...widely popular, particularly among young American girls. Consequently, the sexist messages of Disney princess movies both pre and post the 1960s Women's Liberation Movement are extremely present in today’s society. Before the Women's Liberation Movement, films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty portrayed messages that reflected women’s confined role in society during the mid-1900s. These princesses, while playing significant speaking roles, were not only dependent on men but the epitome of their life was marriage but the focus...
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...term that most people want to be perceived as (“Beauty”). Celebrities who fit this definition act as role models for women who want to look like they do, and magazines and television advertisements are constantly telling women how they too can be “beautiful” by selling them weight loss products, exercise programs, and other image enhancers. The constant exposure to the media’s version of beautiful is not something that is often thought of as negative. However, their portrayal of what is beautiful has become distorted over the years, to the point where achieving this “thin-ideal”, which will be defined later, is nearly impossible for women if done through healthy means. Because of this, many women develop body dissatisfaction, which can lead to serious and dangerous consequences, such as the development of eating disorders, in order to be “beautiful”. While there are many factors that can be linked to eating disorders, research has found that the media’s influence on society’s portrayal of extremely thin females as the ideal body is directly correlated to the increase in body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and other harmful conditions found in women. By analyzing this from a feminist perspective, it can be argued that not only does the media’s influence on the idealization of thinness effect females physical and mental health negatively, but it also acts as reinforcement for the patriarchal culture prevalent in today’s society. There is a wide range of eating disorders, ranging...
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...Confession by Linh Dinh The idea of human models in society is usually associated with ideas of beauty and perfection. Models today have no physical blemishes or flaws. People endeavor the media’s portrayal of this sublimity. By losing weight or getting involved in the latest fashion trends, society strives to achieve the same glorification that these models receive. However, beauty has been a tool society has used to forget about the true nature of humans. In “Confession”, Linh Dinh attempts to illustrate society’s chase after beauty is actually society attempting to ignore the imperfections of being human. Linh Dinh focuses heavily on society’s impressions of deformity discreetly. He does this through his language usage. Dinh writes, “the jagged gaps of their stiff smiles”(5). The media portrays a beautiful smile as lips turned upward with shining white teeth. Dinh creates the opposite on his doll. The word “jagged” facilitates in bringing out a beastly image. This jagged smile reminds the audience of a wild animal, with sharp gnarly teeth. In perspective to the aim of “Confession”, this relation to an animal symbolizes the imperfections of humans to a new extent. The physical defects that are obvious through the first read now become a discreet way of conveying that humans are not as sophisticated as they think, but rather unrefined and uncivilized. Dinh continues on to use the word “stiff”(5) to describe the smile he is creating on the model. The word stiff...
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...Research shows that women are negatively impacted by the media’s presentation of unattainable yet desirable portrayals of women’s bodies because it causes women to be discontented with their own bodies-often leading to body dysmorphic disorder, women focus on their perceptions of themselves comparatively to what they are exposed to through media instead of simply living healthfully as they try to copy what they see as desirable in the media and are therefore losing their individuality. Annotated Bibliography: Alexandra Ossala (2010). The Media's Effect on Women's Body Imade. New York: Hamilton College. In this article, Arielle Cutler, explores the emphasis that woman have on how they view themselves, beauty standards set by society, how body image is impacted by the media and the impacts of all of this on young women. It goes on to explain how she spent a summer exploring the efficacy of media literacy programs to use as a solution to the cycle of media affecting women and their body image. Arielle Cutler's findings are that the cultural standards in American society believes that the beauty standard is to be thin. Cutler explains that there is great concern for this as being thin is accepted over being average and that the norm of being thin is obsessive and unhealthy in American society. A study of girls, whom are European American and African American that are ages 7-12 years, when the media exposure is greater, such as television, they are more likely to have an eating...
