The Fight to be Beautiful
Growing up we are surrounded by the media, and without acknowledging what is taking place, we are formed into gender roles that dictate our perspective and place in society. I remember opening my very first Seventeen Magazine. Flipping the pages I found images of beautiful girls, expensive clothing, and what would be, my very first diet plan. Headlines filled the pages on ways to improve your physical appearance, how to make all the boys want you, and what you would have to buy in order to make this happen. As a girl I did not question the path that these popular sources of media were leading me down. My friends and I would crowd around the television screen watching depictions of women that we envied. Beautiful, rich girls and the perfect romances they attracted. Now that I’m older and more aware, I sometimes question who actually lives like this? How can the media set a standard for women that the average girl can never achieve? The media is sending a negative message to young girls. Instead of trying to expand their knowledge and develop a superior sense of self, they are trying to fit into a size two pair of jeans. Young girls are being swept into a world of powerful messages telling them how to dress, how to act, and how to be, what they would consider, a woman.
The media comes in many forms, but the most publicized outlet would have to be the vast expanding movie industry. These well constructed films are developed for the purpose of entertainment and pleasure. Young viewers watching these feature films are not only gaining a sense of entertainment, but they are now consumed with the stereotypical roles of the actresses filling the big screen. When I think about beautiful, caddy,...
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...f humor. We all concede to viewing the media because that is what our society considers entertainment. Should we base our self-image off of what a well paid consulting team and group of marketers deems beautiful?
Works Cited
America the Beautiful. Dir. Darryl Roberts. Perf. Ted Casablanca, Eve Ensler, and Paris Hilton. First Independent Pictures, 2007.DVD
"Eating Disorders Statistics « National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders." National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. Perf. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Jonathan Bennett. Paramount Pictures, 2004.DVD
"Report of the 2010 Plastic Surgery Statistics." American Society of Plastic Surgeons: The Resource for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
Seventeen Jan. 2011: 240+. Web.
Film making has gone through quite the substantial change since it’s initial coining just before the turn of the 19th century, and one would tend argue that the largest amount of this change has come quite recently or more so in the latter part of film’s history as a whole. One of the more prominent changes having taken place being the role of women in film. Once upon a time having a very set role in the industry, such as editing for example. To mention briefly the likes of Dede Allen, Verna Fields, Thelma Schoonmaker and so forth. Our female counterparts now occupy virtually every aspect of the film making industry that males do; and in many instances excel past us. Quite clearly this change has taken place behind the lens, but has it taken
While they rarely admit as much, the main stream media often takes for granted the power they possess to shape our society. The advent of the internet has granted the media unfettered access to our children and young people. The images of women are more and more often extremely sexual in nature. This has created an environment where women have no value beyond appearance. In the documentary “Miss Representation” Dr. Kilbourne informs us, ‘Girls get the message from very early on that what's most important is how they look, that their value, their worth, depends on that. Boys get the message that this is what's important about girls.’ This is the frightening reality of how our young people are being taught to view the world. Considering, how much information is at our disposal, a controversial issue has been continually overlooked, the devaluation of women.
The TV and Film Industry’s Portrayal of Women has drastically affected many of their lives, much too often women compare themselves to the female images they see on television, film, and advertisings; at both the conscious and subconscious level, these media images of women lower self-esteem and affect behavior at every age and stage of life. We know they are unrealistic, yet they apply so much pressure on women to conform, and influence how we live, love, work and play. This gender role that society has generally considered appropriate for women is wrong. It makes so many of us women want to buy materials we don’t need, with the money we don’t have only to impress people we don’t know. So many teenage girls are unwarily developing eating disorders and dieting without realizing that they don’t need to live up to the ridiculous standards that society has set for us. It’s difficult to be who you want to be without having someone look at you a certain way when it’s all around us, the constant pressure put on us to be like all women on television, commercials, movies and advertisements, these industries’ powerful influence on society has given everyone around us the wrong idea of what “should” and “should not” be. A woman should be able to express herself and feel free to do what she wants with no judgment.
If people stop being critical about their appearance and start being critical about the media, then we can all build a better future! Not only for the women who feel insecure but also for the youth who get bullied everyday. It is high time for the media to take full responsibility in perpetuating these harsh images to society. Media is and will always be responsible but we as a society should fight the negativity and bring only positivity into everyone’s lives.
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.
Instead, women are being discriminated and treated as inferior due to the stereotypes that are portrayed in the media. The media creates and reproduces ways of seeing that at a minimum reflect and shape our culture. We can look at the media to understand more about a culture’s values and norms, if we realize the limitations of looking at the media. For example, one may ask, does the news based in the United Sates represent what the American culture is like, or only what stands out from everyday American culture? The answer to that is no. Instead, the media represents what it thinks it will be able to sell and is supported by advertisements. This includes violent acts, the sensationally and inappropriate. Jhally reminds us that “it is this male, heterosexual, pornographic imagination based on the degradation and control of women that has colonized commercial culture in general, although it is more clearly articulated in music videos” (Jhally 2007). Therefore, “media content is a symbolic rather than a literal representation of society and that to be represented in the media is in itself a form of power—social groups that are powerless can be relatively easily ignored, allowing the media to focus on the social groups that ‘really matter’” (Gerbner,
In today’s modern society, the media plays a large role in our everyday lives. We are each affected by the media each and every day as it is everywhere we go. The media surrounds us an influences our behaviour and our perception of the world. The media influences how people think and feel, especially about what is considered “normal”. People depend heavily on the media to inform them on what is important in the world and what is normal in the sense of how people dress, look, and behave. The media wants to target the “in” audience. The media wants to give the people what they want, and what people want is the normative because that is how society works, as also argued by Carrera et al. when they say “The implication of sex-gender in heteronormativity has been at the forefront of much trans activism.” (2013) The media display...
