The Media’s Negative Influence on Society

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The Media’s Negative Influence on Society
There is a lot of controversy about how the media affects people, but in my opinion I think the influence we get is more negative than positive. The media is one of the things that impact people the most because in today’s society it is impossible to ignore. It influences the ways in which we dress, speak, act and think. Media is fed to us through movies, television, radio, social media, music, and magazines. I believe mass media is pressuring the way woman and girls want to look, twists reality, and is sexist towards woman without people even realizing.
I think the most dominant affect the media has is on young women. The number one message the media sends is that all females must be skinny to be happy and successful. It expresses the idea that being fat, or even a normal weight, is completely abominable. The majority of runway models are considered to be anorexic. To me, being anorexic does not sound so nice but so many girls aspire to look that that. According to statistics found on the ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders) website, 69% of girls in grades 5 to 12 reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. This is crazy because models weight so much less than their ideal weight and if girls are looking up to that, so many girls will be unhealthy and unhappy. Second, the media brainwashes young girls with the wrong definition of sexy. In many ads, music videos, and even in video games, females wear indecent outfits, or no clothes at all! This is now considered normal in our culture. A Cosmo Girl poll shows that 85% of their readers think there is more sex in the media now than in their youth. So many adults believe s...

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...dia certainty is not doing helping by objectifying women. I think movies like Mulan are a great step away from sexism in the media because she defies all traditional gender stereotypes by becoming a solider and saving her country. I think the world could use more movies that follow that idea.
Overall, the media can be a source of change, can make things stay the same, or can enlighten people and change the way we think, for better or worse. Hopefully the people controlling the media decide they need to change some of the messages they send. Right now I believe the influence is negative because of the unattainable standards that models and celebrities set for boys ad girls, the unrealistic lifestyle that average people yearn for, and the sexism towards women. I do feel that someday things will change, but as of right now the media has a long way to go.

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