Images of women in advertising; its impact on social perceptions of beauty and body image idealisms, and the extents to which we go to become them.

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“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.

In a world of social media, the influence of advertising is much stronger than it once was, as it is a form of social communication that influences and often manipulates us. Advertising is everywhere from the photo on the front of a magazine, to the online ads that appear as we scroll web pages, and these days is a predominantly visual phenomenon, text is minimal and an image dominates to capture and hold our attention. Much of the advertising seen today is little that concerns the actual product, and more about the construction of the advertising, playing on social needs and desires around it –we buy the product because we believe we need it in order to succeed socially. The ...

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...ing Ideal Beauty. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

2 Cortese, A. J. (1999). Provocateur. Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

3 Chitty, S. D. A. a. B. (2011). Real or relevant beauty? Body shape and endorser effects on brand attitude and body image. Psychology & Marketing, 28. doi:10.1002/mar.20415

4 Millum, T. (1975). Images of Woman. London, UK: Chatto & Windus.

5 The Beauty Business: Pots of Promise. (2003). Retrieved 20.05, 2014, from http://www.economist.com/node/1795852

6 Kilbourne, J. (2010). Killing Us Softly 4 [Documentary]. Retrieved from http://trutube.tv/video/4851/Killing-Us-Softly-4-2010-Jeane-Kilbourne#

7 Russell, C. (2013). TED Talk: Looks aren't everything. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y

8Statistics about Anorexia and Bulimia. Retrieved 01.06, 2014, from http://www.ed.org.nz/index.asp?pageID=2145862939

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