Talking Point #3

Generation M: misogyny in media and culture
Directed by Thomas Keith


Quotes:

        This film focused on misogyny which is the hatred of women. There were a couple of things that the interviewees said that stood out to me. The topic discussed was "Female Empowerment" and Nancy Grover stated "teen girls are bombarded by messages saying there is only one way to experience sexuality ... to be powerful is to exert some sexual power over men". This stood out to me because by society standards its true. We are taught that we can "control" men with sex and that sex is their weakness; which leads to the only way we can be in power is by hitting their weak point. One thing that sticks out the most to mean is the saying "pussy is power". I feel weird just saying it but its what is constantly repeated in the music I listen to and on social media. It is stuck with us females from a young age. We shouldn't be taught that we are only powerful when we are sexual, we should be raised that you gain power from using your brain, being smart not from sex just like the males are taught. Another quote from the film that stood out to me was when Palmer a famous plastic surgeon was being interviewed about cosmetic surgery and who he thinks influences women do it and he said "... it's not guys but fashion ... it's not attractive to men". I disagree with him maybe for that time being it wasn't attractive for men but in today's society it is. He says that the women see famous celebrities that way and therefore they want to become just like them. Why is that? Because they are liked and desired for what they look like which is fake like their big boobs and fat ass, men like that. So I believe it is influenced by men because they want to look "sexier" and beilieve by having big boobs its sexy or a fat ass. All over social media you can see this men retweeting all these models who have unrealistic bodies. The models have really tiny waists weigh like 100 pound but are like a DD and its clear that it's fake. Of course we shouldn't be doing things to please men especially when it comes to physically changing our bodies to please them but that's it's purpose. We are taught at a young age to please a man and that are looks are what define us. That's where it comes from and it's all connects back to pleasing the men. I'm not trying to bash men but this is a clear explain of misogyny in our society. Another quote that goes along with misogyny in our society is what JEan Kilbourne says when explaining the human qualities that as humans we are taught that are "feminine" only, "qualities that are considered feminine are compassion, empathy, nurturance, sensitivity, passivity, dependence, powerlessness". She goes on to explain that by telling girls that they are suppose to be dependant, passive and sensitive that we are like stuck in how we should act. But these qualities are just found in women but in men as well they are human qualities not gender specific. Our society praises masculinity and makes sure that there is an obvious contrast between what should be "girly" and what should be "tough". This society just can not accept women as equal to men and this film tried to point out these problems and educate us so we can try to fix it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-is-the-kind-of-bullsht-you-face-as-a-woman-in-the-music-industry_55df67fce4b0e7117ba93ec6

At the end by saying that we become the product and give into to this misogynistic society by buying certain magazines or video games that are demeaning to women it made me see it in another way. Although I don't agree with any of it all by playing GTA I guess I'm agreeing with it. So my question is how do we fix these type of things and make it be known how bad the problem is?