Clearly the way to get beautiful women is to ignore them, perhaps mistreat them" (272). The ad Kilbounre is describing is similar to the picture in the Bebe ad, and she is trying to make women see just how degrading these images are. The woman in the Bebe ad is very desperately attempting to get the man's attention by leaning on him and focusing her attention on him, but he doesn't seem interested. The image is posed like that to show superiority and power that men supposedly have over women. This teaches women that they need to constantly dote on the man, whether he pays attention or not.
Confronted with these images, the reader is encouraged to sympathise with the author’s contention. Many of these unrealistic images are also the driving force behind the increasing demand to see realistic images of young women in the media. Stark’s contention is strengthened by anecdotes from affected girls, attempting to recreate the ‘perfect body’ on themselves, who constantly obsess with these glossy magazines. Including Erin Young’s story of her ‘own struggle with body image’, that almost led to anorexia, plays a big part in encouraging the reader to side with Stark’s opinion. These stories assist the reader in understanding the serious widespread nature of the issue.
Advertising is one of the most compelling messengers in a culture that can influence an adolescent. In the article by Kilbourne, she starts out by making a great point. She says, “ Adolescents are new and inexperienced customers- and such prime targets.” I agree with her statement because in many movies, magazines, and television shows targeted towards teenaged viewers, the “ideal” body type is constantly portrayed. I’ve noticed that in many cases, it’s the main character whom everyone envies because of her beauty. In magazines, the “ideal” body type is always on the cover so teens wont be able to miss it.
Women athletes have made huge strides since Title IX but there is still room for improvement. The media coverage of female athletes needs to change for all the young girls who look up to these female athletes as role models and the mass media needs to take a more active role and cover male and female sports equally. (Will Anything Change, http://femaleathletes.wordpress.com/, May 5, 2008) The text was directed mostly toward women athlete community, while speaking to any woman who has had experience with the culture of the athlete community also; targeting male and female to understand the discriminating
This ad is completely demoralizing towards women. It portrays this woman as just a sex object to the consumer, which supports Jean Kilbourne’s ideas of dehumanizing women. This is a horrible ad to publish because normal women are going to see this ad and think that they have to behave and act like that because that’s when men want. The Tom Ford brand may have gotten attention with this tactic, but he also alienated a lot of the public who thought the ads were
Because magazine has news in them about what is new, what is old, what is in, and what is out. The magazines shows everything about fashion; clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry. What you wear is a part of your appearance. When young Americans look into a magazine and see what is being worn, the want the same thing because it is shown in the magazine. In addition, models has the biggest effect on young americans especially young girls.
“Thin” is the norm that has become all too common. Magazines such as maxim, playboy, and numerous others all depict models that have undergone extensive reconstruction. This view of women to please men is tormenting the females in their teens and twenty’s causing them to subject their body’s to numerous cosmetic procedures in the form of; face-lifts, tummy tucks, liposuction, breast augmentation (Very common), lip implants, Botox injections, and rhinoplasty (nose reconstruction). Television reinforces the exact same image through films and serials. Although both men and women undergo aesthetic surgery, the media effects on women are more significant.
Modeling along with social media give girls the impression that they have to fit this idealized image to look thin and be beautiful, dress up nicely, and wear makeup or they will not be happy with themselves. The pressure to look a certain way has psychological effects on young girls. Changing the way they dress or eat changes and influences their identity. Unfortunately, womanizing photographers exist in the modeling industry; young girls are scared to speak up if their uncomfortable with how everything is going. No matter what their age may be,
A research by Taylor and Francis (2000) establishes that young men seeing such advertisements start viewing women as a means to vent out their sexual aggression leading to rapes and more gender role stereotyping. All these outcomes emphasize the need for raising awareness about the unintended effects on the audiences these advertisements are targeted to. While groups like Advertising Women of New York, GraceNet, and the National Organization of Women have been outspoken and ridiculed use of such ads, research shows a lot more needs to be done. An interesting idea that this knocks on is that if advertisers capitalize on what sells, are these views of showcasing women as sex objects actually a mirror of what the society believes? Does sex in ads principly enhance or hinder advertising processing?
Many Americans are influenced to take a stand on controversial topics such as homosexual relationships, and the consistent but yet discreet degrading of women because of what they see in the media. The average American is constantly subjected to mass media influence. The media is a very powerful tool that contributes to sculpting the American society. Throughout traditional American culture, heterosexual relationships are what are accepted as the societal norm. It was not until the latter half of the 20th century that gays and lesbians started to assimilate into society.