What’s that up in the sky? It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s an assigned post! Wait….What?! Shoot it man! SHOOT IT!
Yes
folks, it is time yet again for another post about the wonderful
feminist propaganda that is “Missrepresentation.” (Also known as
the documentary we are watching in class. And yes folks, that pun was
fully intended. Just… just shoot me now.) The main focus of this
film is to highlight the ways various forms of media have objectified
and sexualized women. One of the main aspects of the film is the
continual use of statistics throughout the sections. Many of which
you can see here. Now,
the film does not actually give the sources for this information when
they appear on screen. In fact, you can see they have yet to complete
the full list online. Since I am a horrible skeptic about statistics,
especially in something like this that makes claims such as, “If
women do not take part in the decision making process in politics,
men will make the wrong decisions” I simply had to see how
accurately represented these sources were. See, the thing about a
statistic is you can manipulate it to support virtually anything, if
you know what to mention and what to leave out.
For
instance, one of the little facts they used was this one: “17% of
teens engage in cutting and self-injurious behavior”. I was
intrigued by the fact it used a gender neutral term
such as “teens” as opposed to “teen girls” or something
similar. Especially because the documentary is solely about females
and this information was given as evidence of the media’s negative
effects on females. So, I asked myself this question. How much
of this statistic actually relates to girls, or even to the concept
of body image? What are other causes of self-harm? And what I found
was very intriguing.
The
first thing I did was seek out their
own source (see
the link above for where I found it). The one they actually used to
get their statistic. Now,
I would like you to turn your attention to the little section titled
“Who self-injures?” Notice how they admit that not every single
study on the planet has found self-injurious tendencies to be more
common in women. It balances out the argument and reveals that men
can suffer just as much as women in this kind of situation. It also
goes on to list other causes for self-injury, that are unrelated to
how we view our bodies. So while this statistic can seem very
striking in the film, in reality it is only partially related to
that. The movie uses this statistic to create sense of urgency, to
make it seem as though the media is dangerously affecting the younger
generations. When you read the information behind the statistic,
however, it becomes much more ambiguous and detached. The sense that
the lower self-image created by the media is affecting teens in a
dangerous way also becomes less powerful.
So
what does cause self harm if not the media? Sources like the ones
here,
and here
are very helpful on this point. When reading these, we see that there
are many causes for this action. Stress, major changes, loss of
control, failure, anxiety, emotional emptiness, anger, there are many
things that cause self-injury. Yes, body image can be a part of this,
but it is not the only part, nor does it even appear to be the
dominate cause. A failed test can just as well bring on self-harm as
a bad reading on a scale. By implying that body image is the sole
cause of self-harm among young girls, it diminishes other very real
causes. It unfairly creates a sense that those other important problems are small
compared to body image. On top of that, it fails to mention how the
male half of the equation does not escape unscathed. Many of these
instances can also apply to boys just as well as girls. Ignoring them
diminishes their problems to a point of non-existence. It
misrepresents the facts to suit an agenda, and badly hurts the
credibility of the documentary for me. It creates a perception of
dishonesty, as they had to tactfully leave out important parts
to make their point. This is why when you watch a documentary, you should
always check the information presented. Especially if they do not
list the sources on film.
-BlackFox
(748)
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