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Misrepresentation of gender in the media
Media and gender stereotypes introduction
The issue of self esteem and body image in adolescents
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The feminine stereotype of beauty in western culture is placed in magazines, television screens and the internet, consistently reminding people to achieve the ideal look. Tons of platforms are utilized to teach the public on how to achieve that look and why anyone shouldn’t aim for anything less. This of course shows the awareness that women are expected or strive to be beautiful at any cost. Women are constantly faced with these images and is plastered in their heads, as a result will go through the extremes to achieve it, whether it’s through cosmetic surgeries or weight loss. Whichever way is chosen, it can be very detrimental to their health. However, this is not only about body image and what women think about themselves but it is as if …show more content…
Although, it’s the men that draw in that information the most and places extra pressure on women to look and act a certain way. A woman is valued more for her beauty than any other quality from a male point of view. Men leave relationships with their wives to get with younger, more beautiful women even if the woman lack substance like an education or a good personality. As a result the wives are left at home alone, sometimes with kids to feign for themselves. It is that issue that causes older women to also aim to achieve the ideal by getting into plastic surgery, such as Botox, liposuction, tummy tucks and the like. Consequently it is these issues that force women into taking the extra steps in obtaining the ideal physical beauty. Women show a greater dissatisfaction for their bodies according to (Demarest & Allen, 2000; Gardner, Friedman, & Jackson, 1999) and because of this were willing to change their shape and weight for thinner bodies. In contrast men were less likely to be dissatisfied about their shape and weight but still wanted a muscular physique. Women are measured by their beauty in almost every aspect of their …show more content…
Gender discrimination is prevalent in this issue because Society give women a much harder time than men in terms of beauty. A fat woman is more likely to get teased or looked down on and made to feel less, than men. A facially challenged woman is overlooked by suitors and may have a hard time getting into relationships. A woman is not hired for the modelling job, since she’s not thin enough to attract profit. According to a Yale study in 2012, male jurors were more likely to convict a fat woman than a skinny one for the same crime. Obesity stereotypes tend to include the belief that weight is controllable (Blaine & McElroy, 2002; Crandall & Martínez, 1996) and overweight people tend to be portrayed as greedy, weak and lazy, whilst miracle weight-loss results are normalised by experts (Blaine & McElroy, 2002). Most of this issues, however, weighs heavier for women than men. A research study conducted by Groesz et al. (2002) showed that women were more dissatisfied with their bodies after viewing thin-idealized models than after viewing average sized or plus sized
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
In conclusion it is possible to see how the media promotes a physical and psychological disease among women through the usage of unrealistic body images as it urges them to change their bodies, buy “enhancing” products, and redefine their opinions. Such statements may appear to be ridiculous, but for young women who are seeking to perfect their body according to how the media portrays “good looks” it is the basis for corruption. Confidence, contentment and healthy living are the keys to a perfect and unique body image and no amount of money can advertise or sell as genuine a treatment as this.
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
Times have changed throughout the generations and the portrayal of women in the media has definitely changed over the years. Unfortunately, there is still a stereotypical appearance and social role in the media that women need to achieve in order to be socially desired. Even though it has improved, there is such a stigma towards being too fat, too skinny, too tall, or too short and the list of imperfections go on and on. Aside from body image, social roles are a big issue in the media today. When you look at any advertisement in the media, you can notice the appearance, gender, and race of the model. The media’s idea of the “perfect” body is having the unflawed and women are typically skewed for this by society.
Women have been facing crisis of body image since the dawn of man, for competition in breeding purposes, however women came under great scrutiny because of this. Often through history, they have been at the same level of livestock, treated poorly. Creating a rise in the early 1900’s to create the movement about pushing for the equality of women in the United States; it was after then when media first started adopting an ideal image of women in American culture, when marketing research found the use of images of ideal women in their campaigns made for higher sales.
