Final Project Propsoal

Lexington Leib

Professor Doris Caçoilo

Media 384

October 22, 2016

Final Project Proposal

            For my final project I will be creating a short documentary that investigates slut shaming and social media. I will include interviews with experts in women’s studies, anthropology, technology and sex therapists as well as young women that I know that use social media platforms such as Instagram, and Snapchat to take ownership of their sexuality. The goal of this piece is to raise awareness and discussion on the policing of women’s sexuality, how it affects young women, and how it has been impacted by technology. It will also consider the question of whether or not posting sexy images is empowering or self-objectification.

            I am still in the very early phases of this project. I am currently trying to find experts to interview and conducting research. So far I have read about 5 lay articles on the subject and have found that many psychologists think it is harmful to the self-esteem of women to rely on social media for gratification.  Dr. Susan Krauss Whitborn states “When self-esteem becomes largely dependent on how sexy one looks—and not how intelligent, kind, friendly, or inwardly attractive one is—other problems result, especially in their interactions with the men in their lives, who themselves may have become conditioned to objectify women. Men might treat them with less respect, showing outright or subtle forms of sexism that can range from patronizing mannerisms to verbal or even physical attacks,” (Source). The young women I know who post proactive pictures and messages on their social medias accounts will often talk about how men treat them differently because of it, yet they still continue to do it. I want to explore why this is, and get down to the nitty gritty of how women take ownership of their bodies and sexuality.

This documentary is for anyone who participates in social media, and will be shared on youtube and vimeo and on my personal website. My career goals are to work in the entertainment industry as a producer and writer for television and documentaries. So this will be a great addition to my portfolio, and will demonstrate my ability to make a dynamic, well edited, and possibly edgy documentary. After the semester is over I could expand this into a larger length film.

Timeline

Oct 29

·      Find at least 10 experts,  send out emails and/or calls and see who would be willing to be interviewed by me

·      Have first draft of interview questions ready

Nov 5

·      Do interviews with Isha, Becca and Lilly –young women who are very comfortable about their sexuality and social media presence

Nov 12

·      Have interviews scheduled with experts

Nov 19

·      Interviews

Nov 26

·      Interviews

·      Post Production

Dec 3

·      Interviews

·      Post production

Dec 10

·      Post Production

Dec 17

·      Project Due