This section contains 1,445 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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Reflections on Orenstein's Schoolgirls
Summary: Reflects upon material provided in Peggy Orenstein's Schoolgirls, a book about girls in middle school and self-esteem issues in relation to the hidden curriculum.
Friday night, as I watched television I evaluated commercial content in relation to the target of women and what message advertisements send to women of all ages. In one hour I saw twenty-four commercials, eleven were targeted at women and every single one had something to do with either the appearance or beauty of women or a domestic focus. These commercials touted products to enhance beauty or lose weight with the underlying message of “improved self-esteem”. I have always blamed the media, or more broadly, cultural attitudes for the problems young girls and women face with low self-image and often find myself citing Barbie dolls and the overwhelmingly pink aisles at the toys-r-us as a root cause of the marginalization of women’s roles. Peggy Orenstein refers to this as the “politics of the external”, a term which, at first, I had a difficult time accepting. Is this...
This section contains 1,445 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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