People all around the world are being influenced by what’s become popular culture. From shirts to shoes, all the way to music to what’s being talked about most; all of it revolves around most popular icons today. While some choose not to pay attention to what’s “hot,” others seem to be changing their whole lifestyle to fit in with what’s going on in the world. Social media websites, magazines, music, people, and trends are coming into play during this huge cultural shift. Looking mainly at women, gender begins to play a role as to who cares more about their personal image inside and out. They’ve started to put aside their simple moral qualities and have tumbled to the goals of normal up to date slants as they start to shape their image to what’s recognized as today’s “in,” and how these notable individuals influence their mental self portraits contrarily. Girls who begin to believe that dressing like some popular icon’s is going to win them points might end up giving men around them the wrong idea, and may begin to build a bad reputation for themselves. If one were to leave and walk around a popular city, paying attention to how young adults were dressing, they’d be astounded. Girls on social media sites have made it okay to post pictures of themselves in revealing articles of clothing, some clothing, or even no clothing at all. This brings them a large amount of negative appeal. Men all want one thing at such an age, and it’s almost as if these women are fueling their fires. Men then, might not only begin to pursue such an individual, they will more than likely leave all their concern at the door; hers, and the people she surrounds herself with. The men then only will take her out to receive what they want. She falls for the nice... ... middle of paper ... ... and how society sees you. It also affects how successful you become and how far you get in life. Whether you decide to make a positive or negative impression is up to you, but all of these people do affect your life in one way or another. Works Cited Barden, Dan. “My New Nose.” Mirror on America: Essays and Images from Popular Culture. 5th Edition. Ed Joan T. Mims and Elizabeth Mahn Nollen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012, 182. Print. Cleveland, Delia. "Champagne Taste, Beer Budget." Mirror on America: Essays and Images from Popular Culture. 5th Edition. Ed Joan T. Mims and Elizabeth Mahn Nollen. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. 279-80. Print. Suh, Grace. "The Eye of the Beholder." Mirror on America: Short Essays and Images from Popular Culture. 5th Edition. Ed Joan T. Mims and Elizabeth Mahn Nollen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 187-90. Print.
To elaborate, Scott argues that as a picture interpreter, we must make a distinction between the “ideal and the real,” to understand the true meaning of an image. She argues how the Gibson Girl and the American Girl were two idealised visions of modern beauty and femininity which made women to try to be like them. These two girls became markers of their decade, ...
Dorenkamp Angela G. Images of Women in American Popular Culture. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985.
Girls try to copy the clothes the celebrities wear because it is what’s considered cool. They wear makeup because if they don’t have the perfect complexion, the sexy eyes or the right lip color, they are considered ugly. Society has taken away our say in what is beautiful and attractive. Society controls what to wear and how to look. The short story, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” by James Tiptree, shows how society can dominate the lives of the individual.
Throughout the century, the ideal image of a woman has changed drastically, which can be directly attributed to the powerful persuasion of media. This ideal image has transformed from a voluptuous, size 14, 1950’s Marilyn Monroe to a 5’9, 100 pound, 1990’s Kate Moss. The most shocking aspect is specifically what young girls are now doing to achieve this “Kate Moss” image. Through the utilization of advertisements and stars on the big screen, this female portrayal directly targets the physical and mental well-being of females in cultures across the globe.
It is no surprise that many young females are turning to the knife when they are surrounded by images of young, beautiful models advertising everything from cars to beauty products reminding them every day of what they hate about themselves. Some women’s answer to this is to hide themselves away under baggy clothing but the majority cover themselves in make-up and fake tan and dye their hair to look like their favourite celebrity of the moment. However, recently many more women have tu...
In The Eye of the Beholder and The Birthmark, an author and a director present arguments regarding societal conceptions of beauty. Though both make the point that people’s views of beauty are flawed and that beauty relies on perspective, they present different ideas regarding these flaws. Whereas The Eye of the Beholder uses techniques of surprise and uncanniness and draws parallels to the real world to demonstrate that society’s view of beauty is entirely based on perspective, and that what is ugly to one might be beautiful to another, The Birthmark examines beauty as it pertains to personal relationships more so than society. The Birthmark uses irony, symbolism, and allusion to demonstrate a problem in the human quest for perfection and examines humanity’s nature to be imperfect.
