On the Societal Value of Women

STATUS: OUTLINE (in case I lose my local copy of paper)

• Goal - retain exclusivity of "viable" and/or "desirable" women and prevent reduction of the available numbers of them
• Messages - putting women on pedestals, the perpetuation of certain appearances being more desirable and "ideal" than others, the perpetuation of the belief that a woman having only physical appearance to offer is good enough to "deserve the best"/the perpetuation of the belief that a woman lacking physical appearance is not good enough
• Who's restricting - you think it's men but it's actually women, as women see themselves in competition with other women to attract "desirable" (usually "high-status") men even though biologically one man can impregnate multiple women; men, especially desirable men, say exactly what attracts them to certain women physically and non-physically and women choose to ignore it, instead choosing to believe what's fed to them through mass media because "if a magazine/TV/the pop 'star' of the week/the internet says it, it must be true"
• Media's impact - mass media is perpetuating the belief that a woman's physical appearance is all that matters and is worth more social currency than pretty much all other indicators of success of both women and men
• Combating negativity - some ad campaigns like Dove, Playtex undergarments
• Media hurting view of women's bodies & sexuality - ad campaigns like Victoria's Secret, pretty much every fragrance (especially the Keira Knightley Chanel spots, which perpetuate the belief that Keira's small appearance other than her face is actually desirable), photoshopping various cover women (including Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey, and "whitewashing" black women like Taraji P. Henson and Kerry Washington on covers of magazines aimed at black demographics)