Mental Health, the Media and Feminism

Early adolescence is when young women need to learn to deconstruct the beauty myth.(Sheridan, 2001) How are young women as well as young men supposed to do this when they are bombarded by the media telling them how to live the perfect life?

Young women and men are being influenced by the media everyday of their lives.  They see thin, beautiful people succeeding in the shows they watch, the songs they listen to, and sell the products they want to buy. These young men and women strive for this perfectness that is created specifically to sell.  In their efforts to become what they are told is perfect they may develop mental health issues such as eating disorders.

In 2005, more than 500,000 Canadians suffered from some sort of eating disorder.("Eating disorder statistics," )  This is a shocking, yet somewhat understandable statistic because of the pressure that the media creates.  Every second commercial on t.v. seems to be one about some kind of new diet out there and other commercials are accentuating how beauty equals power in life.  What the women and men affected by these disorders need help realizing is that these ideals are not the norm.

In some ways the media is oppressive and something needs to be done in order to liberate these individuals from feeling the need to conform.  The liberal feminist remedy for gender inequality is to reform (not transform) social institutions. (Mullally, 2007) Even though the media affects both women and men there is an emphasis on what is suppose to be the norm for women. 

Gender inequality in the media appears in a significant number of ads, t.v. shows, etc. and it would be beneficial to reform the way it is presented.  A radical change in the way media is made would not be a realistic goal.  Sometimes the audience wants to see amazingly unattainable beauty but incorporating all different  types of people would be a big step.  

Alexis B.

References:

Eating disorder statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hopewell.ca/content/canadian-statistics

Mullaly, B. (2007). The new structural social work. Canada: Oxford University Press.

Sheridan, N. (2001). Beyond ophelia: feminism for girls. Canadian Woman Studies, 20. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdweb?did=000000646362421&Fmt=3&cli entId=43168&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Meeting My New Grandma

http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/family/poetry.asp?poem=19446

Meeting My New Grandma

© Jackie

That lady I met in the nursing home, 

she looked so much like Grandma.

I thought it was her for a while, 

but then she turned around and wasn’t wearing a smile.

Mom pulled her over

and said she was Grandma.

How could this be?

My grandma would never ignore me.

She did look a lot like her, 

and dress like her too.

But this is not the Grandma I once knew, 

This is not Grandma, what mom said can’t be true.

This Grandma was talking and making no sense; 

she had tears and her eyes seemed so sad.

This is some other girls Grandma, not mine.

My Grandma is healthy and happy and fine.

Mom was talking to the nurse, 

about a disease call Alzheimer’s.

That doesn’t have a cure, 

and Grandma has it, the doctors are sure.

She does not recognize me, 

she stumbles and she mumbles.

She’s forgot everything that she used to know.

She is a different person, a new Grandma Lo.

The new grandma looks just like the old, 

but in her mind it is different.

She may not be the Grandma I love and know, 

but she will always be my Grandma Lo.

This poem not only accentuates the difficulty one suffers when affected by alzheimer’s but also the pain suffered by their family members.

Growing old is a fact of life but growing old and developing a mental disability isn’t. Some mental disabilities unfortunately are unpredictable and unpreventable such as alzheimer’s. However, no matter the disability, the quality of life that the elderly live does not and should not have to change. It is important for family members to realize that the disability is not who their loved one is, it is only something they have. Just as in the poem the narrator says, “she may not be the Grandma I love and know but she will always be my Grandma Lo.”

It is important that elderly people with mental disabilities as well as all other elderly people are treated with the respect they deserve. Just because they have developed mental disabilities does not mean they deserve to be maltreated or as treated as little children.

Alexis B.