From the desk of the editor:

“Look at those ugly skanks that make up the female leadership of the Democratic Party.”

Believe it or not, the above quote broadcast on the Lee Rodgers Show on September 17, 2008.

When a friend of mine invited me to a recent showing of “Miss Representation,” I figured I had already heard a lot of what the documentary was going to say. I already knew ays seemed like just an unfortunate reality of the way society that women are subject to skewed images of beauty and fitness through the media’s promotion of the “ideal” woman.

While certainly troubling, this knowledge has alwhas come to be. What really could I do to change it, except to work within my own small world and spheres of influence to make sure that I and the women closest to me are not harmed by this incorrect message?

That was until I saw Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s take on the issue in “Miss Representation.”

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festive this past October, Newsome wrote, directed and produced this documentary that “exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.” Through a mix of eye-opening statistics, media advertisements, TV commercials and clips from network news broadcasts, “Miss Representation” reveals the sad truth about just how poorly women are portrayed in our media.

I was shocked as I watched clips from mainstream TV and radio broadcasts in which male hosts passed judgment on female political figures and celebrities based on solely on their appearances. Comedian and talk show host Chris Baker broadcast that Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright should “get another facelift, lady,” before declaring that this was “another reason why it’s very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office.”

Two days later, I was at Wal-Mart purchasing Christmas Cheer gifts with one of my Chips co-workers. The family of four we were sponsoring had requested a hat and mittens for their four year old daughter. It didn’t take long to see that nearly all the hats the store had to choose from for little girls were either pink or purple and decorated with hearts and snowflakes.

It’s easy to see when our girls transform from little pink stocking caps with hearts to the scantily clad, promiscuous figures our media teaches us are the norm. The question is, why?

And more than that, what if they don’t want to fill either of these roles?

I was the girl who, when playing with my friends in elementary school, always wanted to be the yellow power ranger, because “pink is too girly.”

As I stood in front of the Wal-Mart shelves, I found myself thinking, “What if this little girl we’re shopping for doesn’t like pink either?”

Each of these messages that tell girls what they are supposed to be is bad enough, but what is possibly even more troubling is the fact that girls are told they need to be either of them.

I hunted for frogs in the mud when I was a little girl, and now, as a twenty-one year old college senior, I cringe when I see the way women’s bodies are exploited and displayed in the media. I believe girls can wear green and dress modestly, and still be known for more than their physical appearance.

And I think that’s a representation women can agree with.