Media has this sort of power that isn't notified in some ways but has been picked up on due to huge public responses.More often than not the media depicts the way people go about their daily life. People look at the media to determine how they should dress, act and in some cases even how they should perform sexually. It is astonishing that in so many ways we depend on something that controls us in such negative ways. Since the beginning of media history, the media has been limiting woman in many ways. Some of these ways are how woman today view there own body image, what stereotypes the media puts on women, and how these things affect women’s health.
The media has been altering the way everyone sees themselves in relation to others. They can also change the way we dress, look, and even the way we act. The media is the largest source of stereotypical misinformation on earth, and this provokes others to stereotype as well. However, the media is a great source of role models to all members of society. A great number of media role models provides our society with negative habits.
All types of media are great for news and entertainment, but it also brings many disruptive habits to our society, making media a double-blind.Body image is the way one sees their own body, perhaps not in the mirror but in their own mind. Messages from the media are constantly trying to alter the way we see our own bodies to be, and what we accept that our body needs to look like; the altered unnatural form in the magazines. Theres a bottom line to the way women should look today and no where in that decryption is there the word healthy. Women will do anything these days to be this unrealistic character 'barbie'. Media not only shows us how we should look, but they sell us the product to become that person.
Beauty can not come from a $19. 9 tube of lotion, but we are made to believe if we spend our hard earned money on it we will be socially accepted. A generation ago, the average model weighed 8% less than the average women, while today that same model weights 23% less. The grasping power of media has an impact on young women all over the continent. Studies say that girls that admit to adopting unhealthy eating habits to try and improve themselves, are girls that watch more television then girls who are comfortable with their own bodies. Some would argue and say that its an individuals choice to watch those show and read the magazines.
And that its there responsibility not to believe everything they read. I do agree to this, but only to a certain point, we have to remember that the majority of girls don't understand that women in the media today are not realistic. And with media itself being there main source of information, how do they stand a chance. You know the saying 'the truth sometimes hurts' well in marketing they live off of lies, and they aren't going to ruin there number one marketing tool to young girls just so they ca know the truth. 'The truth',an unknown word in the world of advertising.
What we need in our society is self-awareness. This ideal women approach is not ideal at all. Not only women but all people are constantly put into categories within the media, people are defined and categorized. The idea of categorizing people has been conditioned into the public mind. Ideas such as ‘all blondes are ditzy’ or ‘all red heads are not only angry but a whole different species’ exist. Divisions are everywhere, the same division technique used to sell products.
Every girl has been categorized into a select few categories, within modern media.These categories are from the ‘Superwoman…mother to the nasty corporate climber. All of these things dictate how a woman behaves or more how a woman is supposed to behave according to the media’s standard. I feel that when it comes to standards for men they are a lot different. Older male presenters are praised for their maturity however this is not the case with older women. Females in television are expected to be either young or still look as if they are young.
They are made to feel as if getting old looking isn't okay when in reality it is a natural thing.Aging is portrayed as a demon. The media portrays that youth is the only form of beauty . In the American heritage dictionary beauty is defined as a pleasing quality associated with harmony of form or colour, excellence of craftsmanship, truthfulness, originality. It is thought that everyone has there own interpretation of what beauty is and what it is not. However, in today’s society the media has shown and defined beauty in more of a physical appearance.
Are we to blame, we have created this 'ideal' look that we are strive to be, when in reality only 5% fit the description.
