"Do" Judge a Book by its Cover

Image result for body positivity
The cosmetics, fashion, and beauty industries in the United States are all wildly successful, Why? The media teaches our society to compare all women based on their looks. Young girls grow up believing that if they are not obviously pretty, they won't find love. The "Miss Representation" documentary informed me of the manipulation the marketing and entertainment industries in the United States use to profit. They teach women that their appearance is far more valued over their intellect, and imply that it is their duty to make themselves maximally attractive to men. In today's digital age, children make up a large portion of media's audience, but also happen to be the most vulnerable generation. Teens alone spend on average 65 hours a week consuming media, including watching T.V. and movies, listening to music, reading magazines, and going online. The media portrays women as sex objects and stories about them usually involve their quest to get a man. As a result, young women tend to scrutinize their physical features and develop many insecurities because they are taught that how attractive they are in the only thing that matters. Women are convinced to spend time and money on cosmetics and procedures to fix their self-proclaimed flaws. This is reflected in 53% of 15 year olds and 78% of 17 year old being unhappy with their body. The media also fails to show women as complex beings with captivating intelligence and aspirations. This is making the female population not focus on their own intelligence and aspirations, because they often seek to what they see on the screen as role models. Rather than being an instrument of change, the media is also making this problem in our society more massive. Consumers must use their powerful voices to stop the marking and entertainment industries from pushing the same sexist stereotype, so that our media can evoke priorities in human character.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 11, 2018 at 7:41 PM

    I hate how the media portrays women but I also hate the fact that this actually has such a huge effect on the lives of young girls. I understand the media will always influence us but I just don't understand how we are supposed to stop that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 11, 2018 at 8:23 PM

    I think that media is a very large influence in the lives of teens and shapes how they view themselves and how they act toward others. The media has definitely been doing a very bad job of showing teens more than just a pretty face or some other stereotype. However do you see this trend in media changing in the future, are they already beginning to show women and other people as more than just their stereotype?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sophie SteeleJanuary 15, 2018 at 4:29 PM

    I completely agree with everything that you have stated above. I extremely dislike how the media uses its young viewers to relay its harsh and awful stereotypes. There needs to be a stand against what the media portrays but while taking this stand we will inevitably be influenced by those around us who still rely on the media, so when will this ever truly come to an end?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lauren MorrisJanuary 15, 2018 at 8:04 PM

    Before learning about advertising you would think companies would build up people to buy their products, rather they have distroyed and told us we weren't good enough.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Southern California Wildfires

Image
Southern California is currently being scorched by 225,000 acres of fire fueled by the Santa Ana winds. 9,000 firefighters are busy combating the blazes that have already consumed 800 structures. The ongoing blazes threaten 25,000 homes, and 98,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, according to Cal Fire. Upcoming harsh weather this week could increase the size of the 5 fires. The Thomas Fire (the largest one) spans 200,000 acres across the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and containment could possibly drop below 15% overnight. Firefighters are also actively containing the Lilac Fire in San Diego County and the Creek and Rye fires in Los Angeles County. Along with the massive fire in Northern California's wine country in October, officials warn that fighting fires has become a year round struggle. Global Warming is exacerbating these wildfires, contributing to the "new normal" that is lives, property, wildlife, and billions of dollars in infrastructure being los
Read more

College Volleyball Championship

Image
The semifinals and finals of the  NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship  took place this week with the University of Nebraska emerging as the victor. Thursday nights' games eliminated Stanford and Penn State. The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Florida Gators battled it out Saturday night in a 4-set match. Nebraska boasts the two co-Most Outstanding Players of the Final Four, setter Kelly Hunter and outside hitter Mikaela Foecke, while Florida had the second-best hitting percentage in the country. No. 5 Nebraska was definitely the underdog in the match, being pitted against No. 2 Florida. The first set was very close, the score at 25-22 with Nebraska in the lead. The Cornhuskers dominated the second set, leading the Gators by 8 points. Florida, determined not to lose in a sweep, rallied to win the third set 18-25. However, they struggled in the fourth set as Nebraska edged them out 25-16. This glorious championship makes for Nebraska's second in three years, the fourth
Read more

Times Up

Image
2017 ended with the #MeToo movement of women coming forward with the sexual harassment and abuse they suffered now that their aggressors were no longer safe under the blanket or bigotry. The Times Up initiative has been gaining fuel recently from the support and advocacy of over 300 women in entertainment. The legal defense fund is calling for an end to inequality in the workplaces, from wages to working conditions. Times Up provides subsidized legal support to victims of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse, which has been the dark truth of our society for too many decades. Celebrities walking the red carpet at the 75th Golden Globes have chosen to don the color black to show their support of the initiative. Many actors sported Time's Up pins, which the New York Times called "the political accessory at the Golden Globes". Ordinary citizens in support of the prevalent cause are also taking to social media to share their black outfits with #whywewearblack. In the era of T
Read more