So, with all the discussion about the media and how it really promotes all these ideas of basically every women's issue we have studied this term, I wanted to take a minute to bring up some positive media influences. Feminist media is just a drop in the bucket but it is gaining ground.
Amy Poehler is a really inspiring person. She is a popular actress and comedian- best known for her time on (once male dominated) SNL and on the t.v shoe Parks and Rec. She identifies herself as a feminist and is doing some really cool work when it comes to spreading her views and influencing young girls.
Amy Poehler has a great media campaign called "Smart Girls at the Party".
As describes on the website, it "is a rapidly expanding online network that aims to help the process of cultivating the authentic selves of young women and the young at heart." Basically, it is a series of video on youtube with different themes. She interviews girls, has an "Ask Amy" series, advice series, and other. The point of these videos is to inspire confidence in women and makes a point to discuss how multi-faceted women are- we can't be put in a box. The videos cover issues from body image, negativity, community projects, interviews with girls from different cultures and interviews with women in a variety of professions. The campaign also motivates girls to find something that interests them- no matter what it is- life will be more interesting when they are being themselves.
The campaign is definitely gaining popularity and I can definitely see why. Amy Poehler is a well know actress/comedian and the youtube series has a great mix of humor and heart. Some of the videos have 300,000+ views! This is also the perfect platform to reach her audience. One of the best things about it is just to see someone taking this much action to do something they are interested in. It is really inspiring.
I believe she's doing important work. I hope it inspires other.
http://www.youtube.com/smartgirls
I feel proud that there are positive role models in the media. as well as paving the way to change the way girls see society. If more people put time into giving children a better outlook on what the world is like then it will serve a better purpose than those who are just continuing the cycle of how oppressive and one dimensional it all is. I think that if more people reached out to us when we were younger then our generation could be a lot different than it is now. I fee if i was told more consistently that i could achieve anything or look however i wanted then i think I would have been less self conscious and had a better view of myself.
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