Beauty over Brains

    Women have long been striving for equality in what is still a predominantly male-driven world. According to Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, in the past couple decades "Western women have gained legal and reproductive rights,begun pursuing higher education and entered the trades and the professions." Wages for females have increased, women are now increasingly becoming CEO's, editors-in-chief, politicians, and other professionals in positions of power. Yet, when we look to the media, when are still portrayed not only as lesser than men, but also as sexualized objects with an almost-impossible standard of beauty to live up to.
    One very obvious example is in reality television shows. In order to provide low brow entertainment, these shows play to base stereotypes where men (boys, really) are often meat-heads hyped up on steroids with no common sense or manners and women (not ladies) wear clothing than barely covers them and act dumb and gullible. I watched Jersey Shore -  a re-run - for the first time this week and it perfectly exemplified this concept.
    Even shows with less societally-glorified men play to stereotypes. Beauty and the Geek, an old MTV reality show where pairs of a beautiful yet uneducated women and a smart but unattractive man alternately answer trivia questions and compete in beauty challenges, is another example. While the men at least do not act like arrogant buffoons,  they are no less object of hilarity. In fact, their beautiful companions pity them for the guys' social ineptitude and unattractiveness. The women aren't much better. While they are remarkably beautiful, it is the standard skinny-curvy-blonde-bomshell beauty that American society holds dear. And they often cannot answer simple questions of Biology or Mathematics that middle schoolers should know. Although these shows are guilty pleasures, they are also very irritating because of the attitude these stereotypical characters hold saying beauty (slutty, unattractive "beauty") is more important than brains, career and manners.
    Music is another area which sexualizes women - often called "hoes" and "bitches" in rap music - and plays up the greatness of violence, drugs and cursing. Music, above all other media, seems to have the most impact on all ages, but teens especially. Not only is music pervasive throughout all other media, such as television and movies, but on its own can carry a very powerful message. People listen to music for "entertainment and distraction from problems and serves as a way to relieve tension and boredom," according to the Pediatrics journal. "Some studies have reported that adolescents use popular music to deal with loneliness and to take control of their emotional status or mood." Although some people swear that they only listen to the beat or that the music they listen to doesn't actually affect them the way it does other people, as the Third Person theory says, they are wrong. Thus, hearing lyrics where women are degraded or drugs are exalted puts these same thoughts in listeners brains, even if only subconsciously.
    I am not a feminist. I don't think that women have to be equal to men. As Marylin Monroe said, "women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition." Women are not physically or emotionally the same as men. They should have separate medical coverage particular to feminine health. Wages should be based on aptitude and position rather than gender. Yet, as educated and modernized as I am, I still find myself watching what I eat to stay thin, or acting silly and flighty to catch the attention of a guy rather than using my intelligence. I blame most of this on my exposure to the sexualizing messages of the media.