Media Influence On American Culture

In todays American culture pornography has reshaped the media and entertainment industry through advertising, fashion, and popular culture. Porn stars appear in popular music videos of artist’s worldwide and magazine covers feature nudity, only furthering the exploitation of women in today’s society. It is this heavy influence of media that has redefined the minds and morality of the youth in a larger social context. In the case of Jane and Joe it is hard to determine who is right when they are both free to make their own choices, however where both their choices truly free, or where they influenced by pressure from preconceived ideas from the media. Jane had every right to ask Joe to take the picture down from his site. Yes, she made a choice

Women are held to such degrading standards because of the influence of the media. From a young age youth are taught by the media that women are less than equals. How the media presents women strips them of their integrity and respect in the eyes of men and society. Jane had every right to feel insecure by the situation, and deserves the privacy that she is owed, as a human being, to forget what might have been a lapse in judgment, without it being displayed on the web for all to see. For example, take teen pop stars Miley Cyrus, Arianna Grande and Britney Spears. Each of these celebrities made complete 180 transformations from a sheltered and modest “good girl” image in the eye of the public to parading around stage, half-naked to keep up with the sex appeal of the rest of the entertainment industry. The youth of our society look up to these icons and it is no surprise that they follow in the footsteps set by celebrities, copying not only fashion styles but also behavioral actions. Girls feel the need

It is evident that porn has become more abusive and aggressive than it ever was before. A statistic presented by Gail Dines, showed that young boys get dragged into the porn industry at an age of 11 by use of the Internet. The abuse and badgering of women is hidden or justified by men that the women involved choose to do so. Men do not often realize that women are forced to refrain from saying “no”, so what they think is pleasure might well be pain. Few women can say they chose this lifestyle for themselves. Many suffer from sexual assault, abuse and neglect, and abandonment and go on to experience post traumatic stress disorder. In other words, it is easy for women/young girls to be introduced to this life, but almost impossible for them to escape. Even though the media may not seem as harsh as porn itself it still sends strong messages to men on how women should dress or act. The media continues to exploit women in what seems to be a patriarchal society. The American Dream based on freedom and equality will never truly be equal among men and women if men continue to see themselves superior. The media also introduces double standards. If a girl were seen taking her shirt off at a party or engaging in sexual behavior with a bunch of guys present she is labeled a slut, however