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...The beauty industry is something that has affected us all. We've all sat on a subway bench and stared at a poster with some beautiful woman or man, who just looks too perfect to be real. We've all also thought the same things when looking at that poster. Things such as “Why don't I look that way?", “How did this person get to look so perfect?” The moment that thought crosses our mind is the moment that the beauty industry gets paid in some way or another, this is because once we think that we are willing to buy whatever someone is selling. This is because to us the product is something that will bring us one step closer to looking beautiful and that translates to cold hard cash to the people running the beauty industry. Meanwhile, people are...
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...Taylor Barto English 101 Holman 4/4/2012 Portrayal of Women in the Media In society today attractiveness can be the base of the empire that one builds. A certain look could be the entire reason someone gets a role in a movie or television show. Everything today is flashier, bigger, better, and more glamorous than before so why would women fall to any exception? These women on television can all play different roles, for example, the corporate climber, the supermom, the social butterfly, the ruthless villainess, but they all have one common denominator; their attractiveness. The women seen on television are beautiful, thin, and primarily white. These are the types of women the media wants us to strive to be like because it boosts their ratings. How many people would watch a television show about someone’s life that was less successful and less attractive? Many would agree that the last 30 years some progress has been made in how the media portray women in film, television, and magazines and there has also been a growth in the presence and influence of women in the media. Nevertheless, female stereotypes continue to thrive in the media we view every day. The media’s portrayal of women plays a significant impact on the effects to body image and self-esteem to implications in sports and politics. One current popular show that many young adults watch on television is a show, Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl follows the lives of Manhattan’s Upper East Side socialites. Each show...
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...are more powerful as their reach and impact is greater than that of other media. All of these media have greater reach among men than women, but what catches the attention of the feminists and other concerned people is the unrealistic, negative portrayal of women in these media. Mass media do give coverage to women and their issues but damage done by media to women is more than the help offered to them. The role of media in the development of women and enhancement of their status in the society is very depressing. All mass media are being blamed for this. Mass media have been powerful agents of social influence but they have not been effective in portraying women in meaningful, respectable and positive manner. In 1978, a major UNESCO study on the portrayal and participation of women in the media found that the portrayal of women in the mass media globally was consistently poor. The study also confirmed that there was severe under-representation of women in the upper cadres of all media organizations, and that the average media woman earns less than her male counter-parts. Studies carried out in South Asia in 1986 confirm that women are portrayed either as docile, home loving and sexless, or as the object of male desire. Mass Media's presentation of women is contradictory to reality. This does not mean that mass media are expected to represent reality with accuracy. But, as pointed out by Joshi (1991), "Consistently and systematically women are being exploited to the advantage...
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...In a country that spends about $55-billion on cosmetics, it is no surprise that 82% of women apply makeup to increase their self-confidence (Cash, 1989, p.351). This depressing statistic means that only 18% of women do not need to apply makeup to increase their self-confidence. In today’s American society, we are constantly bombarded by images of flawless, perfect figured girls in the media. The media is allowed to set the beauty standard, and its presence can become harmful towards women, and society as a whole. The media reinforces its message through a number of outlets such as: advertisements, social media, and magazines, ultimately making its influence inescapable. Although it may be too late to change the media’s grip on our generation,...
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...had a long history of being greatly influenced by the media. The media’s portrayal of extremely thin models and celebrities as beautiful, has caused women to feel dissatisfied with their bodies and with such dissatisfaction, eating disorders among young women have also increased. Previous history of the media’s influence also includes the fact that the ideal female body has become increasingly thinner over the past fifty years. Many of the celebrities and models that are regarded as ideal examples of female beauty are often individuals who are extremely thin and often considered anorexic. As there is more emphasis on being thinner for women and as pressure is increased by both the media and other factors, many young women have come to desire bodies that are much thinner...
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...The media plays an immense role in reaffirming patriarchal assumptions of what is expected of society. Humankind is exposed to huge media platforms so often that it goes unnoticed when individuals begin to become like a famous, popular movie character. It is not surprising when a fictional character’s behavior comes to life through the viewers, the more exposure they have towards media. In “Beauty and the Patriarchal Beast: Gender Role Portrayals in Sitcoms Featuring Mismatched Couples,” the authors address that “Patriarchal ideology is so embedded in everyday discourse that it becomes normal to general audiences, and its presence goes easily unnoticed.” Television is such a convenient source of media that the storylines of beloved shows teach...
