Media for Modern Women

Written 1/04/04 (and just found in a box of papers)

Media, especially television, does not feed women intelligence or male sexuality. They feed us sentiment, “cute” stuff, kid-stuff, beauty and female-sexuality stuff.

We must choose to be savvy media viewers and choose to not participate in the lame propaganda they feed women, unless you like it, which I suppose a lot of women must or they wouldn’t watch it and buy it.

I have personally sworn off “reality” TV. I refuse to watch or pay attention to any of the “news” buzz generated about any of those shows.*

Why? Because they are not reality for one thing. They are simply about exploiting and exaggerating bad human behavior and are not even remotely about depicting women as healthy, harmonious or intelligent. They write rivalries and gossip into the script in order to make it more dramatic because they think that’s what sells to women.

They also promote what viewers may come to see as 'normal' behavior, because it's so prevalent. That is what the media really does. It shows us what is supposedly normal behavior and knowledge. And by omission of information and perspectives, it is manipulative. It controls the images people see. It controls what’s on people’s minds.

In order to fight it, you have to think for yourself. Understand the nature of the world around you and make choices for the life you want. And sure, sinful indulgences are OK in moderation, so even a little “reality” TV isn’t so bad necessarily.

But the lack of male sexuality and intelligent programming being marketed to women is cause for concern. Women can show their interest in this type of programming by supporting any of these types of endeavors that do make it to the public sphere and by creating our own demands for media. There won’t be a supply-side until there’s a demand or until female entrepreneurs drive the supply by producing and marketing media for the new female consciousness.

*Note, that comment was from 2004. I have since found I do enjoy watching reality shows such as Survivorman, I Shouldn’t Be Alive, Psychic Investigators and missing person/true-crime case-solving shows.  That kind of "reality” TV I do watch.