Too many people have had their minds fixed on the ideas that the perfect women should be a “lady” embodying the image of a Barbie, the only known flawless character known to our human species or the ideal man should have to live up to the unachievable expectations of every females dream of being 6’7 with an abdominal structure of a firefighter and a P.H.D in law. These expectations are extremely high and are impossible to obtain. Living in a materialistic environment influences children to adapt to trends and sudden changes to make themselves appear more passable for the people around them. The children of our generation have been infected with a disease called insecurity. TV shows and music videos have made the wrong idea of what people should look like and act like. The world should create better influences, end all violence, and have better places to live for the children of the future.
Sam Mendes’s provocative debut film American Beauty was a blockbuster after its release in 1999, wrapping up three accolades at the Golden Globe Awards, reaping nominations in miscellaneous film festivals. Beauty and reality are the two major and discrepant elements in the film. Symbolically, beauty eludes humans’ possession, and such elusion is often offset by its presenting a form of reflection on the reality. Thrills, often followed by disillusionment, of quasi obtainment of such heavenly beauty feed humans’ incessant pursuit of beauty in reality. In the film, beauty gets lurid, and reality becomes horrid. A black comedy, American Beauty achieves a Grotesque atmosphere by escalating such disparity to a peak at which the protagonist Lester Burnham irrevocably bursts to death, posing a proposition of man’s raison d’être.
Cleveland, Delia. “Champagne Taste, Beer Budget.” Mirror on America Essays and Images from Popular Culture. Bedford/St. Martin’s.2012, p.279-282. Print.
Prager, Emily. "Our Barbies, Ourselves." Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture For Writers. 3rd Ed. Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford, 2000. 706-709.
It is shocking to see the digression in humanity’s morals and values over the past decade. As cliché as it sounds, the media is the center of it all. The way women are being represented, from our television sets, the radio, pornography and even art has pushed beauty to the top of the list of controversial and widely debated topics around the globe. “Whenever we walk down the street, watch TV, open a magazine or enter an art gallery, we are faced with images of femininity,” (Watson and Martin).
I think we are naive to think this lens will be completely eradicated from our nation. However, its resurgence should concern us all. The author of our book contends "This move toward a higher level of expression demands a dramatic shift in attitude - a shift much greater than that
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
The use of Social media is becoming more prominent in society; its use for almost anything, from online shopping to following tips for a wealthy life style to keeping up with the latest trends. As much as humans deny the impact and the utility of social media in their daily life, it alternates their visions on beauty. The use of standards in social media modify perceptions on both women and me. The media has helped mold the perception of the beauty people hold on to. They start to believe that the concept of beauty is the one they advertise rather than the one in the subconscious mind. Slowly but surely the media has alternated with the idea of the self image. Each seasonal trend or style that comes out into the market or is shown on social media, gives a new meaning and influence onto what is to be expect of the self image. As the fashion industry targets the richest country’s and wealthier society’s. It tends to be forgotten that the main followers of social media are all over the globe and hold different social classes and are a diversion of cultures. The media feeds to the western
The media has a strong influence on society, both negatively and positively. So when children as young as 6 are being influenced by celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears; we as a society have lost site in what it is to be a positive influence. Kathleen Deveny and Raina Kelly raised awareness in their article “Girls Gone Bad?” which depicts the bad behavior and influences set by celebrities such as Hilton, Lohan, and Spears have any long term affects on young women. Are young women so riveted to the highlights of these celebrities and the media that surrounds their lifestyle that, as Deveny and Kelly boldly puts it, we are raising ‘prosti-tots’? Or can our young women look beyond the bad behavior with lavish lifestyles, and still make a wise decision based on common sense? Not only are young women bombarded with the lifestyle of these celebrities produced by the media but they are plagued with images of how they should behave and what they should look like. This is an adolescent crisis in a young woman’s life because from the stages of preteen to near adulthood is when young women are most susceptible to influence.