Media: Influence To Empower Or Break Down Essay

Media: Influence to Empower or Break Down
In today’s society an unlikely movie scenario would portray a woman who is a size 14 and doesn’t have perfectly clear skin, a toned body or perfect hair. In this film there are countless “hotties” vying for her heart and she bags the hunkiest stud of them all. Viewers are left wondering if the casting director was crazy for choosing such a woman to play this part because movies like this just don’t exist. All the eligible bachelors are always after the girl who is a twelve on a scale of ten. It isn’t just the film industry that functions this way; movies, magazines, celebrities, commercials, the internet, television and diet/exercise advertisements emphasize a high and often unattainable standard of beauty and physical fitness. Women are surrounded by these forms of media, and some believe that in order to be the right size and look the right way they must stop at nothing to achieve it. Despite the previously described standard that the media creates, more recent campaigns have been made to use all kinds of women and advertise to promote high self-esteem. While the impact that the media has on the self-esteem of women is generally negative, it can impact women positively as well, though these efforts have not yet undone the standard of beauty that the media has emphasized to the public.
How exactly does the media portray women? The easiest way to answer this question is to take a look at how the media depicts success and beauty in regards to women. Some of the most successful women in the celebrity world are known for one thing: their bodies. “Female empowerment, as portrayed in the media, is achieved through sexuality” (Generation M: misogyny in media & culture 62). For example, at the MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna and Britney Spears locked lips in what was considered more than “a peck on the cheek”. They are both successful entertainers. Yes, they both sing, but would they be so popular if they were not so...