Is Insecurity In Women Increased By Movies & TV?

Many of us have favorite TV shows we look forward to weekly but those shows may be contributing to insecurity in women.

Let’s take a look and determine if some of your favorites are doing you more harm than their escape from reality provides in benefits.

I’ve been surprised lately that so many movies and TV shows are violence, betrayal and fear-based. Unfortunately, that’s what sells so it also says a lot about our society, beliefs and stress levels. Even children’s shows are extremely violent and it doesn’t matter to the subconscious mind (where emotions are stored) whether or not the character is a cartoon or actor playing a part – the message is the same and heightens feelings of insecurity in our daily lives.

1. How can a woman feel secure in a relationship when she’s feeding herself a constant diet of shows that include infidelity?
2. How can a woman feel safe sending her kids to school with all of the newscasts that make school shooters into celebrities, giving them the attention they committed the crime to get?
3. How can a woman feel comfortable walking down the street or dating someone new when so many shows put doubts in her mind about safety?

When we buy into all the violence and cheating, it’s impossible to feel secure anywhere, ever; not in our homes, jobs, marriages or sending our kids to school.

Although I have my fun, favorite, go-to shows like classic Friends episodes, Modern Family and The Neighbors that always make me laugh, I’ve also been watching Revenge for the actors I like, the intrigue and brain workout I get in my attempt to keep up with the elaborate storyline. And I have noticed I feel tense even before it comes on. And do I really need to be thinking about the plot to do someone in the next day during my Positive Women Rock workday?

Reality TV shows (cast to create conflict for ratings) raise my stress level too although I find them to be good character studies and fascinating when it comes to human behavior. Cast members show up one way (the way they want people to see them) in the beginning and slowly or not-so-slowly fall apart into who they truly are as a person and usually nothing like they first portrayed themselves to be and others emerge as someone who is authentic, loving, helpful and would make a great friend.

As positive women practicing positive lifestyles we focus on raising our energy (vibration) to get (and stay) out of a rut and in our groove so it’s vital to pay attention to the environments we put ourselves in. You will see in my article, “Take A Vacation; Boost Your Libido,” that we are in stress mode (fight or flight) much more often than our bodies were designed to handle. Therefore, when we choose our entertainment from a collection of stressful, fear-based TV shows and movies, we perpetuate the issue of insecurity in women – including our own.

While much insecurity in women comes from triggers back to childhood challenges, we can stop adding onto it by taking care of ourselves emotionally every day and that means expanding our awareness of when and where we feel strong and when and where we feel weak.

How do you feel emotionally about the shows you look forward to watching weekly?

• If you feel good, happy and empowered, it is likely a beneficial break from everyday stress and good to keep on your list. You will feel more secure in your home, work environment and relationship if you’re adding laughter to your day.
• If you feel tense, fearful or overwhelmed when you think of what’s going on within your show, it’s adding to your stress and insecurity. We can’t feel secure in our own lives when we’re feeding ourselves a diet of stress and drama. Our subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference in whether it is our own stress or TV show stress and responds the same to both, which is heightened adrenaline and staying in fight or flight mode and raising our blood pressure among other negative symptoms.

Realizing that sometimes we want stressful shows because it makes our own life seem less so, we must be sure to follow up with a show that makes us laugh, especially before bedtime.

Do you have a favorite movie or TV show that inspires you to feel good about yourself? Like I mentioned, Modern Family is one of my favorites and I may even re-watch it on ABC.com during the week for a quick pick-me-up if I’m feeling low on energy.

Make a point to notice how you feel throughout your day and you’ll be tuned in to what is empowering vs what increases insecurity in women – yourself included. Simple adjustments make a dramatic difference in how we feel about our selves and about our life.

Please share your go-to movie or TV show that boosts your positive energy in a comment below.