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How the media negatively affects body image
The effect of media on body image and self - esteem
How the media negatively affects body image
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The Adverse Effects of Advertising on Women
Stacey was tall, blonde, tan, and slender. However beauty was not her only attribute. In addition to being voted Homecoming queen our senior year of high school, she was both a straight-A student and the President of our class. She was a strong leader who enjoyed having fun like any other girl her age. Yet in between the jokes and fun that most friends have, she was always talking about going to the gym or counting calories. Despite my constant reassurances that she was beautiful the way she was, she never felt adequate. In Stacey’s eyes nothing less than perfect would do. She believed that there was an ideal image that she had to obtain in order to be considered attractive. After trying diet after diet and joining several health programs, Stacey’s waistline finally began to get smaller; the compliments only made her want to lose more. As time went on, it was clear that her health was beginning to suffer. Her eyes had a more sunken appearance, and her once toned body looked unnaturally bony. Gradually, Stacey was starving herself.
An average American will see hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of advertisements on a day-to-day basis, which attempt to manipulate impressionable minds into a new way of living. Advertisements may be good sources of information about new or revised products, but at what cost? The barrage of slender woman with perfect skin and hair emits the idea that there is such a thing as a perfect woman. The actresses, musicians, and models in these ads create a warped sense of beauty, which in turn affects women’s self-perception. Yet this goddess-like image is exactly what advertisers rely upon in order to continue their revenue. D...
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...sion ads may not be real, but the affects that they have on women are. From discouragement and sadness to depression and diseases, forms of false advertising oftentimes have a negative impact on the morale of the American people, including Stacey, whose battle with anorexia continues. The saddest part of the whole scenario is that things could be different if advertisers were to put a little of their greed aside in lieu of the unique charisma of people by putting models of all shapes, sizes, and varieties in their ads. After all, who defines the normal woman anyway?
Works Cited
Greg Apodaca “Greg’s Digital Archive” Greg Apodaca’s Website. September 22, 2003.
National Institute of Mental Health “Depression” Publication No. 02-3561 (2000).
Scott, Christopher Thomas. Stem Cell Now: From the Experiment That Shook the World to the
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...
Advertisers use women that are abnormally thin, and even airbrush them to make them appear thinner. These advertisers promote a body image that is completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b). It has been instilled in these advertisers’ minds that a thinner model will sell more (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Media has a direc...
Major depression in teenagers can be caused by biological issues, traumatic events or learned patterns (Bhatia & Bhatia, 2007). Biological issues that may cause depression in a teenager are caused by differences in the brain where neurotransmitters affect the ability of brain cell communication, therefore, affecting their mood and their behavior. Hormones also play an important role in mood disorders that may lead to depression as well as inherited traits of depression from blood relatives. Traumatic events in early childhood is also a known cause for depression in teenagers due to the fact that children have poor ability to cope with stressful situations such as physical, sexual or emotional abuse which may contribute to depression later on in life. Teenagers can also have episodes of depression by learning patterns of negative thinking from those closest to them instead of learning to find solutions to the challenges they encounter in
Its symptoms often differ, too, so many depressed teens are dismissed as simply being “difficult” or “delinquent.” Yet it is a serious problem, particularly when one considers the high rate of depression-related suicide among teenagers. Because its symptoms are varied and often subtle, depression at any age can be hard to identify. Many people, particularly teens, who are undergoing so many changes that affect mood and behavior are unaware that they are depressed. Even when they seek treatment, it is often only for the physical symptoms, such as sleeplessness or fatigue, and not the actual underlying cause. Many factors increase the risk of developing or triggering teen depression, those factors include - having issues that negatively impact self-esteem, such as obesity, peer problems, bullying, or academic
The suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade.[2] Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric clinics suffer from depression.[3] Despite this, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed, leading to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which often continue into adulthood.
