Lifetime, Downgrading Women

Lifetime, the Network for Women, regularly and continually downgrades women. The shows that Lifetime airs are continuously showing women that they need to rely on men, need to dress a certain way, or can't go on in life if they are not married. I decided to browse the Lifetime homepage, and found many downgrading links. Women can get on the Network's Internet site that is suppose to make women feel that they do not need to focus on beauty or men or money to be happy or successful in life, and see the "Top Headlines" of Get the Look: Ethnic Hair Celeb Style, a Recipe for Chicken Cacciatore Over Pasta that "won't pack on the pounds" and a Game to Get a Total Makeover Now. If only the headlines would say things like Real Women's Stories about how they are successful without a man, or why they don't need the newest fashion to be beautiful or why makeup does not make you how you are!

So why would Lifetime call themselves the Women's Network if they are only adding to the problem that is Women in media. I think that it has to do something with who Lifetime is owned by, "The Walt Disney Company." The Disney Company continually makes movies and television shows usually present women as needing to be saved and hopeless. For example, in Cinderella. Cinderella is first saved by her fairy god mother and then wisped off by her "Prince Charming." She is changed from a maid into a Princess. I think that Lifetime's way of making women feel has to deal with who are the "big wigs" at The Walt Disney Company. 3 out of 12 of the people on the Board of Directors are female, and they do not hold even the largest roles, or have been on the board the longest.

Media Conglomeration has become a huge problem in the world of television, Internet, movies, board games, action figures, and even more. Since the media is being controlled by only a few certain people, and is so horizontally integrated, that no matter what television station you are watching you are being feed the ideas of these few people that control all of the media.

How do you think Lifetime would be different if it was controlled by say Viacom, Time Warner, NBC, News Corporation, or was independently owned?