The Media’s Negative Influence on Society

Studies prove that the media can have a negative impact on self-image. TV, movies, magazines and the internet all pressures what their bodies should look like. In the article, Too sexy too soon: A mother’s battle against the sexualization of girls by Tina Wolridge quoted, “One of the hardest responsibilities of being a parent to a 13-year-old girl is explaining the sexualized images of young women that are seen on TV and in skimpy clothing, magazines and sexy videos…I want my daughter to be valued for her mind, for what's on the inside and for being a good person. I want her to understand that you don't need to get your value from your looks alone (Wolridge, 2013).” It is sad that millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold. They feel so much less because in their heads they see that’s what it takes to be noticed or worthy. Images they see are nothing, but air brushed ideas of what is the vision of perfection. The insecurity one holds buries the true beauty and worthiness that person actual holds. It is sad how the media can have a negative impact to make someone feel ugly and insecure about themselves. They all should be able to love their self for who they really are and how they present themselves no matter what anyone else says.

When one thinks of media, one tends to relate media to television, news, magazines, newspaper articles, and so on. Many people do not think of media is something that portrays negative effects on young women. However, young women are more susceptible to lower self-esteem resulting in eating disorders or depression more today than ever before. The media projects negative and undermining images of women and one does not have to look very hard to realize this. The media projects images of unrealistic women who only look the way they do because of plastic surgery or airbrushing techniques. The media has much greater effects on young girls than anything else in our culture today. Our society has created an environment so obsessed with

Malcolm X, a civil rights activist, stated that “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have to power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent and that’s power. Because they control the minds of masses.” Unfortunately, some people lose their lives trying to get an “ideal body.” From the article “NYC Girls Project - Media and Girls,” this organization conducted a study in 2010 that stated that “63 percent of girls think the body image represented by the fashion industry is unrealistic and 47% think it’s unhealthy. Due to these reasons and others, the media influences individuals in a negative way because of how it reinforces racial/gender stereotypes.

There are no questions to whether the media has influenced the self-consciousness people have on their body or not. Whether it is the front of a magazine cover or in a film or television show, the selection of models or actors are primarily thin or fit leading readers and viewers to worry or want to change the way their body looks. Body image is the way one sees oneself and imagine how one looks. Having a positive body image means that most of the time someone sees themselves accurately, and feels comfortable in their body; negative body image, what the media exemplifies for the majority of the time, is just the opposite. The media uses unrealistic standards of beauty and bodily perfection to drive ordinary people to be dissatisfied with their body image which can result in the search to obtain these unreachable goals.

Media knows that belonging and love will sell perfume to attract, make up to look your best, items to keep your family safe and other popular items just to have what you need to fit in or belong to a certain in group. Media not only influence a person’s purchase choices but also can sway their political opinions. What is seen on the news can influence people to hate a certain group because they are a threat to the safety of families or politically influence a vote for a candidate because so families will prosper. Media influences self-esteem by suggesting finding love or being able to fit in a person should have a certain body type and if that goal is not met a negative self-image or feeling of failure could ensue. Eating disorders have been tied to media’s trend toward portraying women in certain model thinness and promoting only that body type (Neda Feeding Hope).

Women around the world face overwhelming oppressions in their daily lives. That is not news to anyone and these oppressions have occurred for so much of history, that it is often times overlooked by the mass majority; even the younger generations of women do not know the types of oppressions that they will soon have to face. To combat this, FCKH8.com, a well known organization that sells t-shirts and other merchandise with witty anti-racism, anti-homophobic, and pro-feminist catchphrases on them, created the video, “Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism”. As the title implies, the video contains little girls, ages six through eleven, aggressively yelling “FUCK,” towards the camera while rattling off facts and statistics about some of the oppressions women face because of their gender. The comment section of this video is erratic; the viewers often have conflicting views about the meaning of the video as well as whether or not it was successful in its purpose. One thing is for sure, the video makes an impact by using several rhetorical devices including word choice, pathos and logos; all which separate it from other pro-feminism videos that exist.

Going just one day without being exposed to any form of media is nearly impossible. Through film, television shows, music, advertisements, news programs, newspapers, and magazines, we are exposed to media daily. The role that media plays in the way that individuals think is important. Media affects the way many individuals view circumstances, events, and people. The portrayal of women in media affects the way that individuals view women.

Media holds such high standards in today 's society, and media as a whole has gotten so much power throughout the years. There are so many different forms of media in today 's world: newspapers, magazines, televisions, the hundreds of websites on the Internet, social media applications, computers, and novels. Media advertises thousands of different things, but something that has stayed consistent over the years is advertisement on body image. Media advertises a specific body type, pushes different dietary needs to achieve this body type and thus creating the standard of in order to be beautiful, this particular body type must be achieved. However, what advertisers seem to be neglecting is the effect their advertisements are having on its viewers. The constant push to achieve a certain body type has affected the health of thousands of people around the world, and directly affecting the eating disorder epidemic.

The media plays a very important part in our lives, we see ads that help us know what we want to buy and we get entertainment from television or movies. While the media has many benefits, it also has a very consequential downside. The media puts too much pressure on teenage girls to have perfect bodies by showing them unrealistic examples causing eating disorders.

The media plays a tremendous part in our everyday lives. It affects how we eat, how we dress, and our self-esteem. Whether it’s a heavily photo shopped model in a magazine, or a fad diet that encourages unhealthy beauty standards. The stress that these standards place on men and women have been heavily correlated with increases in eating disorders. The perpetuation of being extremely thin in the media has a huge impact on young people and children especially, because they are still learning what is considered normal, and will attempt to copy the esthetics of what they see in magazines if they aren’t taught what is a healthy body to have. Mass media portrays men and women to impossible standards that could never be reached

The media use subliminal messages to get the viewers’ attention by using ads, commercials, and other sources of media. For example, when siting in a hairdresser you’re flipping through a magazine all you may see is a young beautiful model who’s thin, perfect skin and just perfect in every way. “The idealization and pursuit of thinness are seen as the main drivers of body dissatisfaction, with the media primarily setting thin body ideals” (Hill 2006). The media doesn’t realize how they cause women, especially young girls to have low self-esteem. Stated in the

Despite these positives, there are many negatives about the media. Most women are affected. The media

Media plays an enormous role on people’s lives. For the good or for the bad, people tend to believe what they constantly see on the internet, television, newspapers and magazines. What the media wants to do is to make an affect on someone. It can literally be anything. As long as something that is said in the media creates or makes an impact on that particular person, the media has done

American writer Allen Ginsberg once said: "Whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture." Nothing could be truer, the media has always influenced fashion and body shape. But what's remarkable now is how much the media affects body image, and how willing and eager people are to mess with Mother Nature. (Underwood, par.2) Although there are other factors that contribute to eating disorders the media can partially be blamed for the millions of people with eating disorders because it promotes and glamorizes being thin to the public.

Media is everywhere. In classrooms, at home, in your pocket, no one can escape the temptation of media. Every little bit of information stems from media. But, all information has two sides to it, one of which media never reports. Women have always been a controversial topic in media. For example women are seen as sex symbols rather than intellectual individuals. Social media and media have targeted women to become a conquest in which reward must be given. For instance, if a man were to sleep around with multiple partners it would not be viewed as promiscuous, while a woman would be characterized as a slut or a whore. Media has always been a prominent factor in how we view certain ideals. For example, women should be treated and viewed as inferior from their male counterparts. As the media thoroughly objectifies women’s bodies it creates a stigma that women must be held to a beauty standard to be seen as acceptable in society.