Sexualization in The Media

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With the media becoming the main source from which the current society gets their daily information concerning products, news stories, and entertainment, it is wise to think critically about the messages they are conveying to us. These corporations spend large sums of money every day in order to grasp our attention. The question as to whether or not they have their customer’s best interest in mind arises and leaves the public no answer but to look to the advertisements they have produced. Consider the pistachio industry using a woman with a whip to grasp the viewers’ attention. In reality, is a provocative image what it takes to sell us a simple bag of pistachios? With advertising decisions like these come negative consequences such as the common practice of objectifying and degrading women, along with influences on the cognitive growth of young girls.

The use of overly suggestive women in advertising has led to emotional and cognitive issues in the population of young women. Over the past few decades, the use of sexualization in advertising has become more common. Whether conscious or subconscious, the images and roles that are being portrayed send implied messages to the impressionable minds of children. Roughly 50% of teen girls in the U.S. read teen or adult fashion magazines, and a high percentage of those are exposed to commercials and billboards with sexual images on them (What’s the Problem). Because many of these advertisements shape women to be beautiful with thin waists, even skin, and large breasts, that becomes the standard for what other women should look like, whether attainable or not. The American Psychological Association conducted research in 2007, which proved that the “sexualization” in media has a negative...

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... positions (in various ways) send subconscious messages to all of the viewers, and perpetuate the ideal image of beauty and gender roles. Because this is such a rampant issue spread over various areas of media, no one action will solve the problem. Instead, resistance towards these companies paired with education within the household is the easiest and most successful way of altering the effects of sexualization.

Works Cited

“American Psychological Association Commends House Bill Aimed at Promoting More Positive Images for Girls”. Apa.org. American Psychological Association, 24 March 2010. Web. 19 June 2011.

“What’s the Problem? Facts about Girls, Media, and Women”. Mediaandwomen.org. Girls, Women + Media Project, 2007. Web. 19 June 2011.

Zurbriggen, Eileen, et al. “Sexualization of Girls”. Apa.org. American Psychological Association, 2007. Web. 19 June 2011.

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