The models and celebrities in the media that set the standard for what women should look like are thinner than 90-95 percent of the American female population (Seid p.6). This is an unrealistic portrayal of what the human body should look like when compared to most women’s genetic makeup. Women’s self-image, their social and economic success, and even their survival can still be determined largely by their beauty (Seid p.5). Men on the other hand seem to have it a little easier when it comes to looks. Their self-image is largely determined by what they accomplish in life and not by whether or not they meet the social standard for looks. Modern clothing and fashion require women to show off their bodies more in tight clothes and by showing more skin than in the past. According to Roberta Seid ...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In our society today, people would rather see what celebrities are up to than what is going on with our health plan. Watching the news makes us aware of the latest trend, new gadget, who’s in rehab, or who has an eating disorder. In the eyes of society, women like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian, and Megan Fox are the epitome of perfection. What girl wouldn’t want to look like them? Unfortunately, this includes most of the girls in the US. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women emulate. The media has created a puissant social system where everyone must obtain a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so image obsessed with the approval of being thin and disapproval of being overweight, that it is affecting the health of most women. Women much rather try to fit the social acceptance of being thin by focusing on unrealistic body images which causes them to have lower self esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders, The media has a dangerous influence on the women’s health in the United States.
Everywhere one looks today, one will notice that our culture places a very high value on women being thin. Many will argue that today’s fashion models have “filled out” compared to the times past; however the evidence of this is really hard to see. Our society admires men for what they accomplish and what they achieve. Women are usually evaluated by and accepted for how they look, regardless of what they do. A woman can be incredibly successful and still find that her beauty or lack of it will have more to do with her acceptance than what she is able to accomplish. “From the time they are tiny children, most females are taught that beauty is the supreme objective in life” (Claude-Pierre, p18). The peer pressure for girls in school to be skinny is often far greater than for boys to make a team. When it is spring, young girls begin thinking “How am I going to look in my bathing suit? I better take off a few more pounds.”
In the media there are people who view women a certain way, and if we don't hold to the standard that we are not as good as other women who are the size the media says we have to be. In an article it said that "Large women in America are to all intents and purposes invisible in today's thinness-obsessed culture. A big women is neither seen nor heard, and is defined purely in terms of her weight and other people's prejudice." (Goodman par 1) This is a hard thing for women that a heavier to understand because they want the person to think that they are heard. This plays into the way that they think and the way that women look at their bodies. You can see this happening with different types of televisions shows, which put on the show thinner women. "Practically the only television programming that addresses her directly consists of weight-loss ads, the message: lose weight. You're not real women unless you're thin (Goodman)". It is hard to think that this statement could be true, but
It may just be one of the largest issues regarding equal rights. Some women out there are pushing social limits in terms of what is acceptable, yet there are people that are falling into the belief that women cannot be any more than calm and soft people. Not only that, but women are also falling victim to objectification. They are led to believe that they must achieve a certain body in order to be socially accepted. Even though it may seem like harmless advertising, the negative effects are noticeable and they are potent. At first, it is just endless spending on beauty products. Eventually, it evolves into psychological effects such as eating disorders to be specific. Women end up starving themselves or going on all kinds of weird diets just for the sake of losing weight. “I felt powerful as an anorexic. Controlling my body yielded an illusion of control over my life; I received incessant praise for my figure despite my sickly mien, and my frailty manipulated my family and friends into protecting me into conflict. I had reduced my world to a plate of steamed carrots, and over this tiny kingdom I proudly crowned myself queen.” (Abra Fortune Chernik, 141) The fact that this woman felt complete dominance because her body type suddenly became adequate enough for people around her proves that the patriarchy-based system exists. Usually, if someone is not eating enough, that person would feel weak physically and mentally. In this case, her body was barely able to support itself. Despite all this, she still felt a strong sense of control the more weight she lost. This does not only happen to one person, it occurs on a national level. People need to accept that everyone comes in different shapes and sizes. There 's no need to alter your body to fit in with social norms because society is making everyone
Physical beauty is constructed by the society that we live in. We are socialized from a very young age to aspire to become what our culture deems ideal. Living in the United States, as in many other Western cultures, we are expected to be well-educated, maintain middle-class or upper-class status, be employed as well as maintain a physical standard of beauty. Although beauty is relative to each culture, it is obvious that we as Americans, especially women, are expected to be maintain a youthful appearance, wear cosmetics and fashionable clothes, but most importantly: not to be overweight. Our society is socially constructed to expect certain physical features to be the norm, anything outside this is considered deviant. Obesity is defined as outside the norms of our culture's aesthetic norms (Gros). “People who do not match idealized or normative expectations of the body are subjected to stigmatization” (Heckert 32). Obesity is a physical deviance; it is one that is an overwhelming problem in our society as we are always judged daily, by our appearance. Those who do not conform to the standards of beauty, especially when it comes to weight, are stigmatized and suffer at the hands of a society that labels them as deviants.
