Mass Media’s Influence on Gender Roles and Body Image

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Mass Media’s Influence on Gender Roles and Body Image Socialization is “the life long process in which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular culture”. It is the journey we are all on until we die where we learn what is acceptable and what is not. These agents of socialization are the different social forces that influence our lives and alter our self-images. There are many agents of socialization I have been exposed to over the course of my life including my family, peers, school, and increasingly, mass media and technology. As a young woman I’ve come to realize that MASS media plays a MASS role in how women and girls come to see ourselves and how we fit into society. Mass media reinforces our patriarchal society and socializes women to believe they need to look a certain way and act a certain way to not only fit in, but to achieve male attention. This idea of mass media is defined in the textbook as “print and electronic means of communication to widespread audiences”. This is television shows, movies, books, social networking sites like Twitter, and even the music we listen to and the videos that accompany the songs. These messages are reaching massive amounts of people throughout America and the world. We are exposed to the media influence starting at a very young age. The agents of socialization start working on us the moment we exit the womb though we don’t consciously remember the early stuff. Our parents dress us in either blue or pink, depending on if we are a boy or a girl. From that moment on, certain gender roles are presented to us. These roles are expectations in regards to the proper attitudes, behaviors, and activities of males and females (Sociology in Modules). As a little girl, I remember watching Disney movies. That is first bit of media I remember consciously. Disney movies are some of

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