Women in Films and Documentaries - Essay Example

Women in Films and Documentaries Insert Insert A woman is an adult human female/ lady who have been in use in the female industry for quite a long period. Women have been objectified that is they have been treated as objects rather than being treated as human beings and accorded same human rights and respect for men. Film industry has been perceived as the one industry that has actually objectified women all along; they tend to separate a woman from her body parts thus being seen as an object to arouse male sexual desires (Bartky, 1990). Universal Declaration of Human Rights came up with standards that have to be adhered in dealing with the society. The regulations are meant to safeguard human beings from moral degradation and set them on a morally upright path keeping in mind that, younger generation deserves the best example. Some films portray women as objects that can be touched anyhow anytime; they are depicted as commodities that can be purchased, instruments to handle men sexual desires willingly or unwillingly, married and divorced. It happens as a man wishes and even be replaced by another young and beautiful woman even if the woman is in a marriage with a man. These happenings in film actually affect women way of life; they make women treat themselves as objects and not as human beings this make the women emphasize more on their appearance and less on the respect they gain from the men counterparts (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). This urge often leads to health risks for most women as they tend to eat less to avoid weight increase and massive waistlines. Documentaries on the use of drugs show that women tend to indulge more in drugs that can trim their waist, creams that can raise their hips and creams that can make their skin smoother thus beautiful to touch and look at. Examples of films include sex and city, sucker punch women bodies and much more in this films, women are presented as objects and not wives. Other films have presented black women as sexual objects that can be used as a man desires. Rape as been depicted as the norm and women were not allowed to object or cry over it. Romeo and Juliet from Sarajevo documentary in this line have changed romance to a greater extent, the attitude towards sex; intimacy and relationship have had a series of changes in the years past. It depicts how men and women have adopted negative attitude towards each other, men see a female body as a tool and not person they can live and share ideas with (Boyd, 1996-1997). Most men have opted to choose a woman based on the body not ability to love; they have gone for the most beautiful girls in the society leaving behind those the media and film show as less attractive. The creators of the documentary went along way into determining they meet UDHR stipulations. Romeo and Juliet from Sarajevo is devoid of pornographic content yet the primary tool of objectification in film industry of late, women in the films are displayed as tools for sex, and they are proved to be making love with animals like dogs and others. They show their nude bodies in order to arouse sex desires for their viewers which goes against regulations by UDHR. Moreover, some women appear to be having sex with their fellow women and others with men who seem too violent to them. They are done for fun but to a greater extent damage women reputation and their rights as stipulated by UDHR. Documentaries have depicted that the women in the music industry are dancing objects; they use their nude body to attract more attention and more fans to watch their music, their sexual parts are the most shown as they dance to the music. Men in the song are most of the time shown touching the women’s hips as they danced and shown kissing the ladies one man can be shown moving several women at a go without the girls being jealous (Boyd, 1996-1997). This demonstrates that the ladies are just objects to be used by the men to do as they please which is a violation of the regulations set forth by the human rights and the UDHR. Media industry has also been seen as objectifying women in one way, or another, the pictures of nude women they print in magazines, the picture running online and the ones they show on Television. The media have been a tool that rates women on their looks and not on their capabilities. On fashion watch, media tend to show only women with beautiful soft skin, trimmed waistlines and sexy looks as nice putting the life’s of the fat ladies at stake as they feel they are not yet beautiful. The images are a great violation of the UDHR philosophy on the regard to human rights. Media industry makes a lot of money by using sexy women for TV shows, music videos, magazines and films, this is mainly to capture the teenagers to listen to the music and buy the magazines and films. Many industries like fashion industries have forced women who would like work for them undergo some medical operation to reduce some body parts or increase/ enlarge some other parts of their bodies in order to fit in the industry who only major on good looks of women rather than their personality. Media industries mainly focus on presenters looks than their professional ideas, they tend to make their presenters wear dresses which are somehow short to attract attention of their viewers not keeping in mind that they are in other ways objectifying their female employees. Advertising industry is also one of the industries that have objectified women, they use their body to advertise products like bathing soap, body creams which cannot be advertised when clothed all these as denied women their human rights. For many years some industries have used women in promoting their products, for example, the tobacco industry used women to show that when you use the product you maintain thinness and promote beauty in women. It made many women use the product (Boyd, 1996-1997). Beer industries also have used women to advertise their product slim, beautiful women are seen in the adverts to capture men attention. They also portray the substance as increasing sexual esteem, sexual attractiveness and engaging in more fun after using the beer. They also feel like the beer will help them maintain a romantic relationship and gain attention from men as depicted in the advert (Gomberg, 1996). Women have been seen to self-objectify themselves like in the case of Romeo and Juliet from Sarajevo. The short, mini-dresses they put on show that they feel like showing off what men really need to see at all cost and demonstrate their readiness to sex. Most teenagers feel like they must use everything at their disposal to look as beautiful as possible, they buy magazines to see the emerging trend of fashion and they end up being exposed to objectifying images and articles which in turn may lead to appearance anxiety, body disgrace, worry about their physical safety, eating disorders to avoid weight gain and despair (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). It has led to some teenagers indulging and injuring themselves for being mocked by friends for not having a perfect body and making their life miserable by eating less and using creams and drugs that might lead to health problems. Objectification can also be seen in some pictures of women with faces covered or pictures with no head. It is to show the public that a woman can be divided into body and leaving out her individuality. Some woman’s body parts like the ass or the breasts are captured in music dancing to the rhythm. Women have also been used as decorating items in some industries; they are used in sports to bring in presents for presentation to participants and in entrance points to welcome visitors with their appealing moves and dressing to capture the eyes of the visitors (Gomberg, 1996). This objectification has made women less equal in the society as compared to their male counterparts; human right commission has tried to do away with this notion of women by attempting to educate the public on importance of a woman in the society. The human rights watch encouraged the press to avoid featuring on the weak areas of women which can undermine their dignity and focus more on their strongholds at least to uphold their being (Boyd, 1996-1997). The media also must avoid objectification of women through pictures, wordings, pornography and advertising Objectification of women seem entertaining and profitable to most industries in the society thus this voice will never be put to an end quickly. It is becoming more rampant and in the end more harmful to our women and the society at large (Gomberg, 1996). It tends to cause both physical and psychological problems as stated by the human rights and UDHR. Objectification has made women a tool of advertisement thus making women try to perfect their appearance day by day to fit the required image. Even though our cultural values discourage showing off the sexual parts of a woman the media still uses it for its benefit not considering the consequences imposed by the society. Objectification has made some vices increase in the society like rape, indulge in early sex live leading to unplanned pregnancies, increase in the spread of sexual transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. In conclusion, media industry, advertising industry, fashion industry are to blame for most cases of women objectification and they are the ones that can help curb the vice that is bringing more shame than fame to our women in the society. The human right and the universal declaration of human rights must continue to educate the public on the importance of upholding other people’s dignity especially our mothers the women. REFERENCES Bartky, S. L. (1990). Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York, NY: Routledge. Boyd, C. J. (1996-1997). Smoke and the “F” word: Women and health. Michigan Feminist Studies, 11, 25-37. Fredrickson, B. L. & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206. Gomberg, E. L. (1996). Women are drinking practices and problems from a lifespan perspective. In J. M. Howard, S. E. Martin, P. D. Mail, M. E. Hilton, & E. D. Taylor (Eds.), Women and alcohol: Issues for prevention research (Research Monograph No. 32, pp. 185-214). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Read More