The Media Has a Grasp on Younger Generations

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Recommended: Explain Media Can Influence Public Perception

Media can influence every home in America. Not only is it capable of influence through television, but it can influence through magazines, newspapers, word of mouth, even clothing! The qualities of a person media tends to influence most, is their self-esteem and personality. Women are especially seen as being influenced, but men are in the bunch as well, although less published. Children are being brought into the influence as well at younger ages each generation. With more media influence in families, we can expect more social problems.
Many people might think they aren't influenced by the media, but in actuality they are. Andersen in Thinking About Women writes “Each of us sees thousands of advertisements per day. Advertisements not only sell the products we use, but they also convey images of how we are to define ourselves, our relationships, and our needs”(57). Every time we turn the television on, we can expect roughly twenty minutes of an hour show to be commercials. These commercials are normally aimed at women and how to become young again. Aging in society for women is seen as a failure and according to media influence, if your age is showing then your careless of your self-image. So in return women will spend money on beauty products sworn to work, but never do. The perfect woman is unattainable because we come from different nationalities and because of these differences, women will never be able to copy-cat their idol making their self-esteem drop. With the media continuance to say women need to look a certain way, there will be more and more women trying to obtain the perfect body-image.
Men are less talked about as being influenced by the media than women. They too however are influenced in the same ways. Bas...

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...the media influenced their opinion on how men or women looked. Also a trend in the majority who were in the younger generation category, they have either recently graduated high school or are attending college. By my survey, I came to the conclusion that the younger aged group do not believe the media influences them, they have lower self-esteem, and spend much time on their appearances.

Works Cited

Andersen, Margaret L., and Dana Hysock. Witham. Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2009. Print.
Barlett, Christopher P., Christopher L. Vowels, and Donald A. Saucier. "Meta-Analyses Of The Effects
Of Media Images On Men's Body-Image Concerns." Journal Of Social & Clinical
Psychology 27.3 (2008): 279-310. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
Mead, Margaret ―Blackberry Winter. Conway 283-308.

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