The Manufacture of the Perfect Woman
In today’s society, the media remains a pronounced source of information throughout the westernized world and beyond. Men, women, and children alike interact with some sort of media in their day-to-day lives. This wealth of information can be significantly useful and provides an essential way of communicating important intelligence. However, it also acts as a means of entertainment. Because of its ever-present existence, this aspect of modern culture tends to influence and impact those who interact with it regularly. Although often a beneficial source of communication, media can have a negative impact on those that consume it, especially female viewers. Fictional media, more specifically, impacts an involved woman from a young age up until adulthood. Mainstream media shapes the typical female's outlook of what society deems the norm over the course of her life through television and other outlets of material, often driving her to internalize the media-supported, ideal female aesthetic and gain a distorted self-image.
Media exposure and negative sway commences typically at a young age in a female’s life. Disney represents a company guilty of presenting a negative image masked by seemingly good intention. Many studies have evaluated the beauty bias within several classic Disney films. One such analysis found that “more than 100 female characters appearing in 23 Walt Disney animated cartoons found that an association between attractiveness/thinness and goodness was present in each film produced over the 60-year period covered by the study” (Rumble, Cash, & Nashville as cited in McGladrey). These films initiate the first steps of internalizing beauty ideals and begin a lifetime of self-comparis...
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... research done is relevant and will be convenient in showing a good contrasting study. Luckily, it is just one study, and my argument still proves true in hundreds of studies. There is lots of useful information and it does not completely play down media influence.
Ostrand, Amy. "Correlation Between Children's Media and Body Dissatisfaction: Analyzing Recently-Released Disney Movies." National Communication Association (2009): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.
This displays another very helpful article showing the negative impact of Disney media. It found that media messages have gotten better in recent years, but there are still the ever-present stereotypes existing in the films. Ostrand also provides background information, which will prove very interesting and bolster my argument in the paper. This is one of the best recourses I have come across.
The media, through its many outlets, has a lasting effect on the values and social structure evident in modern day society. Television, in particular, has the ability to influence the social structure of society with its subjective content. As Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert write in their article, “GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION”, the basis of our accepted social identities is heavily controlled by the media we consume. One of the social identities that is heavily influenced is gender: Brooks and Hébert conclude, “While sex differences are rooted in biology, how we come to understand and perform gender is based on culture” (Brooks, Hébert 297). With gender being shaped so profusely by our culture, it is important to be aware of how social identities, such as gender, are being constructed in the media.
In the American culture, women are encouraged to objectify each other and themselves through the affects of advertising raunch culture in the media, this contributes to stereotypes of gender roles. Raunch culture has a major impact on society and on people contributing to their development. Disney princesses and Paris Hilton both promote a set body image by creating a perfect standard of living that is very appealing to females. This body image leads to self-esteem issues and insecurities. Females shouldn’t be judged on the basis of their appearance but should know their self-worth.
The image of Disney’s ravishing princess marrying her perfect Prince Charming has infatuated young girl for decades. These delightful movies present role models for young girls influencing them to dress up as their favorite princesses in the image of their Disney princess models. Many parents regard this imaginative act of child's play as charming or innocent. However, there has been much speculation about the media’s message directed towards young girls. The most prevalent source of this worry is abundant in animated films (Travail). Although animated movies are exciting for young children, recent studies have shown that these films are causing a spike in body dissatisfaction in girls. Throughout the past century negative body image among young girls has been driven by Disney’s animated movies, Barbie dolls, and Barbie’s new animated films.
The Effects of Media on the Body-Image of Preadolescent Girls. Media is infamous for having a tremendous effect on teenage girls. The mass media have long been criticized for presenting unrealistic appearance ideals that contribute to the development of negative body image for many women and girls (Harrison & Hefner, 2006). Whether it’s the influence on their choice of friends, school, or their self-image, media has played an important role in affecting those decisions. A growing number of experimental studies have demonstrated a causal link between acute exposure to "thin-ideal" images (i.e., images of impossibly thin and attractive female beauty) and increased body dissatisfaction (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003).
