Women controlling their message in the media

A few months ago I had the privilege of attending a forum hosted by the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists discussing the role of women in the media. One of the speakers of the on the panel was none other than Phaedra Parks, from Bravo's popular television show The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA).

It was a pretty interesting discussion - and Parks stated that often times on the show (RHOA) that she and the other women present weren't able to take part in the final edits and sometimes their actions were taken out of context. She mentioned that there needs to be a move or a push for women to take more control of the messages they exude in media.

I couldn't agree more. But I think it has to work two fold. I think first and foremost women need to control their message more, and second I think women need to stop taking in a message that doesn't represent reality.

Often times I see young women acting like they are video vixens, or dressing like something they've seen in some elaborate magazine. One time in particular, on my way to work I saw a young woman wearing high heels and a short and tight skirt. She's was getting off the train and going up the stairs. She had such difficulty getting up the stairs that she clumsily fell and stumbled several times, and perhaps made a greater spectacle of herself than she first imagined. It was a pretty sad image. She could not move her legs much because she was constrained by the tight skirt and she could not regain her footing because she had on heels that kept her off balance. Here was a woman that put cuteness before common sense.

But why? I guess the answer goes back to women's portrayal in the media, and on some of these reality television shows. I have found that some women (not all) want to look like sex objects. But don't they realize the people that will notice them if they dress this way, are the very same people they want to avoid? A lot of women don't realize that they attract the same menthey want to avoid when they go out of their way to look elaborate. A Godly man, isn't going to look lustfully at a woman, he's going to admire a woman for her beauty, but a Godly man is going to look for spiritual substance from a woman.

I guess the ultimate question is how do we as a society get beyond these thoughts and how do we view women differently in the media, and in society.

I can tell you, that having a daughter makes you think of alot of these things a bit differently. I wonder though, how do we bring about change to how women are portrayed in the media? What do you all think?