Mom Evolving

Miss Representation- A Powerful Message about Media & Our Kids

I first saw a trailer for this documentary on a Facebook post of a friend-

Miss Representation 8 min. Trailer 8/23/11 from Miss Representation on Vimeo.

After viewing it once, I was hooked. I had to watch it again. I even contacted my local theater venue to see if they would be willing to host a viewing. If you haven't seen anything about Miss Representation, I suggest you watch the trailer or visit the site www.missrepresentation.org- the message is that important.

According to the trailer, teenagers today consume 10 hours and 45 minutes of media a day. But what exactly are they consuming? What messages are they absorbing when they view TV, ads, movies, and other online content? As a parent of a school aged boy and girl, I like to think that I am fairly vigilant about what my children are exposed to. I realized after watching this that I have a lot more to do.

As a female I think that in some ways I have become immune to how women are so often portrayed on TV, in ads etc. that I no longer "see" the subtle messages. Yes, Toddlers & Tiaras is extreme, but what about the other, less overt degradation of women? Shows where women or girls are portrayed as "dumb" or solely focused on for their exterior appearance? These are the messages that have become so commonplace that I guess I simply take them for granted. I recognize my apathy and hope that it does not spread to either of my children.

For my daughter, I want her to see women as powerful- and not just because of their sexuality. I want her to realize her ability to do and be anything she wants, as long as she puts her mind and hard work into it. For my son, I want him to see women as valuable contributors to all aspects of society. I  hope that he will recognize and respect women's rights, intellect and beauty- hopefully in that order.

Society will not change overnight, but I vow to increase my vigilance and, where possible, will provide positive contrasts for both my children. Maybe one day advertisers will seek to pay for ads featuring strong, intelligent women- not just those who look good with airbrushing.

Life Lesson in the Oddest of Places

Driving back from our annual family vacation, my husband and our cousin passed the whopping 8 hour drive with the silly talk necessary from going crazy in a car packed with a very nauseous dog and two small children who really were not happy to be crammed in the car next to the dog crate.

As strange as it sounds, this is one of the profound memories that I have of the trip.  Somewhere around hour 4 we began discussing reality TV- the good the bad and the very ugly.  Our cousin, in from LA, gave us her insight on an episode of Top Chef where the two competing chefs had to make ice cream, only to find that the freezer was not operating correctly.  The one chef became very frustrated and spent a good deal of time (OK maybe edited for TV time) complaining, whereas the other devised a different solution whereby he froze the ice cream into smaller containers-thus reducing the freezing time.  So why is this so fascinating to me?  Because it is about life.

Life often hands you less than ideal situations and you can either spend the time and energy complaining about it or you can challenge yourself to use that same time and energy to focus on another way to solve your problem.  The latter of which is far more positive and productive.

This really resonated with me and tonight, at the dinner table when CJ was faced with a less than ideal situation and I said, "You can either sit there and complain about it, or instead think of a solution."  I made a few suggestions and we devised a way to accomplish what he needed to do an he was pleased at what he devised.  Now at 10:30 PM, long after the kids are finally asleep I am thinking about it again and how a simple life lesson for a child can also go a long way to reminding his parents of what is most important in life.