Beauty as a Cultural Value

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Beauty as a Cultural Value BSHS 361 Beauty as a Cultural Value Children spend more time with media than any other activity, except for sleeping (Children Now, 2012). Media messages in American culture drench children with the perception that beauty is a cultural value. With arms stretched out via television programs that are relentlessly accessible at the fingertips of children through glamourized devices, such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers; the media controls the pulse of the country and the minds and development of children. It is undeniable that media has become a dominant force that influences a child’s perception of what beauty is and the perception of the importance of beauty in the civilized world. Television programs and advertising that conditions children to see beauty as a cultural value has negative consequences. Children in the stage of middle childhood (ages 6-11) are at high risk of developing negative self-image problems, eating disorders, a fear of self-expression, and unpractical views of what is considered beautiful from the mass amounts of harmful media exposure. Self-Image Self-image is the way a person perceives him or herself to be, how he or she feels about him or herself on the inside and on the outside. Lev Vigotsky was a Russian psychologist whose research founded the Sociocultural Developmental theory, which encompasses how the environment and society has a huge role to play in the cognitive development of children. Vigotsky went on to discuss his findings on how society influences a child’s perception on what is acceptable or “the norm.” The child’s environment, including family, friends, peers, and the media have the power to either nurture or destroy a child’s perception of himself or herself by merely implying anything

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