Topic > The Misrepresentation of Women in Positions of Power in American Media

Once, as an assignment for one of my classes, I was watching the documentary called “Miss Representation” by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The main idea of ​​the film was to illustrate how the media misrepresents women in positions of power in America. The phrase that caught my attention was “You can't be what you can't see.” Asking myself “how often do I see strong, powerful women in the media nowadays?” he gave me the answer: “rarely”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In childhood, boys and girls are the same, they can have the same desires and goals, both can dream of being a president, but within a time when their paths and desires will change dramatically. Tara Sophia Mohr wrote about the montage of big movie moments screened at the Oscars: “As girls grow up seeing story after story telling them they are sex objects, accessories, or victims, they will learn that being a “woman” means playing one of three roles: screaming from stress about her marriage, screaming because she was assaulted, screaming from faking an orgasm. Girls don't often see female role models in the media who could inspire and motivate them. Subsequently, I did some research, I discovered that according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, out of the 100 highest-grossing films of 2017 only 8% of directors, 10% of writers, 2% of directors of photography, 24% of producers, 14% of editors were women. It illustrates the problem that women's voices are absent in the media or show certain biases. However, despite the statistics, famous producer Shonda Rhimes has achieved a high level of success among women. She was one of the first people to describe what it means to be a feminist today. In his works like “Grey's Anatomy” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” he has already shown different types of female protagonists (bisexuals, lesbians, single moms, drug addicts, women of color) working in typical male roles. fields and make their dreams come true. However, in this article we will talk about his other TV show, which is considered one of the most popular and revolutionary of our time: “Scandal”. This is the American political series about the African-American leader Olivia Pope (played by Kerry Washington). who is a political crisis manager and runs her own business "Olivia Pope and Associates". This TV show raises many current issues: racism, domestic violence, corruption in politics, excessive use of power, etc. However, in this article, I will discuss the issue of misrepresentation of women in a position of power in today's society by applying some of the central ideas of third wave feminism developed in scholar R. Claire Snyder's writings “What is Third Wave Feminism wave? A New Directions Essay” to the study of the television show “Scandal” and its protagonist Olivia Pope. The article will mainly focus on the study of the main female protagonist of the TV show Olivia Pope. So I will briefly describe his portrait. Olivia Pope is a powerful, strong, independent African American woman. According to The New York Times, "she became the first African-American female lead in a television drama in nearly 40 years." She has her own crisis management organization, where she and her assistants or “gladiators” help solve the problems of the political elite. He has complicated relationships with two men: the head of the CIA and the president of the United States. As a result, we can see who Olivia Pope isa successful, beautiful, intelligent woman, "the strongest female protagonist in the history of television", according to the New York Post, who is happy with herself and is not looking for a normal family. life. She is a passionate advocate for women and always fights for women's rights. In episode 5 of season 3, she confronts a senator who falsely accused another senator of raping her. Olivia has defended all victims of assault and says: “I would fight to the death to stand by any woman who says she has been assaulted.” Olivia Pope gets angry when someone uses sexist double standards, even if it's a president. In episode 15 of season 4, Olivia Pope argues with the President of the United States as he called the female press secretary a "bitch" because she tried to give him advice. Olivia shames him and says, “Don't say that! The words used to describe women. If she were a man you would say she is 'formidable' or 'bold' or 'right'.” R. Claire Snyder in her text writes about the problem with the word “bitch” which came from pop culture and began to be widely used by the mass media. Olivia Pope is self-esteem and her time is just as important as the President's. She knows what she deserves and that she needs to be treated with respect. One of the most famous scenes in the show is when Olivia bursts into the Oval Office and tells the President that he can't bother her with his personal desires whenever he wants: "I'm not a toy you can play with when you're bored, lonely, or horny. I'm not the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. I'm a fantasy. Furthermore, Shonda Rhimes breaks the typical stereotypes that feminism and femininity are mutually exclusive. Women can be “bossy” and “feminine” at the same time. R. Claire Snyder states that “third wave people feel entitled to interact with men as equals. They claim sexual pleasure as they desire it and actively play with femininity. Girl Power, or feminine culture, is a central, but contested, strand within the third wave. "Shonda Rhimes describes Olivia Pope as a very feminine, elegant and glamorous woman. Her clothes are designer, she always wears couture heels and bags. Furthermore, she knows that she has a “female weapon” that she can manipulate with men. In the conversation with his father, he says: “you can command dad, but I have a weapon at my disposal. Weapons that you absolutely cannot possess. However, he is not invulnerable: he cries, gets sad and is afraid. Olivia can be weak, she loves and makes mistakes; he's not a robot, he's a human being with whom Olivia learns to accept all her flaws in order to be a strong leader. Even though Olivia Pope is the strongest female lead on the TV show, she wasn't the only one to overcome obstacles and achieve her career goals. For example, Mellie Grant went from First Lady to the first female president. She had it all: beautiful children, a powerful husband who is the president of the United States, the White House and the position of First Lady. However, Mellie Grant has always dreamed of being a first female president characters on the show, Shonda Rhimes probably created the most difficult path for Mellie Grant. She was raped by Fitz's father, then attempted suicide, but was stopped by future Vice President Andrew Nichols, with whom she fell in love, but failed. Stay with him to keep the First Lady's reputation high. She also turned a blind eye to her husband's love affairs with Olivia Pope to maintain Fitz's presidency and saw the death of her son. Mellie was broke for months and felt miserable because all the years she had sacrificed her career to meet her husband's needs. “If you knew the sacrifices I have.