 2 of these "things" we should be saying to our selves are about the way we look; what we put in our bodies, or what we should do in regards to a guy. Ridiculous. Even the 2 things I am so generously saying aren't about image really are when you boil them down! The very first "thing," on this list, I will wake up motivated today isn't about looks per se BUT it is directly followed by an image of running shoes saying I will go to the gym! Ok, taking care of your health is important for everyone but as a "powerful" woman is my motivation in the morning supposed to be about working out so that people will think, "girl look at that body- yeah cause you work out" like the caption indicates?! Should it be about "spreading my sunshine"?!?!?!
The second potentially non-image based "thing" powerful women say; I will Dominate Any Task at Work Today. Cool! Great! Yay! Finally! But then I read the caption, which brings it down to being a "warrior princess" at work. I'm sorry but if this was a list about powerful men, it would not say "Does your boss know they have an office warrior prince on the payroll?" Come on.
I might be willing to be more forgiving if this article had been titled, "11 things to Say to Yourself Today" but it isn't, it is titled "11 things Powerful Women say to Themselves." And for that, this article gets an F-. As powerful women we have a lot more to say to ourselves and to the world than, go ahead and eat that cupcake.
Lady Bit Out!
I think that should be called 11 things powerful women do NOT say to themselves...or 11 things powerful women don't have time to think about...like taking "selfies"?? What the hell...2 of those have to do with picking up guys...or feeling good that your ex still wants you! And there are 2 that have to do with eating what you want...not that those are bad things to think about...but if you are making a list of only 11 things powerful women say to themselves...none of these should even make that list in my mind.
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