Dressing for Drinks

This week I wanted to blog about a video I was shown in my Gender and the Media class last semester. I searched YouTube for 'Girls Gone Wild Media Video' in hopes of finding the video that discussed the controversy surrounding Girls Gone Wild. Unfortunately, I could not find the video I was looking for. Instead I found this video titled 'Teen Body Image: Girls Dressing for Sex and Drinks'.

The interviewer in this video is obviously out at some sort of club or bar, questioning women on their ideas of dressing, the media, why they dress the way they do. The first girls interviewed were asked if the media influences their dressing. One of the girl's response is that 'she can't afford' the clothes and fashion in the media. This obviously means to me that she WOULD dress that way if she could, so the media does influence it. The irony of the beginning of the video is that a random girl walks by screaming that the girls interviewed are 'sluts', and then the video texts read 'value yourself'. How could a woman value herself with that constant negativity, from the media and other women?

The next girl says that she dresses like she does to get men to buy her drinks. She obviously believes that the media displays what men want, and if she follows these guidelines and standards set by the media, she will be rewarded, with...alcohol?

The final girl 'establishes true values' according to the video. She believes in her own tastes and her own style. But, does that still have basis off of the media? I believe it probably does.

I hope you enjoyed this video, and can see how the media can crush the value of women and their values and thoughts of themselves. It is sad, but perhaps if we recognize it, we can overcome it.