Women + Self Esteem (discussion)

Ever since 4th grade I have been a very insecure person. A boy told me he was giving me cookies to make me more fat rather then out of nice gesture. Immediately, I was changed (not in a good way). I was consumed of thoughts about how fat I was (because I think that now.) and feeling very insecure in my own skin, thinking everybody was thinking the same thing; I am fat. I wanted to runaway... move away out of Minnesota! I have recently for the past couple of years have started to let go and really confront these insecurities head on. I have been tons of research and been finding some awesome revelations for myself!

The company Dove has done numerous of studies on women + self-esteem in women. They are campaigning for women, for women to feel beautiful in their skin because really it's like an epidemic across the country.  Studies have found that:

•  6 in 10 women stop what they love doing because feel bad about their looks.
• Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (which is up 2% from 2004)
• 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
• More than half (54%) of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic.

In the media women are viewed as objects: being a part of a beer bottle for an ad, that is so dehumanizing and we don't realize it, but it is. A photo of a model on the cover of magazines or celebs is saying to all the young girls/women that they should have no pours because the cover girls have this unnatural, unreal flawless skin. Thanks photoshop. As women we try so hard to reach this unreachable height of perfection. Beauty is not just looks.

Now, I can't say that the boy who said what he said to me so many years ago is to blame (he is, but he isn't) because I don't know if now would be the year that all my insecurities would arise, I just don't know. What I do know is that I'll be damned if I don't think for the next 5 years that I am truly ugly and deserve to be alone.

Women are backing away from job opportunities because are feeling so insecure about themselves.

• In the workforce: 60% in 1999, 2011: 58.1% which is down 0.5 from 2010
• In Congress we have 18% filled of women
• In the senate we have 17.9% of the 435 seats filled by women in the U.S House
• Japan is saying their economy will go up 13% with women in the workforce

The actor Bruce Willis last week said himself that women should rule the world and he is about as manly as it gets! There are deeper problems in society and their perception on women. We're bitchy, nagging, stubborn, emotional, but the male is the opposite of all these things: determined, passionate, head strong, compassionate. WHAT? No wonder women are backing out of the workforce even high positions. Yes, we have women in the workforce and Congress, Senate, entertainment business, but are we really aware of it?

Dove did a very clever study where they said to this group of women that they made a patch that is supposed to make you feel differently about yourself, make you feel that you are beautiful. They wore for a certain amount of time and kept a video diary. As each day progressed they said they felt much better about themselves and that they felt beautiful each day no matter the hard circumstances. At the end, the women that was the head of the study said there was nothing in the patch. In other words the patch did nothing at all.

Dove also does these sketches where they will have a women whatever age come in and tell an artist what they think they look like. Before that they will get to know a stranger for a few minutes then they will come in and say what they think that person looks like. The results are incredibly different from when the women describes herself. It is so amazing to see these women realize how beautiful they are.

The YouTube channel SoulPancake has a webseris, What She Said, and it multiple videos on these very issues for women today. About body image, cofidence,  women in power and our purpose, aging and death, to parents and parenting even. But there is a poet, Natalie Patterson , they have in these videos and one of her own and she speaks her spoken word poems that are so inspiring and revealing for me in so many ways. 

When it comes to feeling good in our own skin I think that it is hard for anybody because we feel (and sometimes we do) have these critics in our life; our parents, friends, people at school, teachers. For me a critic can be a complete stranger because I that self conscious and aware.

So, can we put the judgement away? The pressure? Please? And how can we go forward as a society so that women can feel okay with who we are? LOTS OF WORK TO BE DONE!

Discussion

I started to research the profession journalist, reporter, person who captures and documents a story and being well, helpless. Unable to do or change anything in, or on a certain situation. Their job is to tell the story, have the voices and hearts of the people be heard and shown and move on to the next story.

I listened to two Ted Talks from journalists Janine di Giovanni and Giles Duley. Janine is a foreign correspondent who has reported in Bosnia during the Bosnian War and many other wars in; Libya, Congo, Egypt, etc. She has so many horrific stories that she can tell and a couple she tells really stuck out to me. 

She had friend in who lived in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Her friend was on her way to work when she looked up she saw a giant tank moving forward in the streets and crashing down buildings as it came. In her mini skirt she crouched down behind a garbage can and thought to herself, "I feel like I am in Alice and Wonderland. Like I'm sinking into the giant black hole." A long while after that Janine and her same friend were walking down a street and they began seeing these red lawn chairs at least 12,000 that went down the street and looked never ending; as far as the eye could see. The red chairs represented all the people (adults and children) who had been killed in the Bosnian War, at that time so far.