Have you ever thought about what the media does to women? The film “Miss Representation” was a documentary about how the media misrepresent woman on television, magazines, and music. Every teenager spends most of their time with a consumption of Media, and it has a great influence on them. Indeed, media always shows the standard of a woman on how the media itself likes every woman would look like. Although, there are many women who are successful they still focus on what they see physically and they will never stop criticizing a woman in every way. Therefore, men and boys see a woman as inferior to them and as an object that they could just use all the time. While, woman, and girls tend to follow the social norm so they could fit it. Media is the reason on how this gender representation started, and they are also the key on how it could be changed. The director of the film “Miss Representation” effectively convinces the audiences that media plays a high role in presenting women differently; by narrating her own experience, showing woman 's role in society, and revealing the truth on gender issues.
To begin, social media has created unrealistic standards for young people, especially females. Being bombarded by pictures of females wearing bikinis or minimal clothing that exemplifies their “perfect” bodies, squatting an unimaginable amount of weight at a gym while being gawked at by the opposite sex or of supermodels posing with some of life’s most desirable things has created a standard that many young people feel they need to live up to. If this standard isn’t reached, then it is assumed that they themselves are not living up to the norms or the “standards” and then therefore, they are not beautiful. The article Culture, Beauty and Therapeutic Alliance discusses the way in which females are bombarded with media messages star...
In today's world, what we see in the media dictates our world. Media, by definition, is a form of mass communication, such as television, newspapers, magazines and the internet. Since the beginning of this media phenomenon, men and women have been treated very differently, whether it be through advertisements or news stories. As women have gained more rights and social freedoms, the media has not changed their views on women. They are often viewed as objects, whether for a man's pleasure, or for as a group to sell only cleaning products to.The portrayal of women in the media has a highly negative impact on the easily shaped young women of today. Women of power are often criticized, others hypersexualized. The media also directs advertisements for household things at women.
In the society we live in, we are all looking for acceptance, whether we like to admit it or not. We turn to the media to see what other people are doing. The media plays a large role on the way we, a society as a whole, are influenced and think about responsibilities and roles of genders. As young children, we are still not sure of who we are and how we should act about certain topics. In order to ‘find ourselves,’ as young children, we look at things that are available to us. The television is found in every home and thus makes it one of the easiest ways for children to be influenced. This is not to say that the adult female population is not influenced as well. Adult females are seeking more information on how they should be as a person in order to be accepted in society as an acceptable woman.
The definition of beauty is varying among different people in the world. Even though almost everyone knows the term beauty, many people are struggling in defining it and persuading others to agree with their opinions. Beauty is defined by a combination of qualities existent in a person or thing that fulfills the aesthetic feels or brings about profound gratification. Many people define beauty as a term to describe a person’s physical appearance; they often think that beauty comes from magazines, video girls, or even models. Although the term beauty can define a person’s physical appearance, true beauty lies in the way one acts and thinks rather than the way one look.
When people think of entertainment, media influence often comes to mind. Reality TV stars and celebrities alike have been placed in limelight acting as role models to not only the youth, but society as a whole. This is an example of the negative influences that entertainment can have as it leads people to hold unrealistic standards and expectations for themselves and others. Some may feel that the entertainment industry makes glamourizes immoral behaviors, making them look fun and harmless. The focus on fitting in and on appearance in the entertainment business have heavily impacted the way our society is today, by promoting the need to be a certain way, both in physical physique and behavior. In fact, people who are considered more attractive, or that fit the molds commonly shown to us, have an easier time obtaining jobs and have access to a broader s...
There are so many different opinions on what beauty is. The idea of beauty is purely opinionated. Beauty is your own idea, skinny or thick, long hair or short hair, light skin or dark skin. How people define beauty is unique in many different ways everyone has a different opinion. No ones idea of beauty is the same. In society today it has become more materialistic based if you wear the latest designer or you have the newest pair of sneakers out and the true meaning of being beautiful has escaped our souls. Beauty is not just what we see on the outside it is so much deeper then what we see its what we also have to offer on the inside.Your intelligence is beauty your mind, body, and soul. Beauty is not a single image, but the active embodiment
How do you judge if someone is beautiful for the first time you see them? By physical appearance is the most popular answer you may find. To the majority of people, beauty is solely depended on how a person look like on the outside. However, some might argue that inner beauty has to do more than outer appearance. It is difficult to fully define beauty because everyone has their own views about beauty. In my view, beauty has to deal with one’s self as the only rival.