1. "Beauty and the Beat" by Justin Bieber
- lyrics: "show you off. tonight i want to show you off"
- images: women dancing on strip poles (1:21-1:33)
2. "Pie" by Julian Smith
3. Jennifer Lawrence quote
"I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”
Source: http://blog.fightthenewdrug.org/post/99504840786/dear-jennifer-lawrence-whats-up-we-are-writing
4. Meme
5. 10 Things I Hate About You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVZS5nTxh8- The sister who is interested in boys is portrayed as ditzy. (Right before she says the thing about sketchers, two boys watching her sarcastically comment, "She's beautiful and deep," as if the two can't exist together.) - The sister who is not interested in boys is portrayed as a "beast."
6. Victoria's Secret ad
- Google any of them. (I didn't want to post porn on my blog.)
Women are being represented as objects. If they're not beautiful or helpful they're "worthless." Justin Bieber sings about showing women off as if that's all they're for. His music video further emphasizes this as it includes large groups of women in not very much clothing. The Victoria's Secret ad similarly shows scantily clad women and it is made to be attractive and desirable. The ad wasn't designed for women. It was designed to be appealing to men. And as women see men attracted to that, they want to be like that. It harms self perception, and it results in women objectifying themselves. This can be seen in Jennifer Lawrence's quote. She thought she had to display herself for her boyfriend or else he would look elsewhere.
Women who reject the media's objectification are poked fun at and demonized. The meme suggests that women who stand up for women must all be the same and aren't media's idea of "beautiful." Kat in "10 Things I Hate About You" is literally called a beast because she wards off men. We learn the back story eventually that she was taken advantage of sexually, but even this gives girls the impression that if they don't roll with it, they will be cast off socially. Also, It is a common "joke" among men to say "Woman! Make me a... [insert food item]!" Julian Smith's video plays on this stereotype for laughs, but it is detrimental because although it's being used satirically, it reinforces the idea (and it comes from somewhere).
These messages will degrade girls' self-esteem. They will try to be something they think the world wants them to be when it's really a facade presented by the media and the media makers are predominantly men. The girls may then focus more on being "pretty" than on their education, worrying more about fashion than school. It will also affect how boys might treat them. Because of how they see men treating women in the media, they'll get the idea that this is okay and will reinforce it for the girls in their lives. They will not be able to encourage their potential if all they believe they can be is a pretty face or a sandwich-maker.
It's important for teachers to examine these stereotypes to know how to lift their students about what they see in the media. The teacher can introduce media that portrays women in a completely different way and have discussions about it. They can help stamp out stereotypes so that women aren't limited by the media's expectations of them and so that men don't limit women in their perceptions. It's also important for teachers to recognize these media messages in order to avoid reinforcing them, even in small, seemingly insignificant ways--like jokes.
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