The pattern is similar for the portrayal of women on television, magazines, and other parts of the media. The way media represents women are for them to be thin-like models and other women on television to be the high standard of “attractiveness” to others. The advertising involved targets young teenage women and feature these models that are portraying desirable items, and the “norm” is for these women to be slender and beautiful (Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012). Research has been done to prove that media’s pressure on being thin causes women to be depressive and negative feelings about themselves . Women’s view are skewed and perceived incorrectly of what the typical female body should be (Haas, Pawlow, Pettibone & Segrist, 2012).
However, it is evident that the media usually presents and sexualizes women who are “young, fit and beautiful” hence probably creating self esteem issues more than confidence especially in younger women who are religious towards the media’s expectations. This stereotype of being a desired body shape only forces women to meet unattainable perfect physical standards (Gill 2015). The media bombards the youth with gender representations and the types of bodies that are deemed to be attractive. Many teenagers all around the world are desperate to lose weight to be “beautiful”.
Do stereotypes of body images exist? “A "stereotype" is a generalization about a person or group of persons. Our society often innocently creates and perpetuates stereotypes, but these stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution when the stereotype is unfavorable” (Grobman). It is hard to understand how much the media affects us unless one stands back and evaluates things such as commercials, magazines, and television shows. Women today follow the stereotypical images of beauty that the media portrays. These images of beauty deal with women’s physical appearance on the outside. The unbearable pressure from the media causes women to look a certain way so they are accepted into society. Over the past two centuries, women in this world have strived to reach the stereotypical beauty that the media presents. There are many arguments for the certain ways the media illustrates negative body images. Throughout the years, magazines, movies, billboards, and television shows have made woman’s body images worse. I am going to explain the stereotypes of body image and the difference between them in the mid 1800’s and today. I chose these two times periods to compare because they are complete opposites. I feel that by showing the difference over three hundred years allows one to see how weight and beauty has fluctuated. I feel that is important to compromise between these two different stereotypical images of beauty. Stereotypes can negatively alter women’s appearances and cause women to treat their body differently and hurt themselves. It is important to examine these stereotypes to see how they evolved and how women can avoid these negative influences. Stereotypes on women’s physical appearances a...
The concept of “beauty” is something that everyone feels, thinks, or wants, in order to fit society’s standards. In today’s society, we are often faced with the unrealistic ideals of what beauty is. Due to society’s constant portraying of unrealistic beauty ideals, this reinforces a negative influence upon women’s idea of beauty, resulting in a negative impact in their confidence, and self-esteem, which leads to others, specifically women to be manipulated by society’s corrupted outlook of what beauty is. To add onto this issue, we are constantly surrounded by sources of this negative influence in our everyday lives, including magazines, television, advertisements, and so on. However, women specifically, are more prone to be victims of this negative effect, thus will have more pressure upon themselves to match society’s idea of “beauty,” which includes unrealistic and sometimes unattainable beauty standards. Women especially, can sometimes be so deeply manipulated by society’s unrealistic ideals of what is beautiful, such that it’s possible that they don’t even realize it Furthermore, in order to do so, women often will receive negative impacts rather than positive impacts, such as in their confidence and self-esteem. The negative effects of society’s beauty ideals also lead women to have an overall corrupted idea of what is “beautiful.” Society creates unrealistic ideals of beauty towards women through the media by creating an unrealistic image of what women should look like to be considered beautiful. Men negatively affect women’s idea of beauty by using the unrealistic beauty standards exposed by society which further pressures women to try to fit society’s idea of what is beautiful. Beauty pageants negatively affect women’s ov...