Montage Video Shows How Women Were Portrayed In The Media In 2014

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At the end of 2013 the Representation Project team put together an insightful and somewhat depressing montage video of all the ways women were portrayed in film and TV throughout the year. It was an overview of how far we have progressed, but also shone a light on how far we have yet to go.

Well guess what, in 2014, while there was a lot of great moments for women in film and media, there was plenty of regression and head-smacking sexist moments. For example, Sofia Vergara being portrayed as an objectified statue at the Emmy awards (pic above).

The Representation Project have a saying “Demand Better Media” because at this stage, we can’t go quietly into the night. And we are 110% on board with their mission, because it is 2015 and it is time that sexism and inequality weren’t the butt of jokes or commonplace in certain sectors.

While we don’t want to spend all our time dwelling on the depressing stuff, it is extremely important to be aware of what we are working with in order to make better conscious decisions going forward. For those of us working in the media, it is especially important to know that what audiences see will affect them on a subconscious level, and shape the way they view themselves and the world.

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If a young ethnic girl from a lower socio-economic background only sees older white men being elected as Prime Ministers or Presidents in every movie and TV show she watches, why on earth would she ever consider herself a viable candidate?

As Takepart.com points out, it is not just women who are victims of gender stereotyping, men cop it also. The reinforced notion that you have to be overly muscular, aggressive, dominant, play sport and treat women as less than equals hurts the many forms of real masculinity that should be celebrated, not restricted.

“While we have a lot to celebrate, some things aren’t changing fast enough. We all – men and boys, women and girls – must combat harmful stereotypes and demand better representation in our media and culture at large,” writes RP about this video montage.

“The media’s limiting stereotypes hurt all of us: women, girls, boys, and men,” said Jennifer Siebel Newsom, The Representation Project’s founder and CEO.  “The Representation Project exposes these harmful stereotypes fed to us by mass media and pop culture and asks the public to join us in challenging these dangerous stereotypes,” Newsom said.

Take a look at the video below and rather than allowing it to make you despondent, use it as fuel, and as a reason to not stop fighting for better gender representations in the media in 2015!

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