film analysis - Miss Representation

The difficulties that women in leadership must overcome in America are discussed in the movie Miss Representation. The film explores the underrepresentation of women in positions of leadership. Although women make up 51% of the population, just 17% of them are elected to Congress. The movie describes media as a messenger and a message as well (Barlow and Hannah 205). The media has had a big impact on how women are leading in America. The media denigrates women, making them feel less than. Miss Representation identifies the difficulties faced by American women in management, the ethical problems that arise, and solutions to the problems.

The first challenge that women in influential positions face is the absence of role models. It is not possible to be that which you cannot see. Most people would probably agree that leadership is considered masculine (Lee and Jessca 43). Women who aspire to be in leadership positions are discouraged from pursuing their goals. People associate negative aspects of power with the few women who are in high places. The ethical problem that arises here is called the principle of autonomy (Dewey and John 70). The policy dictates that personal choices concerning one’s life should be respected. Therefore the women who have a desire to be leaders should be accorded the respect they deserve.

The second challenge facing women governance is media. Reporters in the film tend to overlook how the female politicians look instead of their achievements. In most cases, folks do not appreciate the female leaders. Journalists make the female leaders less potent because they associate them with beauty instead of their brains (Barlow and Hannah 67). Hillary Clinton once complained the reporters should avoid using demeaning words like cute, shrewd and pretty. Some of the commentators use abuse words for example; bitch when referring to women in leadership positions. The reporters should uphold the principle of beneficence which encourages people to bring about good in all our actions (Dewy and John 39). Media can be used to awaken people and change their way of thinking in regards to women leaders.

The last problem associated with female leadership is culture. Women are brought up in the society feeling insecure. Media contributes to creating consciousness in women (Lee and Jessca 43). Men always determine this awareness. In the film, one of the schoolgirls observes how girls spend most of their time applying makeup. Some of the women spend most of their time worrying about their weight. Culture also paints women as emotional making the women look irrational. The principle of respect for people applies in this case (Dewy and John 92). Society needs to embrace talented women as much as they welcome men to avoid wastage of talent.

Missrepresentation pinpoints challenges facing women leadership in America the ethical issues that develop and how to deal with the concerns. People can apply most of the insights provided by miss representation in other areas of life. Media should be used to; condemn social vices in the society; educate people fairness and justice regardless of the culture and color.

Works cited

Lee, Jessca. “Miss representation/the mask you live in.” 141st APHA Annual Meeting (November 2-November 6, 2013). APHA, 2013.

Barlow, Hannah. Miss-represented: Female Representation in Politics. Diss. Pennsylvania State University, 2014.

Dewey, John. Ethics. Read Books Ltd, 2016.