Friday night, as I watched television I evaluated commercial content in relation to the target of women and what message advertisements send to women of all ages. In one hour I saw twenty-four commercials, eleven were targeted at women and every single one had something to do with either the appearance or beauty of women or a domestic focus. These commercials touted products to enhance beauty or lose weight with the underlying message of "improved self-esteem". I have always blamed the media, or more broadly, cultural attitudes for the problems young girls and women face with low self-image and often find myself citing Barbie dolls and the overwhelmingly pink aisles at the toys-r-us as a root cause of the marginalization of women's roles. Peggy Orenstein refers to this as the "politics of the external", a term which, at first, I had a difficult time accepting. Is this not a major implication when discussing a society that promotes female self-censorship and devalued intellectual potential? After reading "Schoolgirls" I came to understand exactly what Orenstein meant and she convinced me that "the internal need not, and indeed should not, be ignored". Although it may not be well documented it is indeed established that although "women's lib" has come a very long way since we received the right to vote there are still social implications that can only confuse women's' identity and self-image. Peggy Orenstein's book has indeed caused me to look deeper into the internal issues affecting self-esteem that women face beginning with adolescence. It would be a tremendous disservice to the youth of America as teachers if we were to simply accept the external causes to the self-esteem crisis since, on a grander scale it is truly o... ... middle of paper ... ...nd an athlete. These meetings are a big hit and I feel relieved that they know I care about them as individuals outside of athletics. Peggy Orenstein successfully investigates deeper into girls' self-esteem issues and their academic significance. The AAUW survey identifies the self-esteem issue facing adolescent girls and its' affects as a whole, however, Orenstein targets the problem beginning at adolescence and brings to light a "hidden curriculum" of schools that only facilitates these issues. She is providing a much needed path of action that enables educators to make changes in their classroom or school to help address these issues of self-esteem. Teachers may not be able to control the world their students face when they leave the room, but they can provide a positive internal environment; one in which boys and girls are valued and encouraged equally.
Both Ronald Morrish and Craig Seganti have been educators for many years and have subsequently developed their theories over many years of teaching. Both believe that it’s important first to establish the belief in students that the educator has the authority and is in command. Morrish and Seganti both also stress the importance of establishing rules and teaching students how to comply with those rules. For instance, Morrish and Seganti assert that it’s critical to practice appropriate classroom rules. Both also agree that it’s important only to make rules that you’re absolutely willing to enforce and that students should not be involved in creating these rules. Moreover, Morrish and Seganti also have similar perspectives regarding how self-esteem
Feeling good about oneself is an inherently good thing; however when this is intensified so severely that it becomes the focus of everyday life, complications and consequences may occur. Jean Twenge tries to warn today’s “Generation Me” about the dangers of their obsession with the self in her piece, “An Army of One: Me.” This desire to look out for only the individual has dramatic effects on the direction of today’s society. What has also evolved out of this self adoring society is a seemingly endless need for argument, especially in the educational field, an issue addressed by Debora Tannen in her essay, “The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue.” Of course, no researchers or educational experts expected the negative results such as narcissism and argumentative culture that followed from these teaching methods. These are unintended consequences and displaced risks, just as the types addressed in Edward Tenner’s, “Another Look Back, and A Look Ahead” but applied to a different subject. In effect, one problem causes another as an excess of self-esteem more often than not leads to narcissism. That development of narcissism promotes an argumentative culture in which everyone thinks they are right because confidence in oneself is far too high. Revenge effects may include constant irritability and excessive sensitivity, a lack of obtaining a good education, or in some cases pure laziness. Through a flawed system of education and the development of Generation Me, the attitude of the United States has unintentionally drifted towards narcissism and discontent.
The question of whether self- esteem has significance with real world- consequences is a valid concern. Ulrich Orth and Richard W. Robins provide the answer, with evidence contributed by researched studies, in their article The Development of Self- Esteem that self- esteem, in fact, does influence societal significance. With the determination on self- esteem trajectory from adolescence to old age, self- esteem stability, and the relationship between levels of self-esteem and predictions of success and failure, one can conclude that self- esteem influences life outcomes; moreover, people can participate to involvements focused at positively influencing the development of self- esteem.
Our society is a complex collection of institutions, status, roles, values, and norms, and the best way to understand and learn about them is through the use of cultural artifacts. These can be anything from music to art to literature, or as in the example of this discussion, the modern day creation of advertisement as seen in women's magazines. As Homo Sapiens moved from the hunter - gatherer way of life to industrial society , it was necessary to construct a framework for living so that such a concentrated number of people could exist together. This framework as come to consist of a myriad of expectations based on values and norms in the form of roles status and institutions. Desirable behavior is sought by people throughout the country based on how one is brought up and the expectations one is bombarded with on a daily basis. These expectations are reflected in every part of our culture and are used by people so as to know how to act in any given situation. The main examples are: the family, education, health and medicine, religion, and the law. I have found that certain mediums reflect the expected roles in these institutions better than others. I originally focused on gender roles as a depiction of stereotypical behavior as reflected by advertising especially the portrayal of women, but I discovered that there were other stereotypes being perpetuated as well that were just as institutionalized if not just simply less noticed or studied. Therefore, although this argument will focus on the depiction of females and the female role in advertising. It will also mention the general use of American values , norms, and institutions to influence consumers.
