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Advertising and women's image
Advertising and women's image
Advertising and body image essay
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In this paper we will explore how advertisements cultivate a woman’s need for consumerism as a part of their own self image. George Gerbner, the founder of cultivation theory, argued that television has the ability to impact the way that people percieve certain message and influence their everyday life. In this study, we will conduct a content analysis of quantitative and qualitative measures that will study fashion advertisements. Each advertisement will be critiqued by a set of questions to help find any pattern or correlation between attributes that may have an impact on female consumers. A sample population will be drawn at random on three different occasions containing women from the ages of 18-30. In the first group each individual that is selected will be given a survey of questions. This set of questions will focus on the shaping of body image with the use of makeup, accessories, and clothing, and help identify trends between fashion and life style. The second sample group will participate in a focus group discussion that will be directed towards how women see themselves with regards to their own body image. The third group of women will complete a written survey before and after being exposed to television advertisements. This will test to see if advertisements entice woman to purchase products or change their personal portrayal. This research can help understand which marketing techniques are most frequently used, as well as understanding which ones are most successful. It will also help aid in the development of psychology that comes along with the formation of mainstream homogonous views and opinions. Women who are exposed to more advertisements may be more inclined to incorporate items featured in the advertisements... ... middle of paper ... ...eorge. "Cultivation analysis: an overview." mass communication and society 1.3-4 (1998): 175-195. Ebscohost. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. Harmon, Mark D.. "Affluenza: television use and cultivation of materialism." mass communication and society 4.4 (2001): 405-418. Ebscohost. Web. 7 Nov. 2013 Hendriks, A. (2002). Examining the effects of hegemonic depictions of female bodies on television: a call for theory and programmatic research. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 106-123. Myers, P. N., & Biocca, F. A. (September 01, 1992). The Elastic Body Image: The Effect of Television Advertising and Programming on Body Image Distortions in Young Women.Journal of Communication, 42, 3, 108-133. Yoder, J. D., Christopher, J., & Holmes, J. D. (September 01, 2008). Are television commercials still achievement scripts for women?. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 3, 303-311.
The world we are living is a fast paced ruled by the media. We are surrounded by images of, perfect bodies, beautiful hair, flawless skin, and ageless faces that flash at us every day. These images are constantly in our minds throughout our lives. Advertisements select audience openly and target them with their product. The advertisement is implied in order to be like the people in the advertisements you must use their product. This approach is not new to this generation, but widely used today. The advertisements grab people attention and persuade them with the appearance of beauty and happy women that looks sophisticated to people eyes.
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...
The effects of the exposure to the idealized images presented in advertisements have been an area for extensive media research for a long time. Many researchers suggest that watching repetitive messages presented in advertisements influence people’s behaviors, attitudes and perception. One area that many researchers are concerned about is how the idealized model figures in advertisements affects women’s perception of the ideal body weight. Some researches claim that when women watch skinny models who are perceived in the society as the ideal feminine figures intentionally or unintentionally they compare themselves to those models. This comparison can cause insecurities, body dissatisfactions and it also can affect women’s confidence and self-esteem. Some researchers suggest that this may eventually cause women to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors or excessive exercising to lose weight; moreover it may cause eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
Mass media is designed to reach large audiences through the use of technology. Its purpose is
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 media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
According to Thompson and Heinberg, “Photographic techniques such as airbrushing, soft-focus cameras, composite figures, editing, and filters may blur the realistic nature of media images even further, leading consumers to believe that the models the viewers see through the illusions these techniques create are realistic representations of actual people.” (Thompson, Heinberg 2) In the average home, the television is on more than seven hours in a day. The majority of female characters are thinner than the average woman. Out of 3,452 women, 23 percent said that movie or television celebrities influenced their body image as a child. Children who watch more television than others have a higher rate of body dissatisfaction. In a study, women who viewed television ads with images showing the current societal ideal reported greater levels in anger, anxiety, and
If teens are constantly being exposed to television displaying images of beautiful and skinny people, they might think that they must sculpt themselves into fitting that image. According to author K Harrison exposure to fat character television produced dissatisfaction in the bodies of young teens (Harrison, 119-143). When teens become unsatisfied with their looks they may try to resort to unhealthy eating habits to meet their needs. The more exposure a child gets through television media the more vulnerable they are to eating disorders as a result of the weight related topics displayed. The National Institution on Media and Family states that “the commercials aimed at female viewers that ran during the television shows most often watched by icon girls also frequently used beautify as a product appeal (56 percent)”(National Institute on Media and Family,” Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders”). Examples of these are Revlon makeup and spray tan commercials. Both of these are examples of unnatural beauty promotions which lead to teens striving to look like someone of the ideal image.
