Miss Representation Analysis

Society by default places people into categories. The most prominent example of this is the gender binary, where each person is labeled and judged based on where they fall within that binary. Male versus female, one side is already at a disadvantage. Described in the films The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture and Miss Representation, women face many obstacles in today’s society, such as objectification and scrutinization. Media illustrates and reinforces these issues by portraying women as subordinate sexual objects for a man’s pleasure. Codes of gender breaks down the methods in which photography portrays the subordinate female. In Miss Representation, we see the analysis of the hypersexualized objectified female.
Both documentaries describe the impossible standard placed upon women. Although varying in methods of analysis and perspective audiences, both films depict the obstacles for women in today’s society illustrated by representations within mainstream media.
Jennifer Newsom’s film Miss Representation analyzes the sexism of American mainstream media. The documentary does this by addressing the mainstream audiences in order to educate them on the issues in which they participate and perpetuate. Newsom discusses various issues such as the constant use of media, the stereotypes in media, objectification of women, the scrutinization of women, the political economy around media and the patriarchy in which it is situated. However, the main issues addressed are the hyper-sexualization, objectification, and scrutinization of women in various forms of media. Each relates to judging women based on their appearance. Media portrays an unattainable ideal for women. The film exposes the methods media uses in order to maintain this impossible ideal. The goal of this documentary was to illuminate the issues of mainstream media to the general population in order to provoke discussion and possibly spark change for future generations. The overall argument Miss Representation portrayed was the representations of women in media as unattainable, sexist, and perpetuating societal issues against women.
Sut Jhally’s film The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture follows the concepts of Gender Advertisements by Erving Goffman. The film analyzes the representations of gender within popular culture and mainstream media and its relation to societal issues that the media builds upon and perpetuates. The main societal issue perpetuated is the subordination of women and men’s power or domination over women. Sut furthers this concept by explaining various methods in which women are portrayed in media, mainly advertisements and photography. These methods include the feminine touch, the ritualization of subordination, licensed withdrawal, and infantilization. The feminine touch refers to the soft fragile nature of the female touch in relation to objects and their own bodies. The ritualization of subordination refers to the positioning of female bodies as subordinate in relation to men. Media also depicts women as withdrawn and oblivious to their surroundings, also known as licensed withdrawal. Lastly, infantilization refers to images that depict women in relation to children, either women as children or girls as women. The film then discusses the codes of masculinity in regards to its opposition of femininity. Sut Jhally states Goffman’s overall goal was to illuminate the issues in society, reinforced by the media that people see as normal. By educating the viewers of these methods and codes of gender used in media, Sut does just this.
Strong contributions made by the Miss Representation documentary consisted of its readability for average viewers and its appeal to women to change society for future generations. Miss Representation gives viewers a broader discussion of societal issues perpetuated by the media in order to speak to an average audience. The film focuses on the impact media has on society’s treatment of women. The film emphasized the unattainable standard media creates for women and the pressure placed upon women to meet this standard. Much like society in general, white men control most of the media industry. Thus, all images of women are made by men and for men’s visual pleasure. Media creates a stereotypical oversexualized, thin, ditzy, young, female, ideal, who can only define their lives in reference to men. When women do not meet this standard or differ from the expected norm, they are scrutinized. Critics bash female leaders, like Hillary Clinton, simply for their deviation from the subordinate female ideal. However when female leaders are portrayed as feminine, they are deemed incompetent and unable to hold power. It is a no win situation for women hoping to pursue leadership roles in this modern society.
In comparison to Miss Representation, Codes of Gender intellectually focuses on theories and analysis giving specific examples and visuals from images in advertising. The film establishes certain methods or codes that manipulate gender representations in advertisements. The documentary explains each code of gender through examples and visuals of each code. For example, the feminine touch discussion depicted advertisements with women’s hands and bodies exemplifying the delicate fragile nature of the feminine touch. This continues with the other codes including the ritualization of subordination, licensed withdrawal, and infantilization. Examples of these included women lying down in vulnerable positions, looking oblivious to her surroundings, and as children; all of which depict a stereotype that women are helpless and dependent upon men for guidance and protection. Codes of Gender also does a good job of giving the audience a contrasting element to provoke an emotion. For example, the film shows various comparisons with men and women in the same poses or positions to show the absurdity of female representations in media. By realizing that men look ridiculous in these positions, the audience realizes the absurd normalized conceptions placed upon women.
