Film Miss Representation and Sociological Concepts
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Film Miss Representation and Sociological Concepts
Sociology pertains to the study of society and its various aspects, such as relationships, interactions, and generally, the way of life within it (Ritzer & Wendy, 2019). It focuses on individual persons and how their character and personality are influenced by interacting and socializing with others. As represented in the documentary, sociology also focuses on how personal decision-making affects their interaction with those around them. Sociology addresses sex and gender, culture, socialization and interaction, body health and medicine, deviance and crime, global inequality, and many others.
Socialization and interaction
The Miss Presentation film challenges how both men and women meet at their workplaces, searching for better lives, but women remain culturally pressed down. The efforts to rise through the hierarchy of leadership are neutralized by culturally-held stereotypes suggesting that women are symbols of beauty and that males are a symbol of power. The men are also recognized and presented as more privileged in society by being accorded priority in various opportunities.
Men who have acquired high levels of living standards take advantage of the less privileged ladies to their advantage. They miss-use them and others by harassing them sexually, and there is no one to fight for these ladies’ rights. When it comes to interactions, women are expected to represent themselves in a given way. This also makes them unable to fight for their rights even if they can do so. They are covered by a sign of weakness in all angles of life. All stakeholders disregard Their value in society instead of being empowered and advanced in their gifted fields.
Sex and Gender
The movie pictures women as a sign of beauty and is judged based on their looks and appearances by using statements such as “you can’t be what you can’t see.” This gives them a sense of self-worth, and instead of the society working to improve their way of living to make them feel more valued, they end up being sexually harassed. The media portrays the women as wicked and poorly behaved, yet it is how they are taken in society. Sexism is institutionalized, and women are subjected to sexual violence in their teenage life. From their childhood to their development to adulthood, they are given the sense of being subjects to the men and since this becomes inbuilt, changing them becomes the biggest problem.
Masculinity is taken as the symbol of smartness, power, and strength and is presented to them from childhood to adulthood. This gives them the urge to move on with the same strength without any compromise from anyone. Even the few women who manage to be in leadership give men more privileges than their fellow ladies. This increases the domination by the men. Several groups have currently come up with movements to fight for the ladies’ value in society. They develop strategies to make the women value themselves, hence helping them grab some benefits from society. This documentary film is also helping in breaking the beliefs and myths in the current society.
Culture
The film reveals that most communities have beliefs and myths that women are a sign of submission and no authority. These beliefs form their traditions are held firmly, and going against them is considered a crime. Any attempt to contravene them is often punished, creating a sense of fear in everyone who thinks of fighting for the girl-child. Even in politics, some communities do not allow women to hold even a single position as only the men are seen as the symbol of power and strength. Their voice and contribution are not considered at any point, “it isn’t what the woman has to say but rather how she looks saying it that matters most in our society.” The elderly people in these communities warn the girls, especially in their teenage, not to try to compete with the men and fear a rule in them.
As a plan to change this society, the film brings in a dialogue concept that is meant to change how these people consider young women as and how they address them. The young ladies are talked to about the value and power they can hold if they all come together and embrace change. They are urged to come forward and express their potentials in terms of skills and talents. Challenging questions are posed to them as a tool to change their way of viewing and responding to things. In the film, festive programs are held, and some competitions take place, and the winners are also awarded. This brings in the sense of leadership models in women that aims at transforming the whole society.
Body health and medicine
The issue of body and health comes with the eating disorders resulting from the lifestyle that one has chosen to have. The women were first considered tools of bearing and nurturing children and were supposed to know nothing beyond that. Therefore, their life revolved around the kitchen and the compound. This makes them have health disorders resulting from overeating with no enough exercise as required by the health department or even the inability to eat well due to the pressures and stresses that come with nurturing kids. The challenges of handling the kids have all been left to the women, which affects them most.
Every parent be it the man or the woman, should be equally responsible for bringing up the kids. This will help prevent overweighting the women’s side and giving them some time to consider their health. This will also help them be very careful about their eating habits, leading to eating disorders. The medicine to curing ones eating disorders is managing his/her eating habits. Other conditions in women can come up due to the violent treatment that they are getting from society. For example, a woman who undergoes violence in marriage may develop disorders as a result of stress.
Inequality
Inequality has mostly been portrayed in Newsom’s film and has emerged as the central theme in it. The fact that the men are more favored than the women in the society have ruled the film. All the efforts are made to ensure that women are getting their rightful position in society. The film aims at ending beliefs that women must always be inferior to men, and the men must always take the lead in everything. The women are now being nurtured to a better level of self-awareness to know their value in life.
Men mostly hold good earning jobs, subjecting women to unprecedented levels of income marginalization. Essentially, no job is meant for men or women gender; thus, women should be granted such opportunities to earn their own money and develop themselves. The policymakers should also hold equality as an issue that could also be a tool for development. Even the government it’s observed that men occupy more than seventy-five percent of the positions. This is a crucial issue that should be addressed by bringing up great women leadership role models.
Conclusion
The documentary has perfectly presented the strategies and importance of embracing change in our society. It has given sense to empowering of young ladies to empower and develop our communities. Therefore, all leaders must support the equality achieved in our societies and ensure no gender is discriminated against. The women should be given equal opportunities as the men, and leadership should be made available to anyone with such potential and skills. No one should be looked down upon due to factors such as gender, sex, or appearance. Ladies should be equally considered as gents in society right away from their childhood. Everyone should be regarded as worthy and able to acquire what he/she desires in life regardless of whether they are male or female.
References
Ritzer, G., & Wendy, M. W. (2019). Introduction to Sociology. SAGE Publications.