Negative Effects Of Media On Women

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02 Nov 2017

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Salazar, Jessy

ERWC p. 3

14 February 2013

Negative Effects of Media on Women

Thesis: Media portrays women as blemish free, wrinkle free, pore free, - flaw free. It’s impossible to achieve perfection, but women drill for the appearance of media’s ‘ideal beauty’ and in trying to reach that standard, a catalyst of negative effects, ranging from insidious misogyny to extreme body dissatisfaction and damaging habits, is alarmingly common in today’s society.

Children’s exposure to media

Media Exposure Statistics.

Media’s perception of "beauty" in unattainable by most.

Children are taught about the importance of beauty through media.

Misogyny in the media

Media is suppressing women in power.

57% of women make up the U.S., yet only 15% are in congress.

Media focuses on the importance of the body, not the brain.

Woman objectification in media.

What is objectification?

The female body is exploded for the benefit of companies who don’t just sell a product, but a lifestyle to consumers.

When women are dehumanized, a "climate" is created in which violence and exploitation of women is both tolerated and encouraged

Media is damaging women’s self image

Magazines and advertisements lure women into believing that if you follow the advice given in magazines, then they too will be more acceptable and attractive.

models shown in magazines are often below a healthy weight.

High levels of media exposure is directly correlated to a thin- ideal internalization, which puts women at a higher risk of developing weight anxiety and damaging eating patterns

Conclusion

Mass media’s portrayal of beauty is unattainable by the majority of women.

Society should be conditioned to love themselves and adopt the idea that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Salazar, Jessy

ERWC p. 3

14 February 2013

Women vs. Media

Sociocultural standards of feminine beauty are delivering content that is shaping our society through all forms of media. Women are constantly barraged with the idea that their value and worth depends primarily on their beauty. Advertisements, films, video games, etc. are indirectly telling women who they are and who they should be by illustrating an ‘ideal’ beauty standard that is literally impossibly to achieve. They’re designed to make women spend an inconceivable amount of time and money trying to perfect their own beauty and to make them feel guilty and demeaned when they fail. Failure, though, is inevitable. Media portrays women as blemish free, wrinkle free, pore free, - flaw free. It’s impossible to achieve perfection, but women drill for the appearance of media’s ‘ideal beauty’ and in trying to reach that standard, a catalyst of negative effects, ranging from insidious misogyny to extreme body dissatisfaction and damaging habits, is alarmingly common in today’s society.

The average young adolescent watches 3-4 hours of TV per day meaning a child may view an average of 40,000 commercials per year (http://www.mediaed.org). From mass media’s perspective, an attractive woman is expected to be ultra thin, tall, have a tubular body, and more often than not, she’s usually white. These images of women who fulfill these unrealistic standards litter the media, making it seem as if it’s normal for women to live up to this ideal (http://www.westminstercollege.edu). At a young age, girls learn that their value lies in their beauty. Likewise, boys get the message that beauty is the most important quality a girl can have.

During a segment on the O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly asked author Mark Rudov to discuss the downsides of having a woman enter the Oval Office. Rudov responded with, "You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?" (Bill O’Reilly) With media constantly stifling and suppressing women in powerful positions, what does that say about women in general? How can anyone take women seriously? "Little boys and girls- when they’re seven years old- an equal number of them want to become president of the United States," says Caroline Heldman, phD, Associate Professor of Political Science Occidental college, "but then you ask the same question again when they’re seventeen, and you see this massive gap emerging." 57% of women make up the U.S., yet only 15% are in congress. The U.S. is rated 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures (Miss Representation). Media lacks appreciation for women intellectuals. They focus on the importance of the body, not the brain. This is socializing boys to believe that being a man means being powerful, dominant, hypermasculine, and misogynistic.

On top of sexualizing women, media often objectifies them. Women Objectification refers to the idea that women are represented in ways and contexts that suggest they are less than human. Objects to be looked at, touched, used, replaced, and even discarded (www.nomas.org). This sends a message that this is how women can be viewed, regarded and used. It’s a commentary on women’s body as a whole. The female body is exploded for the benefit of companies who don’t just sell a product, but a lifestyle to consumers. To be objectified, women don’t have to be depicted in images where they are reduced to their sexual body parts. Women are objectified simply by being a woman in a society where images like this are common and accepted. When women are dehumanized, a "climate" is created in which violence and exploitation of women is both tolerated and encouraged (www.nomas.org).

Magazines and advertisements are marketed to help women "better themselves" by providing products that are supposed to make them feel better about their appearance. They lure women into believing that if you follow the advice given in magazines, then they too will be more acceptable and attractive. Furthermore, models shown in these magazines are often below a healthy weight standard which sends the message that societal standards of beauty are only attainable through the sacrificing of one’s health. These sources of media have the potential to have a powerful influence on a woman’s self worth and satisfaction towards her appearance. (http://www.westminstercollege.edu). High levels of media exposure is directly correlated to a thin- ideal internalization, which puts women at a higher risk of developing weight anxiety and damaging eating patterns such as anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion, and bulimia nervosa, which is a psychological condition in which a person binges on food then uses different methods- such as vomiting or abusing laxatives- to prevent weight gain. (http://voices.yahoo.com)

With pictures of perfect women plastered all over the media, the average woman may tend to question her own beauty, and end up taking matters into her own hands. Mass media’s portrayal of beauty is unattainable by the majority of women and these types of images only serve to perpetuate more insecurity among women. Society should be conditioned to love themselves and not feel pressured to look like the unhealthy models they’ve seen in magazines or on television and adopt the idea that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. If society could start differentiating between reality and media’s perception of what reality should be, then maybe society could learn to accept reality without wanting to change it.



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