‘Miss Representation’ Documentary: I Want to See This Really Badly

Newest Miss Representation Trailer (a 2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection) from on Vimeo.

Not only do I want to see this film, Miss Representation – a 2011 Sundance official film festival selection – because I write and am interested in the intersection of pop culture and politics, but because I’m the mother of an impressionable 12, almost 13-year-old girl who’s soaking all of this in and trying to figure out where she fits in in the world of today’s girls.

As the mother of two boys – one age 12, almost 13, and another almost 10 – I wonder about the messages that they receive about girls’ and women’s roles in the world.

For example, after the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup and there was a celebratory parade in Boston – which my 9-year-old son and my husband attended – my daughter asked me whether there’ve been any parades for female athletes and if not, why not. She’s lived through Boston parades for the Red Sox (twice), the Patriots and the Celtics, all of which we watched on TV or attended.

I had no answer for her, none that would be satisfactory.

Though we’ve all, as a family, been watching the Women’s World Cup games, it’s hard for me to justify or explain to her why the women receive precious little coverage in the sports pages of the newspaper as compared to when the USA men’s team was in contention.

I really want to see this documentary.