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...It seems humans are programmed with their own unique beauty detectors. Across cultures, there are variations of aesthetic preferences shaped by thousands of years of evolutionary standards, and now – in this modern age where technological advances influenced social ideals such as the mainstream media’s portrayal of physical beauty, it caused some of us to be subliminally fooled into copying unrealistic beauty standards of Photoshop and one of the solutions towards that insane goal of perfection is by using a wide selection of trendy makeups. We hear a lot of stories out there that tell women don’t really need makeup to look beautiful and it’s okay to have blackheads, acne and other image issues. Meanwhile, there are those girls who have a...
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...have a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness. As many as 20 percent of those who suffer from anorexia will die prematurely from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems. While there are many possible causes and triggers for these disorders, the media’s influence on body image cannot be overlooked. The media has been playing a central role on the growth of eating disorders such as anorexia. As adolescents we are convinced with images and messages that tend to further the idea that to be happy and successful we must be slim. Nowadays, It is nearly impossible to open a newspaper or listen to the radio, or turn on a TV without being confronted with the ideas that to be fat is to be undesirable. When adolescents feel as though their breasts, weight or hips don’t match up to those of supermodels and actors, they feel fatally feel secure. This in turn makes to feel insecure about their body image and thus resulting in this eating disorder. Surveys show that there is plenty of evidence demonstrating that the media encourages slimness and weight loss and over-emphasize the importance of beauty and appearances. It appears that beauty and fashion magazines significantly impact the process of identity development in young women, especially with regards to gender-role learning, identity formation, and the development of values and beliefs (Arnett, 1995; Thomsen et al., 2001).The result of this is that the adolescent girls in question...
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...Pushed to the Limits Societal views of beauty have changed over time, yet the path to societal acceptance has remained narrow. Women are pressured to maintain a thin figure in society to seem modest and ladylike. In relation, in the fashion industry, models are pushed to extreme measures to maintain a small figure. Extreme measures include: developing anorexia and/or bulimia, turning away from being sexually harassed, as well as turning away from being discriminated based on race or gender, to lack of financial transparency, and exploitation. They are convinced that if they go to these extreme measure they will become successful models. The beginning of a models career is the toughest due to the many pressures they face by the industry such...
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...made accessible to people in every aspect of their daily lives. With such a strong hold on modern society, mass media have been able to shape popular culture and often influence public opinion. However, when abused, the power of media can harm the general population. Biased media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals. Stereotypes formed by the media that include thin, tanned women, and wealthy, muscular men have led to a decline in self-acceptance. The majority of media today often present the perfect body to the public, hoping that consumers will strive to achieve fitness using a certain product or idea. While this form of advertising may somewhat increase a product's market share, many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of failure to achieve the body of a top athlete or fashion model. Along with emotional conflicts, those influenced by the media have encountered physical problems, including bulimia, anorexia, and the employment of harmful dietary plans. Unless reality is discerned from what is presented in certain media, some people will continue to suffer. Consumers could find the truth more easily if media offered products advertised by normal people without all the extra glamor. In addition to this, if the public could view advertising only as something to get one's attention and not a portrayal of how one should look, there would be fewer problems. Until either is accomplished, the negative...
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...experience highly distorted images of their bodies. Body image is strongly affected by self-esteem and more so than by opinions of others. It can, however, be strongly influenced by the cultural messages and standards of society regarding appearance and what is deemed attractive. Given the prevalence of thin and toned female images and the strong and likenesses of the lean and muscled male, which is common to most American societies, body image issues have become widespread among teens and adolescents. The issue of body image come into the spotlight in recent years because of the incidence of obese people in America. The ideal body, as...
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