“From children's toys to TV programs, images of the idealized body have permeated every level of our visual culture” (Swinson). As the Advertisement industry continues to grow, the focus on looks is increasing as well. With around half of the advertisements using beauty as an appeal to sell their products(Teen Health and the Media), the pressures to be 'perfect' are causing women to become dissatisfied with their looks, driving them to turn to unhealthy measures. The average teenage girl gets a significantly greater amount of media time each day compared to the amount of time they spend with their parents, this is usually around 180 minutes of media per ten minutes spent with their parents (Heubeck). With so much time spent on media influenced activities, and the constant exposure to unhealthy models, it is no surprise that women are being influenced. Most female fashions models wear a size two or four, while the average American wears a size twelve or fourteen (Mirror-Mirror).When advertisements manipulate the photos of their models, it alters the way that women view themselves. Advertisers should not be allowed to promote unhealthy body images because it leads to an increase in self-consciousness, eating disorders, and suicide.
Holmstrom, A. (2004). The effects of the media on the body image: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48(2), 196-217.
The media’s unattainable standards have created a generation of females that are dissatisfied with their bodies at a young age. According to an article on WebMD about body image, the average teen girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and that females who reported greater exposure to television programming were more likely
“Medieval noblewomen swallowed arsenic and dabbed on bats' blood to improve their complexions; 18th-century Americans prized the warm urine of young boys to erase their freckles; Victorian ladies removed their ribs to give themselves a wasp waist.” 5 Even from medieval times, the extent to which women have gone to achieve ‘ideal beauty’ is extreme. In the 21st century, Americans spend more money on beauty related product than they do on their education, creating a 160 billion dollar a year global industry, all in the name of ‘perfection.’ 5 Intensification of body image ideals has increased through media and manipulation in the advertising industry, due to the portrayal of women, leading to the creation of a 20 billion dollar cosmetic surgery industry. Driven and fueled by sexual instinct and desire to achieve perfection, images of women in advertising will not cease to hold a huge amount of power over the everyday woman who spends her life chasing an ideal, which does not exist, often leading to psychological and physical effects which can last a lifetime.
Women and girls seem to be more affected by the mass media than do men and boys. Females frequently compare themselves to others, finding the negative rather than looking at the positive aspects of their own body. The media’s portrayal of the ideal body type impacts the female population far more than males, however, it is not only the mass media that affects women, but also influence of male population has on the female silhouette too.
Media contributes to a woman’s body image more negatively than it does positively. The media is always going to be around. There will always be that one person that is influenced by the media negatively. Media has grown so much and it has become one of the biggest causes as to why women have such a problem maintaining a healthy weight. It is important not to get caught up in the commercials, ads, emails, radio ads and even the news. In the long run, one’s health could be damaged further more than it would have been, had one not been influenced by thin women found in media. As people are educated on the benefits of being healthy and as the focus is moved more toward health and wellness as opposed to an emphasis on body image, women may be less susceptible to those ads that create a desire to have a certain image.
Curry and Clarke’s article believe in a strategy called “visual literacy” which develops women and men’s roles in advertisements (1983: 365). Advertisements are considered a part of mass media and communications, which influence an audience and impact society as a whole. Audiences quickly begin to rely on messages sent through advertisements and can create ideologies of women and men. These messages not only are extremely persuasive, but they additionally are effective in product consumption in the media (Curry and Clarke 1983: