Leap 2: Women Belong At Home
Why being a woman in America is bad
SCRIPT
Through my explanation, you will understand why this piece of propaganda is harmful to a very large audience through the way it not only invokes an emotional response but perpetuates harmful and dangerous stereotypes of women dating back centuries along with an explanation of what this does for a future generation of women.
SLIDE 1:
This was the article of propaganda that I chose to analyze. As I get into the presentation more, you will see and hear my reasons for picking this piece and why I believe it is harmful to others, both men and women. But, for now — what we see in this image is a pure representation of double standards and how they operate in real-time. On the left we see a woman adoring her male coworker for his beautiful family, and we can assume that due to the nature of this situation, his wife is probably at home taking care of said beautiful children. Typically this is normal in the workplace especially when you are close to your colleagues. But on the other side of the image, we see a woman pretty much bashing her female coworker for not being home and taking care of her children. Oftentimes when a woman is asked about “who is taking care of their children”, it is purely out of judgment and criticism from others. Being in the year 2023, when women have the right to vote amongst many other rights women have fought for and achieved since colonial times and even before, you wouldn’t think that women were still expected to be homemakers, but apparently, a good amount of society still believes in that notion. What it seems that, in America, it’s a bad thing to be a woman because you will never be a man.
SLIDE 2:
I believe that not even just this piece of media is harmful, but everything that relates to being a woman is usually condescending of some sorts unless it’s created by a woman-owned company. One of the biggest reasons why I see this as harmful to a female audience is because after seeing posts or media like this, women may believe that after they choose to start building a family and having children of their own, that they are expected to be stay at home mothers. But it’s not the 20th century anymore, women can get jobs, own homes, drive cars without their husbands, and up until recently, had rights in terms of our bodily autonomy. Women are still expected to stay at home and care for the children and the home, even though these are things that men are fully capable of doing. So, seeing this just really brought me back to the way females were viewed before the times really started changing. I can also see this being extremely dangerous, harmful, and even detrimental to the millions of little girls out there that have big dreams to grow up and be something or someone. This is something that could completely crush a little girl’s dream of being a CEO, an Astronaut, or working in the corporate world amongst the sea of men who females already have to work harder than in order to prove their worth. They make it seem like being a woman is a bad thing. I can see this as harmful and dangerous to men because due to the way society is, we can properly assume that when some view this, they may think it’s funny, they believe it, or that their female coworkers shouldn’t be in the office or employed in that area of work. These assumptions show how the perception of women is perpetuated through the media and society. Whether it be intelligence or strength women are deemed to be less than — they belong in the home ESPECIALLY after having children, and achieving more than your male partner is frowned upon. I included this quote, “Men seem unable to feel equal to women: they must be superior or inferior” for a very specific reason. This is a clear indicator of men believing that they are better than women, we were below them for centuries past, and it seems like we always will be no matter how far our advances in terms of our rights and abilities can reach. In many cultures we see “what it means to be a man” or how to be one, but we very rarely see that for women, it is not celebrated like being a man is. Being a man means you can get anything you want in America, but if you’re a woman? Good luck
SLIDE 3:
To start, I’m sure we can all tell that this piece is meant to invoke an emotional response, but it also includes a lot of deeply rooted stereotyping. I know that most females who see this would also probably be upset by it like I was, because to me, it makes me feel like getting a college degree and secondary education was a waste of time, money, and energy because “i don’t belong in the workplace, I belong at home in the kitchen and with the children that I am going to have one day”. Another emotional response could actually be one from men, though I doubt many men would be upset — some definitely would be angered to see women being belittled like this knowing that that’s not how society should function anymore. From women, I see the frustration and from very few men, I can see the possibility of them being empathetic to this. This is also a prime example of stereotyping in propaganda because it feeds into the definition of women that many people still believe exists — that the sole purpose of a woman is for her to satisfy her male counterpart, raise her children in the home and be there for them at all times, and not work. But in today’s world, it’s very difficult to live steadily with only one income stream, meaning the mothers typically work outside of the home now or bring in some kind of income.
