Women & Pop Culture "From Images of Women to Woman as Image"

The reading I found most interesting was the article "From Images of Women to Woman as Image." It discusses how women are portrayed in the media and what message it sends out to people. For example, it discusses women that participate in Miss America pageants and how they portray a perfect looking women and make it seem like that's what women are supposed to look like, that's what we view from the outside as a stereotypical women. There was controversy surrounding the Miss America pageants due to the fact that they suggested the dominant images of women and that they should look this way. The stereotypical and traditional images of women continued to be portrayed in television shows and music as well. What I found interesting was when the television show Roseanne. She's did not portray the stereotypical perfect women. She was more against that look and was more tough and didn't fall into what others considered beauty. Others saw her as more like Ralph Kramden in drag, reinforcing the stereotype that working class families such as the family on Roseanne are fat, lazy, dirty, and careless. In music, Madonna did the opposite of Roseanne and portrayed the stereotypical blond bombshell in her music vide for "Material Girls." People watch Roseanne and think one thing, then listen and watch Madonna and think she's portraying it the right way. Women in the media has always been controversial and today in my opinion has got worse. We see magazine covers of women in weak poses, or controversial outfits. They're photoshopped but on the cover look perfect. This can have a negative effect on society because young girls especially may feel they have to look a certain way like the woman they saw on the magazine, or the woman they saw in the music video. Miss America pageants also continue today, and still we see these women competing for beauty and the crown  which is their title as a beautiful women. This can also have a negative effect, I've seen other girls on twitter who post about how watching those shows makes them feel bad about themselves. It's a growing problem because of how women are portrayed. Notice today how all males still are seen as strong and dominant in either magazines, television or music. They're always portrayed as dominant, never are they seen in a weak like pose or a controversial outfit. The way males and females are portrayed in the media has always been an issue, I found this article to be very interesting in the way in which it went more in depth about the problems of how all women are portrayed, if anything I feel more people should read this article because they'll be able to get a real look into the female's world.