(Jhally, Kilbourne, Rabinovitz, 2010) The amount of money put into advertisement worldwide in 2011 was $464 billion. (Pavlik, McIntosh, 2014, p. 268). In our society, sexism has become a normal part of our everyday life based on the ads we constantly see and because of the society we live in. Women are represented in ads as objects and not as human beings. The advertising is convincing us that the most important goal for a woman should be to become “the perfect woman” and for a man to find one. Dove has a commercial called “Evolution” demonstrating the idea that “the perfect woman” does not truly exist. They show the transformation in which models go through before photo or video shoots. The makeup applied to create a flawless face and the hair extensions attached to create the ideal look are only the beginning of the issue. After the photographs are taken, we are taken through a visual process of the editing done to the images: Bigger eyes, smaller nose, bigger lips, higher cheekbones, slimmer face, bigger chest, smaller waist, smoother skin, these are only a few of the changes they make while editing these pictures. These ads create an unrealistic and unattainable idea of
Teenage Depression. Everywhere you look these two words appear together as one, in newspapers and magazines, as well as in scholarly reports. Teenage depression is one of today's "hot topics" this among other teenage mental health problems, has been brought to the forefront of public consciousness in recent years after several incidents involving school shootings (CQ 595). The environment that teens grow up in today is less supportive and more demanding than it was twenty years ago. Not only are the numbers of depressed teens rising, but children are also being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. Studies have found that, "There is an estimated 1.5-3 million American children and adolescents who suffer from depression, a condition unrecognized in children until about 20 years ago" (CQR 595). This increase in depression is due to social factors that teenagers have to deal with everyday. A recent study found that, "About five percent of teenagers have major depression at any one time. Depression can be very impairing, not only for the affected teen, but also for his or her family-and too often, if not addressed, depression can lead to substance abuse or more tragic events" (NAMI.org). Gender roles and other societal factors including the pressures on girls to look and act a certain way, the pressures on boys to suppress their emotions and put on a tough front and the pressures on both sexes to do well in school and succeed, all contribute to depression in teens today. Depression is a growing problem which crosses gender lines and one that needs to be dealt with with more than just medication.
To sum up, it is often said that advertising is shaping women gender identity, and some have been argued that the statement is true, because of the higher amount of sexual references of women that advertisement show and the damages that occur on women’s personality and the public negative opinions of those women. As well, the negative effects that those kinds of advertisements cause to young generations and make them feel like they should simulate such things and are proud of what they are doing because famous actors are posting their pictures that way. Others deem this case as a personal freedom and absolutely unrelated to shaping women gender identity. On the contrast, they believe that, those sorts of advertisements are seriously teaching women how to stay healthy and be attractive, so they might have self-satisfaction after all.
Adolescent despondency affects the way an individual sleeps, eats, the way they feel about themselves and those around them (“Side Effects of Untreated Depression”). This particular mental disease changes the outlook on a teenager’s view on themselves, loved ones, and their surroundings. Depression can be a responsive action to certain situations, such as emotional trauma, and stress. It can have devastating, and in some cases, life threatening, effects on younger members of society. Due to the fact that normal, unaffected teenagers naturally have fluctuating moods, it is much more difficult to diagnose depression at this age.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
Advertising creates a mythical dream world where there are no problems, everyone is beautiful, and has money to spare. Advertisements depict the way in which people think women and men are “supposed to be” (Cortese 52). Women are shown all these images as role models, which are unattainable. Females are not able to be happy with their bodies because everyday in the media they are told that they are not beautiful. The average American woman is 5 feet tall and weighs 142 pounds. When is the last time you saw a women meeting these qualifications in any advertisement? The truth is most people don't have the genetic potential to be the idealized shape and size in our culture (“Every”). Women are doomed from the beginning.
Empfield, M., Bakalar, N. (2001). Understanding Teenage Depression: A Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment and Management, Holt Paperbacks, New York.
A famous author John Green said, “Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever they list depression among the side effects of cancer. But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of death (“The Only Thing Worse”).” Occasional bad moods or acting out is to be expected, but depression is something different. Depression can destroy the very essence of a teenager’s personality, causing an overwhelming sense of sadness, despair, or anger (“A Guide for Parents”). The depression rate in the teen’s generation is rising every day. Teenage depression is not just bad moods and occasional melancholy; it’s a serious problem that impacts every aspect of a teen’s life (“A Guide for Parents”). To better understand why teens are depressed, it would help to know the causes of depression, such as, trauma, life experiences, and social anxiety or peer pressure.
Show business promotes commercials, print advertisements, films and shows where unbelievably perfect women are seen as the ‘ideal beauty’ The ‘ideal beauty’ controls the behavior of young girls and manipulates their perception of beauty. The term ‘ideal beauty’ is defined to be a conception of something that is perfect, especially that which one seeks to attain. Many young girls everyday are exposed to fashion and beauty advertisements that feature models who are portrayed as ‘perfect’. Due to this Technological Age, girls are exposed to many advertisements that encourage them to be like the featured models- tall, skinny, and foreign. There is also a survey conducted by Renee Hobbs, EdD, associate professor of communications at Temple University which states that, “The average teenage girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and only about ten minutes of parental interaction a day.” Moreover, media also promotes and advertises cosmetics, apparel, diet pills and exercise gears in the name of beauty and fitness, convincing girls to buy and ultimately patronize their products. Becoming very addicted with using such products can eventually lead to overdoes and becoming vainer. It may seem obvious to most of us that people prefer to look at beautiful faces. While beauty itself may be only skin deep, studies show our perception of beauty may be hard-wired in our brains (Stossel,