SLIDE 4:
I firmly stand in the belief that this image was meant to try and keep women out of employment. To make us believe that working is still for men, and that we need to be at home. They want the patriarchy to continuously grow stronger and stronger while women sit in the stands and watch from afar. I also believe that this was aimed to make women change their minds about getting a secondary education and wanting to have careers for themselves and that they should focus more on how to please their husband or partners and raising their children while making sure that the laundry is done and dinner is on the table when he gets home.
SLIDE 5:
I wanted to include this campaign because it is a beautiful example of counteracting the notion that women belong in the home, they should be quiet or submissive, and that we are capable of anything and everything a man can do. If you watch the campaign video or have seen it before, it is very heartfelt and authentic about women, teens, and young girls experiences of, well, just being a woman. The video shows women of all races, and ages being asked the question of what it means to do something “like a girl” and they all start off with answers that you can tell have been engraved in their minds and the ways that we operate in all spaces, even our own. Towards the end of the campaign, after showing these women and young girls that “like a girl” doesn’t have to mean anything bad as long as you are trying your hardest to be your real, authentic self. Always did a really great job of trying to counteract all of the oh-so-common stereotypes that we experience as women. After the narrator asks all of the women the same question they did at the start, you could visually see the differences in confidence, strength, optimism, and how they hold themselves, ultimately making them realize that doing something or anything, “like a girl” is not a bad thing, or anything to be ashamed of. Being a woman is not a bad thing, people and society need to stop telling us it is.
Reflection Essay
In terms of my creative process, one of the first things I knew I wanted to include in my screencast was the Always #LikeAGirl campaign because it was the perfect example of trying to break the stereotype that women are weak or inferior to men. I went through the Mind Over Media site for quite a while before I could really put a finger on what I wanted to choose for my analysis, but then I came along this piece and I knew that I wanted it to be the one. After looking at it for the first few minutes, I knew I had found a deeper root behind what was meant to be a funny meme. I knew it was supposed to be something funny you saw on Facebook ro while scrolling through Twitter or your Instagram feed, but it carries a much heavier effect than many would think from first glance. This was something that has the potential to make a lot of young girls think that they shouldn’t dream big and want greater things for themselves. It belittles women down to the fact that we are just an object for men to rely on, and it needs to be acknowledged. In the slide about why it is harmful, I really wanted to include graphics and pictures that showed a comparison between how men and women are perceived through images instead of words. I chose the quote for this slide as well because I felt as though it really embodied basically the entire point I was trying to prove throughout my analysis. I chose the photo of the arm wrestling because I thought it was another great example of how men are believed to be superior to women due to their strength. I included the circle chart of emotions because I think it is interesting to think about how different pieces of media can affect us. Some can make us angry, upset and frustrated like this one does for me, or they can also make you laugh or confirm some of your values and ideals like this may also do for some men. I chose to include the picture with the mother cooking while watching her toddler and having her newborn wrapped to her to show how difficult it is for women to do this, but they so commonly do it because it is what they know is expected of them. The “women belong at home, not at the office” was a post I saw way too frequently while looking for what to put into this slide show so I decided to include it because it clearly has an influence in perpetuating this belief that women should stay home. The photo in between the “women belong at home…” and the emotions chart, I included because it, to me, showed the duality of a woman and all that she can do and is capable of. In the slides about goals, I really wanted it to define the rise of patriarchy, the system that it is, and how it affects women everywhere. Bringing it back to the #LikeAGirl campaign that I included at the end, I really can’t get over how important this commercial was and still is for so many reasons. It completely changed the narrative of what it meant to be a girl and do anything ‘like a girl’, but when the commercial came out there was crazy backlash. From who? Men, yes, of course, you guessed it. This commercial is an example of the kinds of things we should be seeing more of, along with commercials to encourage young men into becoming respectful, responsible, and equitable men.
Sources
(Instagram @Feminist). (2023, February 9). Double standards. Mind Over Media. Retrieved
March 29, 2023, from https://propaganda.mediaeducationlab.com/rate/double-standards
Sharma, R. (2023, January 30). 8 types of propaganda used in advertising. PageTraffic Blog -
All Things Search, Content & Social. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.pagetraffic.com/blog/types-of-propaganda-used-in-advertising/
