The Negative Consequences of Women in the Media- Analysis of a Specific Ad that Exploits Women

Advertising is an over 200$ billion industry and according to Jean Kilbourne, people are exposed to over 3000 advertisements a day. Advertisements are everywhere so there is no escaping them; they are on TV, magazines, billboards, etc. These ads tell women and girls that what’s most important is how they look, and they surround us with the image of "ideal female beauty". However, this flawlessness cannot be achieved. It’s a look that’s been created through Photoshop, airbrushing, cosmetics, and computer retouching. There have been many studies done that have found a clear link between exposure to the thin ideal in the mass media to body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and eating disorders among women. Body dissatisfaction is negative thoughts that a person has about his or her own body. Thin ideal internalization is when a person believes that thinness is equivalent to attractiveness and will lead to positive life outcomes. Less than 5% of women actually have the body type that is shown of

Advertisements surround us on a daily basis. Constantly bombarding our conscious and subconscious minds with consumer items and suggestive material. But how much of that impacts the mind of young adults? More specifically, how does the constant incursion of beauty advertisements impact young women? Media, any form of mass communication- is one of the biggest factors in this widespread problem. Through the use of the media, ideas, images, expectations of perfection broadcasts throughout the country and on most occasions throughout the world. The portrayal of beauty in the media has contributed to a variety of psychological problems such as: misinterpretation of beauty, early exploration of sexuality and lowered sense of self worth which later leads to eating disorders.

Moreover, as Richins (1991) reports, women always make social comparisons between the advertising models and themselves. As a result, advertising images create negative affect and increases women’s dissatisfaction with their own appearance. Since those images are edited through the consistent usage of digital technology, these idealized images do not portray women in a healthy manner. Indeed, these enhanced images would give these young girls the impression that they need to be ‘perfect’, just like these ‘fake’ images. According to Reist in ABC’s Gruen Session (2010), ‘young women get the message that they need to be thin, hot and sexy just to be acceptable’ in this society. Therefore, by generating the wrong perception of real beauty, the responsibility is pushed to the marketers, as they portray women with this stereotypical body type as acceptable. In addition, as the brand, Dove’s tagline in its advertisement - What happened to the ‘real beauty’? (Reist, 2010), marketers need not market their products in manners portraying women as airheads. Consequently, marketers gave most consumers viewing the advertisement, the wrong impression that

The average number of teens watch almost three hours of television per day, which reveals them to thousands of images of violence, sexuality, from advertisements, according to the research done by scientists, by the time today's teens reach their old age, they would have watched between seven to 10 years worth of television during the trajectory of their lives. The content and the amount of television that teens watch substitutes other activities and could have a negative influence.Brands fascinating to teens take advantage of their particular vulnerabilities, the desire to fit in, to be apprehended as attractive. Teenagers have become the main target for advertisers. Teenagers are impulsive and invariably want the latest and greatest things. Advertisers see teenagers as great gateways to persuade themselves into buying their product. Teenagers come across over 40,000 advertisements per year whether on the Internet, TV or in their schools. Ads are constantly telling teenagers to buy this, look like that, or act a certain way. There are negative sides to advertisements harnessed towards teenagers. Teens are extremely accustomed to their place in the peer ranking, and advertising acts as a kind of "super peer" in leading them toward what's cool, what's satisfactory and what’s acceptable.Many teens are highly resistant to messages around body image, and marketers use this to their advantage with their

The culture of media has now taken a large affect on young girls and their body images. Young girls are feeling dissatisfied with their bodies because of the way society views women. The media tells us what to look like, what clothes to wear, make-up, what cars to drive, and sometimes what to eat. Media is changing people constantly through advertising and by showing us the looks and fashions of celebrities. Advertising has negative effects on the formation of oneself as seen through the nature of the promotion of its’ products. This effect is particularly prevalent among young adolescent girls. Young girls feel the need to join dietary plans or result to eating disorders Advertising in society results in negative effects on girls through self-image that leads to harmful consequences. The media is the biggest factor contributing to girls’ dissatisfaction with their bodies, causing eating disorders.

We have all heard, “you are what you eat”; however, and maybe more importantly, you want to be what you watch or read. How does today’s advertising impact on your body image? The shaping of our concept of the ideal body image begins at a young age and continues though adulthood. It begins with our toys; that first Barbie you received on your sixth birthday; the one with the long blond flowing hair and the perfect curves that could wear any outfit. Thinking back to that day, I reflect on the times I stared in the mirror, wishing I looked liked my Barbie and knew if I lost weight I would attract my perfect Ken. As I matured and put away my

Throughout my findings there arose very interesting, important, problematic, and noteworthy things. Specifically, I found that advertisers and the choices of what models they use in their advertisements have such an ingrained impact on how females view themselves and it is affecting girls at an even younger age now as advertisements are more widespread. From a personal health and financial perspective this is very problematic, noteworthy, and important because they need to make sure girls from a young age are not developing eating disorders and spending tons of money on the right clothes and makeup because it will only turn into more money as seen in the Good Hair documentary where people are paying over $1,000 on a weave that they will only

Movies, magazines, advertisements, television, music videos and even music lyrics are just a handful of media sources where I have noticed an increased focus on women being viewed as sexual objects, instead of women proposing an empowering message. Many people in our society are not aware of the extent in which sexualisation of women in the media is occurring every day of our lives; this is because we live in a culture where sexuality is more accepted; this is is having negative effects on the social aspect of our society. So, has the media and society pushed sexualisation too far? It is believed that women are hyper-sexualised in the media and this is changing the way women are looked at; but what are we actively doing as a society to reduce this issue?

