Educational Media Reviews Online

The Women’s Movement of the 1970s is often cited as the turning point in the realization of gender equity in contemporary American society. However, a close look at the ways in which girls and women are portrayed in media and advertising lead to questions about the reality of gender equity.

Dr. Thomas Keith is a philosophy professor whose research and teaching interests encompass an interdisciplinary analysis of gender, media and race studies. His documentary brings together commentary by high profile women leaders, a plastic surgeon’s description of women’s quest for unattainable perfection, and observations by young people about the impact of media. Many examples of music videos, video games, sexualized dolls and advertising show how popular culture is saturated with negative gender role messages.

Despite women’s increasing attainment of higher education, the highest levels of corporate America still tend to be male-dominated. The beauty and diet industries thrive on convincing girls and women that they are physically inadequate and that happiness can be achieved via cosmetics, special food and surgical intervention. Song lyrics, movies and videogames target both males and females with messages that normalize violence toward women. Instead of realizing the dreams of the seventies’ women’s movement, our society has somehow taken a wrong turn, with each new generation being sold on the overriding importance of physical appearance as the baseline for determining a woman’s value.

The Media Education Foundation’s Website provides a free study guide and transcript for the documentary.

The Media Literacy, Education, and Choice bonus feature is a 7-minute discussion about the need to recognize underlying messages, biases and values contained in popular media, media techniques used to influence audiences, and other skills needed to achieve media literacy.

Both the audio and video quality are fine.