Grabe, S., Ward, L., & Hyde, J. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlationsla studies. Psychological Bulletin, 460-476.
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
The reader feels disturbed, anger and enraged at the beginning and all throughout the article on Disney and TV in general. Disney in specifically because of its intended audience, which is children. Hanes says “ The $4 billion Disney Princess empires was the first step down a path scarier challenge , from self objectification “ ( Hanes 2) . Notice how Hanes uses the word objectification and first step , these words set the tone of the article. Some of the audience might of felt betrayed by Disney for making and promoting movies/shows that cause that type of change in a little girls life in such an early stage. The audience could as well be questioning themselves if the Disney company was doing it on purpose. Hanes says ,“ Hannah Montana, then High School Musical. I thought it was so strange that these were the new trajectories of female childhood” ( Hanes
In “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” Stephanie Hanes covers the sexualization of young girls and women in every aspect of the media that influences children and teens. She explains that girls see media figures, movies, and sports being sexualized, and how this is causing children to associate looking and acting a certain way to being ‘the perfect women’. Hanes believes the hypersexualized media is causing girls to obtain a negative body image and it’s killing their self-esteem. The author proposes what she believes society should do about overcoming this obstacle, and how people can crush the stereotypes about women; to her everyone is responsible and should aid in fixing these problems. She explains that the media
In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that feminism is a direct result of the realization that mass media is a deliberate and calculated aggression against women. While the media seemingly begins to acknowledge the power of women, it purposely sets out to redefine women and the qualities by which they should define themselves. The contradictory messages received by women leave women not only in a love/hate relationship with the media, but also in a love/hate relationship with themselves.
According to a report by ZenithOptimedia, people spend more than an average of 490 minutes of their day consuming some form of media or text (Karaian). In a society that’s driven primarily by the media, we as consumers have been constantly exposed, yet desensitized, to the various perspectives and theoretical frameworks that media has historically illustrated and produced. The most common concepts that are explored involve ideas of race, heteronormativity, whiteness and white privilege, female objectification, class identity, and gender. Each perception is complex and is seen differently in media depending on who you are and the way that you see the world through the lenses created by your own beliefs and culture.
Through the duration of our lives we are inadvertently exposed to a plethora of social stereotypes that shape our thoughts and behavior. These stereotypes are instilled through various forms of media such as movies, tv shows, and music. Disney animated movies, specifically, are a popular and parent approved form of entertainment for young children. Yet, many parents are seemingly unaware of the fact that children to be easily susceptible to the subliminal ideas and actions seen in movies. This leads to young children, who minds are still in the developmental stage, to have misconstrued opinions, behaviors, and beliefs. Adolescent girls tend to base their perception of gender roles in society off the unrealistic story lines seen in Disney movies such as The Little
Since 1937, when Snow White was created, Disney princesses have been falsely portraying women. While their personalities have changed to keep up with society’s standards, their unrealistic body
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
Gender stereotyping has been ongoing throughout history. The media has been distorting views by representing gender unrealistically and inaccurately. It created an image of what "masculinity" or "femininity" should be like and this leads to the image being "naturalized" in a way (Gail and Humez 2014). The media also attempts to shape their viewers into something ‘desirable’ to the norm. This essay will focus on the negative impacts of gender-related media stereotypes by looking at the pressures the media sets on both women and men, and also considering the impacts on children.
Another major factor that influences millions of impressionable females and males is television. Not only does the television teach each sex how to act, it also shows how one sex should expect the other sex to act. In the current television broadcasting, stereotypical behavior goes from programming for the very small to adult audiences. In this broadcasting range, females are portrayed as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked completely or seen as unimportant entities. Stereotyping women is not only rampant in the adult world; it also flourishes in the kiddie universe as well.