The documentary Killing Us Softly 4 discusses and examines the role of women in advertisements and the effects of the ads throughout history. The film begins by inspecting a variety of old ads. The speaker, Jean Kilbourne, then discusses and dissects each ad describing the messages of the advertisements and the subliminal meanings they evoke. The commercials from the past and now differ in some respects but they still suggest the same messages. These messages include but are not limited to the following: women are sexual objects, physical appearance is everything, and women are naturally inferior then men. Kilbourne discusses that because individuals are surrounded by media and advertisements everywhere they go, that these messages become real attitudes and mindsets in men and women. Women believe they must achieve a level of beauty similar to models they see in magazines and television commercials. On the other hand, men expect real women to have the same characteristics and look as beautiful as the women pictured in ads. However, even though women may diet and exercise, the reality...
Some staunch opponents of gender roles might claim that her more feminine traits are a result of gendered advertising and thus are negative and hindering progress. Yet by making such a statement, they fail to recognize the great leaps in progress society has made in reducing the importance of adhering to one’s assigned role. Gender roles have existed since the dawn of human civilization, and though recent advertising trends have increased their prevalence in society, they are less influential now than at any point in human history.
Throughout history, the female form has always been a prevalent source of artistic muse. The introduction of the modern photographic camera allowed the objectification of women to increase exponentially. In today’s society, women of all ages struggle to exemplify what is perceived as the ideal female form. Studies show that women – beginning in their mid-teen years – experience a steady degeneration of self-esteem relative to the level of dissatisfaction with their internal body image. The decline of self-image in women can be directly linked to several contributing factors including: film and print advertising, social media, and the early exposure of adolescent girls to overly-sexualized products and media.
Many studies have been conducted on the importance of self-esteem in children and young adults...
To sum up, it is often said that advertising is shaping women gender identity, and some have been argued that the statement is true, because of the higher amount of sexual references of women that advertisement show and the damages that occur on women’s personality and the public negative opinions of those women. As well, the negative effects that those kinds of advertisements cause to young generations and make them feel like they should simulate such things and are proud of what they are doing because famous actors are posting their pictures that way. Others deem this case as a personal freedom and absolutely unrelated to shaping women gender identity. On the contrast, they believe that, those sorts of advertisements are seriously teaching women how to stay healthy and be attractive, so they might have self-satisfaction after all.
For this reflection paper I would like to discuss some of the topics that were in the documentary Miss Representation. One of the issues that really stood out for me was the pressure that the media put on young women to look their best at all times. What was most important that someone stated that “no matter how accomplished a woman is, she is still judged based on her appearance.” This is very disturbing, because the media’s goal is to maximize profits and constantly get women and young girls to consume beauty products and diet regime products to live up to unattainable or unrealistic expectations. For this paper I would like to discuss self-objectification and how it have mostly negative effects on young women and girls.
Zimmerman, M. A., Copeland, L. A., Shope, J. T., & Dielman, T. E. (1997). A longitudinal study of self-esteem: Implications for adolescent development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26, 117-141. DOI 10.1023/A:1024596313925
In this age, media is more pervasive than ever, with people constantly processing some form of entertainment, advertisement or information. In each of these outlets there exists an idealized standard of beauty, statistically shown to effect the consumer’s reflection of themselves. The common portrayal of women’s bodies in the media has shown to have a negative impact on women and girls. As the audience sees these images, an expectation is made of what is normal. This norm does not correspond to the realistic average of the audience. Failing to achieve this isolates the individual, and is particularly psychologically harmful to women. Though men are also shown to also be effected negatively by low self-esteem from the media, there remains a gap as the value of appearance is seen of greater significance to women, with a booming cosmetic industry, majority of the fashion world, and the marketing of diet products and programs specifically targeting women.
Self-esteem is a personality trait that describes a person’s stable overall perception of personal value or self-worth. This is essential to human growth as it affects relationships, a person’s ability to work, and nearly all parts of life. Children’s development of positive self-esteem is extremely important as it allows for character building such as giving the child the chance to improve on mistakes without fearing rejection from peers. Parents have an extensive role in developing children’s self-esteem due to the limited number of outside factors that could affect a child’s opinions and self-evaluation. Through supportive and motivational parenting a child can develop a high self-esteem that causes them to be more successful
What causes teenagers to have such low self esteem? There are two main problems: how other people treat them, and how they view themselves. Parents or authority figures that spend more time finding fault in children rather than praising them often result in a child who has trouble building up self esteem As adolescents are ...
What does self esteem look like externally or how does self esteem manifest itself outwardly? When it comes to low self-esteem this is correlated with depression, body dissatisfaction, wt gain and in severe cases psychological disorders and suicide (Gayman, Lloyd, Ueno 2010; T & Donnellan, 2009). In contrast, high self-esteem is correlated with self acceptance, respect for oneself, doing well in school and a higher likelihood to reach ones life goals (Trezeneski & Donnellan, 2009). Considering these factors, I felt it was important to develop a psycho educational program that promotes high self esteem in adolescents.