Janine says she knows she can't stop war. Knows that she doesn't work for the U.N., or President to a middle eastern country. You feel for the people and the country, you hear so many stories of lose and utter pain and usually strikes and pain and desire to want to stop the war, but she knows that isn't her job. Her job is report and tell these stories of civilians, happenings of the war Yes, she may feel helpless (she has), but all she knows is that she is "a witness."

Words that have stuck out me and come to my mind listening to her Ted Talk were: delude & witness. I have studied these words and this is what I got:

Delude: 1. to mislead the mind or judgement of: device, trick 2. obsolete a: frustrate,disappoint b: evade, elude

Witness: a person who sees something (such as a crime) happen

Then I looked at the definition for reporter. 
Reporter: a person who writes new stories for a newspaper, magazine, etc., or who tells the news on the radio or television

What I take from these words and from what Janine said is... that as a reporter who decides to cover over sea stories (any stories really) you cannot delude you mind and say, "That when you go over there to that place you can change the people or that country." "That you can change the circumstances of the people's situation." You're simply the witness that see's the things that happen to them and bring their silent, invisible voice's a voice!

As sad as that may sound there is still a silver lining to being a reporter even though we may not be able to change reality. Photojournalist Giles Duley has a inspirational and horrific story, just a little background of Duley first; he used to be a photographer in the fashion industry and music photography, but quit to pursue his interest in documentary photography. In 2011, Duley was in Afghanistan and unknowingly stepped on a improvised explosive device, losing both of his legs and left arm.

Duley at first doubted his work, thought it was over, but then he thought about his story (he became aprat of a story) and about how you can called be disabled, but not be disabled, that he can still work. He is quoted saying, "It (the lose of three limbs) is going to give me greater insight and empathy into people's suffering and hopefully put me in a better position to tell their stories. Because that's all I am, a storyteller." Through his own tragedy Duley has learned that his storytelling has made a difference because he has captured stories of people all around the world and with his stories he can make a difference.

The main thing that draws me to this topic and discussion is I see the acceptance in these two journalists as humans. The acceptance in their life with circumstances and their small ability to change the world, but in a HUGE way they shed light to poverty, war, controversial topics, etc. And it doesn't matter if no one, or nothing brings total attention to the story, or topic because they have done their... duty. Both make a difference in the world through their work and within their work have found peace, aspiration, gratitude, thankfulness, and grace, along with empathy. As do many other journalists I am sure with their work.

Someday I hope to gain that gracefulness in my work and total acceptance in the fact that what I do is enough, but that will probably happen when I'm 60. Ha. I am one to want to bring that voice to the people in the darkest corners of the world and hope in some small way that I did the right thing... I have made a difference. I hope in my work I can bring a light and voice to those who need it and ultimately be a storyteller.

Satire...

I have had fun thinking and discussing this topic. Satire... I honestly had no idea what it was, I thought it was something you did with chicken before you cook it, but that obviously didn't really make sense I thought quickly after. In discussion time it made sense that we are less informed about world news then Europeans because news here is boring! I get why people pay attention to Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart because their funny. They crack jokes and people laugh, they also inform you about news and "worthless" facts while making you laugh.

For me satire is a tool used for comedians to do the one thing that we all want to do... COMPLAIN! But we can't complain and express ourselves the way we want all the time because then people would get mad and controversy would start. But for people like Jon Stewart who uses his own show to use satire on world issues and politics, he could go to town on complaining about our gov't, the people in our gov't, and how our society is because he uses satire = making people laugh = people not caring.

Fake news, or the headlines on Yahoo, Google for this generation is better to them because a) they're technology based and b) we like to get away from the moroseness of the world... we want to laugh and have a good time and not care about stock going up or down, or gas prices.

Now, me personally I don't watch satire. (Well, I do, but I don't.) I watch BBC News, but also World News on CNBC, etc. They [I feel] are bringing the news as it is. They stick to the facts and they know what they're doing. I used to watch CNN, but their discussion shows they would have about a certain case or topic were just too much because it would drag for 5 hours at a time. There was nothing holding me back from flipping the channel at the break. Plus, the discussion always felt one sided no matter how many people brought up a different view.

So, with that said I do think there are certain news show/ channels that need to changed their attempt on making news. I would like to see news channels be like... none denominational when it comes to politics, religion, etc. Because I think that that's where a lot of one sided opinions happen and the corruption of a news channel wanting profit because a certain group of people like to watch it. If we're watching the news why not make it accessible for everyone to watch?

Shows like the Daily Show again [I feel] are are comedic outlets for people at the end of the day. They make you laugh, yes they show and bring a different side of a well talked about topic, but they're entertainment. I believe entertainment is not news... doesn't have the same feel... and shows like World News, the BBC, etc. They do bring news, they inform you of things going on concerning our country, military, companies here in America, certain high globe world events that effect us.