Advertisers have countless subtle ways of presenting advertisements to sell products, but a lot of these advertisements may go way beyond the selling of products. Advertisements with regard to violent sexual scenes against women may actually be sending subliminal messages that violence is okay. Looking at these advertisements, it is not hard to see that there is a deeper meaning behind them than to just sell a product. With Sexual and violent Advertisements we may even be able to make the statement that rape, sexual assault and violence is alive and thriving in our society. Americans along with Europeans are being desensitized by the vast amount of violent advertisements. Advertisements that convey startling portrayals of women being

Browsing around looking for print advertisements was a lot easier when it involved a female. Most advertisement tend to objectify, dehumanize and dismember women. Women are objectified by minimizing their body parts into objects. We constantly see it in the media where women are put or placed in sexual positions, their body parts are related to sex that is why we are viewed as sex objects. In some advertisements there is always one women and more men portraying power and control over the female. In the film Tough Guise we see Jackson Kats explain that society thinks that violent behavior from men is acceptable. We always think boys will be boys so we accept their strong attitudes. We think it is normal since men are taught to not be emotional.

Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women, and their bodies, sell everything from food to cars. Women's magazines are full of articles urging women to fit a certain mold. While standing in a grocery store line you can see all different magazines promoting fashion, weight loss, and the latest diet. Although the magazines differ, they all seemingly convey the same idea: if you have the perfect body image you can have it all…the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. The media, whether TV, print, or Internet advertising, seems to play a huge role in influencing women of all ages; from adolescence and teens, to women in their twenties and thirties, as well as

“The average American is exposed to 30,000 marketing messages each day, telling us where to go, what to eat, what to wear, what to drive … in fact, nearly everything we do has its roots in marketing” (C. Chambers, personal communication, May 30, 2017). With that being said, media images often times set a stereotype of what women should be. Women compare themselves to the images projected out in the media, images that are unrealistic for some and motivating for others; thus, resulting in a varied perceptions of self. “Beyond self-esteem lies the concept of self … the interpenetration of self and society” (Gecas, 1982, p. 10), of which media plays a prominent role. Girls and young women are especially susceptible to lowered self-esteem and body image issues (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008).

Women are sexually exploited in the media. In today’s society if people watch television programs such as Chingy featuring Snoop & Ludacris – Holidae; Charlie's Angels; the Z100 commercial with Britney Spears; or Baywatch they will see that the feminine image is presented differently than the masculine. In these programs men are typically placed in sexual situations fully clothed, while women are presented in provocative clothing or less. The camera will frequently zoom in on body parts to focus on the woman’s buttocks, midriff, and legs. Society is still dominated by men who control what people see. As a result women are increasingly portrayed as sex symbols as a way for a media company to turn

Maya NinoDrucker English 5 11 November 2014Prompt #1Effects of Advertising on WomenAdvertisements of today are overwhelmingly sexual with undertones of hostility and degradation towards women. It does not matter whether the advertisement is directed at men or women, boys or girls. It may be overt or it may be subtle, but there seems to always be an underlying theme of pervasive sexuality and enmity. The mental, emotional, and social impact ofthese advertisements may be adversely affecting our young girls and women of today. The effects of advertising have gone beyond persuading women to just buy products. “These media messages link thinness with love and happiness, often solely in terms of having the right body to attract the opposite sex” (Hesse-Biber 770). Women and girls of all ages are buying into an idea that is detrimental to their self worth, personal identity, and physical and mental health. Women would not be buying into these ideas if it were not for the men perpetuating them and forcing these stereotypes and unrealistic ideals onto women. Females in our society are gleaning idealistic and harmful aspirations from the advertisements that are bombarding our media-based culture; however, the teaching of media literacy through education may help to raise awareness in order to diminish the damaging effects on the women and girls of today.Results of a study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggest, “that watching even 30 minutes’ worth of

Back in 2009, Reebok launched an advertisement for tennis shoes that focused in on the model’s buttocks. The slogan, “ Nice booty, great soles.” An example of how advertisers often use sexuality and the “appeal of physical attractiveness to sell products”. Young girls see that, take in the model’s physique and want their own skin, legs, and butt to look exactly the way it does in the picture. ( Fox, 1996) In a survey taken by a popular teenage magazine, “27% of girls believed that media pressured them to have a perfect body” (October, 1999). “A poll was taken in 1996 by the international ad agency, Saatchi and Saatchi,showing that ads made women fear being unattractive or old” (Peacock M, 1998). It has been suggested that media can severely impact a woman 's opinion on her body, which can lead to unhealthy desicions as women and girls try to reach this unrealistic goal for the extremely thin body idealized by the media.