Burgess, Melinda, and Sandra Burpo. "The Effect of Music Videos on College Students'

Furthermore, media surrounds teenage girls in today’s culture. It is impossible to escape the sight of media. The media’s constant idealistic beauty is ever present to a vast amount of self-conscious girls. This image of beauty causes girls to have low self-esteem (Clay, Vignoles, and Dittmar). Media defining this perfect body image causes many adolescent girls to feel dissatisfied with their bodies and become depressed. “Viewing ultra-thin or average-size models led to decreases in both body satisfaction and self-esteem in adolescent girls aged eleven to sixteen, with changes in self-esteem fully mediated by changes in body satisfaction” (Clay, Vignoles, and Dittmar).

The Fashion Industry is affecting our body image in a huge way. They are the number one contributing factor in how we perceive ourselves and what is normal, especially in young girls. The following research shows some of the negative effects of the Fashion Industry. First, the negative effects of the media on body image and how it give countless an unrealistic views of what is normal. Second, how the Advertising and Magazines can affect our self-image in a negative way by using extremely thin models to promote sales. Eating Disorders will be looked at lastly, to reveal the high number of women and young girls suffering from anorexia and bulimia and how much responsibility falls on the Fashion Industry. The conclusion will end with the review of key factors and how the fashion industry has affected the self-esteem and body image of our society.

Women are seen through the eyes of the music industry as little more than sex objects; causing them to feel of no worth, leading to extremely dangerous long term mental illnesses and eating disorders. Music lyrics/video is a key source of messages that advocate and encourage drinking, smoking, drug abuse, sexuality, sex-role stereotyping, sex and violence. Exposure to music videos, has also been correlated with early uptake of sexual activity. (AMCA, 2014)

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

The results of this study indicated a low effect size for all studies. The participants who were shown pictures in the media of thin models tended to think there was something wrong with their body weight. Other participants who viewed models who were overweight tended to have a positive outlook on their body image. Another study that was conducted by Han, 2003 looked at female Korean college students and the way in which media exposure affected the way they perceive body image. This experiment was conducted by using 42 college female college students who were exposed to images of thin models in magazine ads. After viewing the images for about 5 minutes the women were then asked to fill out a questionnaire. This questionnaire was built to see their indication on body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance based upon the pictures that were shown. Then an upward comparison was used to see whether they agreed or disagreed with the images of the models shown. As these results stated the females that were exposed to the pictures of the thin models showed a higher level of upward comparison then those who were not shown the models. Participants in the experimental group also perceived the thin models to be more practical than those who were participants of the control group. A second part of this experiment used 75 female college

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

Engdahl’s article closely examines the physical self-assessments of young adults who are influenced by advertisements. The research conducted includes the way women are consistently exposed negatively to the ideal female physical appearance, which causes them to self-evaluate themselves. Unrealistic and impractical standards shown in fashion advertisements leads to feelings of discontent with their selves, especially weight related. Furthermore, Engdahl’s analysis on this topic shows a greater depth as it continues describe more in detail about how women are taught to conform at a young age about physical attractiveness in order to be accepted, treated well by others and valued as a person. In a study, advertisements with attractive models

Music videos are a facet of pop culture that influences young adults’ moral views of prostitution and pimping. Because these young adults can see prostitution and pimping depicted as something accepted by society, they are more likely to accept it in their own lives. As a result, they are more susceptible to manipulation by perpetrators who run human sex trafficking outfits. This is depicted

The experimental investigation held by (Yamamiya, 2005-2008) observed 123 young college women’s behaviors before and after the exposure to these images. The results of the research indicated that relative to a control group, the exposure to thin and beautiful media images negatively influenced the state body image of participants with high internalization levels. In the study, Sex Roles by (Harper & Tiggemann, 2008), objectification theory by (Fredrickson & Roberts, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1997) emphasizes that experiences of sexual objectification socialize women to engage in self-objectification. The study (Harper & Tiggemann, 2008) used an experimental investigation to examine the effects of media images on self-objectification of women. A total number of 90 Australian female undergraduates aged from 18 to 35 were randomly chosen to view images of a thin-ideal woman. Participants are reported with greater state self-objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative mood and body dissatisfaction. The results demonstrate that self-objectification can be stimulated in women without direct focusing attention on their own

Rape culture is defined as “the perception of rape myths, sexual objectification of woman, and the media’s legitimization of sexual aggression and violence against women.”(M. Hildebrand 2). It is the idea that being raped is somehow the person that was raped’s fault. The idea that if one dresses too provocatively or acts in a certain way, they are asking to be raped. It has an effect on people. It has an effect on teenagers. In a study conducted, over half of teenagers asked said that “if a woman dresses seductively and walks alone at night, she is asking to be raped.”(Pipher, et al 206). It has an effect on teenage girls, who have a hard enough time as it is. They should not have to worry that the shorts they are wearing are too short, or worry about walking alone at night, or know how to defend themselves with nothing but keys. Rape culture can affect how teenage girls and the people around them view and perceive the action of rape.

The effects of music videos on adolescences have been the subject of controversy for decades. The common reason for the concern has been appropriately summed by Arnett (a Research Professor of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts), who explained, women are used as props for the illusive life the music video is portraying the artist to have. The concern that hip-hop culture, as seen in music videos, has become heavily influential on young people’s views of sexuality. The concern about mainstream hip-hop music and music videos sexualizing women, in particular, is so omnipresent, many can even be referenced as “rape culture” by embedded sexual violence in the lyrics being disguised as pleasurable elements of hip-hop. The Kaiser Family Foundation in the year 2001 reported that teenagers rank entertainment media as the main source for information about sexuality and sexual health [3]. Descriptive language and sexual imagery in music videos directly affect

It is evident that society has created an indestructible gender binary when it is even reproduced in the ideology of crime, which is represented as ‘fear of crime’. As Ferraro explains, the fear of crime emerges from the perceived risk of being a victim of crime and the constrained behaviour – the reaction to the perceived risk (1996). These two concepts are reproduced in the media, leading females to believe they are always at risk of being victims. Occasionally, some productions work to reveal the truth to the public, to alleviate dominant gender ideologies that allow female fear to endure. One such song is Lady Gaga’s Til it Happens to You. This song and video challenges dominant gender ideology because even though women are sexually dominated by men, the song encourages victims to stand up and come together to fight domination. This song also reproduces fear of crime, but in a more realistic way than do other representations of crime in media because of how the video represents the setting, victims, and rapists. Overall, the video works to challenge perceived expectations of rape.

2. Interview other students about their use of music videos. Do they enjoy them? How often do they watch? What do they think of the images used? What do they think of how men and women are depicted? Do they think their own ideas about gender and sexuality have been influenced by music videos and other media? Many people will say no to this last question. If they do, follow up by asking them to explain their answer and where they think their ideas about gender and sex come from. Also, ask them if they think their friends are influenced. Take notes, and write a summary of the results of your interviews. Be prepared to discuss your findings with

Research indicates that exposure to thin ideal images in women's magazines is associated with heightened concerns for body shape and size in a number of young women, although the media's role in the psychopathology of body image disturbance is generally believed to be mediated by personality and socio-cultural factors. The purpose of this research study is to know and gather solid facts and reasons about fashion magazines affecting the teenagers’ body image in a form of research to self evaluation through careful accumulation of acceptable data and relevant resources for such data to be precise and spontaneous in its respected details to support results.

Arnett, J.J. 2002. The sounds of sex: Sex in teens’ music and music videos. In Sexual teens, sexual