Along with contributions, each film had its limitations. Miss Representation tackled many issues. However, by addressing many issues all the provided information could not be absorbed properly in order to make the greatest impact on its viewers. For example, the many statistical quotes that flash between scenes could have been more impactful if the amount of quotes were minimized or length of time for each was increased. This would allow viewers to actually read the facts and absorb the information. The issues the film addressed centered around women and did little to analyze the male portion of the stereotypical gender binary portrayed in media. Other limitations I found were the proposed solutions mentioned toward the end of the documentary. One solution included women participating more in the community and living as role models for others and future generations. Another solution included a call to action. With women controlling eighty-six percent of the consumer buying power they should control media consumption and therefore what is represented. The solutions place responsibility on women and do little to emphasize the other factors contributing to societal issues perpetuated by the media.
Although Miss Representation catered to an average audience, Codes of Gender caters to a scholastic audience. This means at times the film can be difficult to understand and might go over some viewers’ heads. Codes of Gender mainly focuses on female representations in advertisements and photography. This leaves out many forms of media that influences society, such as television and film. By only looking at advertisements, the documentary intensely analyzes the meanings of poses and positions of models. The film incorporates societal undertones within the codes of gender discussed, but the overall issue gets lost in the detailed analysis of the poses within the advertisements.
As a student, I recognize the theoretical and intellectual analysis used in Codes of Gender, but I feel for Miss Representation achieves its goal more effectively and efficiently. Miss Representation gives its viewers a simpler understanding of the societal issues and media reinforcement of these issues. The film addresses a more common audience that could appeal to a broader range of people, increasing its visibility. The documentary uses celebrities and well-known reporters to keep the audiences interest and support, while discussing important issues and viewpoints. Utilizing public figures most people recognize establishes a sense of comfort for the viewers as compared to scholars and academics in which the average person may not know. Miss Representation also provides some simple solutions or suggestions that most people can achieve in order to feel they are making at least a small impact on society.
The question is will any of this make a difference. I believe both documentaries are successful in illuminating issues in media and their relation to society. I agree illuminating the issue is the first step, but it is a first step in many to provoke change in our society today. However, the media is only part of the problem. Media only recreates ideas and beliefs within society. Therefore, if we want to address the media problem we should perhaps attempt to change our societal structures that create biased views against women. Acknowledging the issues and making small changes will not change our society and its hegemonic beliefs around gender. The process to change society will be difficult and tedious if possible at all. It must also include everyone, not just women but men as well. Men acknowledging the issue and attempting to change the societal structure, which places them in the position of power, will be the most challenging obstacle of all.

Sut Jhally’s film The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture and Jennifer Newsom’s film Miss Representation address issues in society that media reinforces and perpetuates.
Media depicts women in a subordinate role in relation to men. Media objectifies hyper-sexualized representations of women in order to appeal to the male viewer. Codes of Gender unveils methods used in photography to perpetuate the idea that females are dehumanized subordinate objectified figures. These codes or methods include various actions, poses, or positions female models are forced to perform. For example, the feminine touch, the bashful knee bend, the head tilt, poses lying down, etc. all of which subordinate the female figure in relation to men. Miss Representation gives a broader view into society’s representation of women within media. The film emphasizes the impossible ideal standard, the hyper-sexualization, the objectification, and scrutinization, women must undergo to achieve any type of success in our current society. Miss Representation focuses on the average viewer, whereas Codes of Gender appeals more to intellectual viewer. Although each film takes a different perspective, both address issues women face in society as represented and visualized through media. One thing is clear; media is directly linked to societal beliefs. In order for one to change, we must address and change the
other.