ahem. LADIES:

I have always had a special place in my heart for feminism. Credit to my wonderful parents, I have always been conscious of the negative images of women presented to me by television, advertising, and other media sources. In addition to unrealistic physical ideals, we're assaulted with marginalization of women's ability to be successful in politics and the workforce. Like most girls, I've been affected by negative body image and desire to be "prettier, skinnier, more popular, more like the other girls" and fortunately come out of the other side without much damage to my self-image and desire to succeed and be independent. Something about hearing women discuss the media and its negative influences on younger girls and their perception of self-worth and power really hits home for me. Thus, this blog post had to be written.

This evening I watched a film on campus called Miss Representation.

It did many things for me.

1. Reminded me that I play a vital role in altering the perception of young women in my community as a leader in an organization that is typically viewed as self-absorbed, ditzy, or a "social club" full of party girls.

2. Refreshed my desire to be a successful, independent, influential role model for girls and women at my university, in Delta Gamma, and even back home.

3. Made me want to be active in a women's rights organization.

4. Rekindled my love for the band Metric.

I would highly recommend every woman watch this film and share its message with the younger and more impressionable girls in their life. It has some language and images that definitely aren't appropriate for girls under 13 but the themes are extremely important to communicate to girls in the middle school-high school-college age range.

Remember:

"You can't be what you can't see." -Marian Wright Edelman

Be a respectable, intelligent role model for the younger girls (and guys) around you. They need your influence in their lives to combat the self-obsessed idiocy they see each day on television!