You're Not Good Enough Because...

Many of the messages in media tell women that they simply are not good enough. TV shows, commercials, music, and movies all show an example of the "ideal" woman. In reality the ideal looking woman only occurs in about 1% of the population. The messages are everything from "You're not thin enough" to "You're not pretty enough". Now that technology is rampant in the U.S. we, as women, are flooded with hundreds of images of what we should look like everyday. Make-up commercials are one of the easiest to identify. The images we are shown have been digitally altered to make women look as if they have no pores. In order to look like the image shown to us women will buy the product being sold.

 This photo is of Rhianna posing for a CoverGirl magazine. Her makeup and hair are perfect. Women are told they should look like this all day, everyday even when doing chores. Thinner models is one of the worst images shown to us. Instead of buying something to put on your face women are starving themselves in order to look "beautiful". They are dropping to incredibly unhealthy weights.

Images are not the only thing that tell women they're not good enough. Music is a big factor too. Songs about women being objects of possession and sexualization are very prominent in most popular songs today. Of course as always there is a counter balance of songs that try to empower women, but they're not as numerous as those that do not empower women. Songs that objectify women also have music videos to reinforce them.

As you can see this song "Wild Ones" by Flo Rida ft Sia is a great example of the sexualization of women. Flo Rida opens his song with
"I like crazy, foolish, stupid
Party going wild, fist pumping
Music, I might lose it
Blast to the roof, that's how we do'z it
I don't care the night, she don't care we like".
I think he is talking about how wild he likes his women. At one point he also sings to the women that he "heard you're super models" which reinforces the media message that you need to look like a model which is thin. The bridge in the song is really one of the worst parts. Sia sings...
"I am a wild one
Break me in
Saddle me up and lets begin
I am a wild one
Tame me now
Running with wolves
And i'm on the prowl

Show you another side of me
A side you would never thought you would see
Tell that body
Gotta make sure do you have enough
I can't lie
The wilds don't lie"
Not only do these lyrics compare a woman to animals that are meant to be tamed by men, but they're being sung by a woman! Which in my eyes makes it even worse because she's basically saying "Yes I am an animal...tame me please." This song basically tells women to be wild and tells men to be in charge and be manly by taming a wild woman. The video as you saw objectified women greatly. A few shots of women dancing were only of their curves or behinds. We never saw these parts of a man. The men in the video were always shown in either full body shots or in a shot being surrounded by pretty scantily clad women.
 To conclude, women are told everyday that they're not good enough. Images and music in the media help encourage this belief.