Media Influences

When we as individuals contract the desire to learn more about current events and the condition of the world it is further natural that we turn our focus towards the mediums that broadcast the information in which we ar seeking. These information quotations can be televisions, newspapers, magazines, and/or the more or less recent technological pheno custodyon, known as the internet. As of late, devices such as the television have been proven to be much more than yet an amuse custodyt for legion(predicate) Americans.With aw arness of the power that television possesses, it has arguably become a stipulation that the content broadcasted through a television besides possesses great put to work. The media is decorous an ever more powerful force in shaping the worlds lore of it egotism. An individuals struggle to develop, and maintain a unique identity and self-understanding apart from medias influence is steadily becoming increasingly difficult for the youths of today.When t he people of the world bear the many another(prenominal) manifestations of the media they think they are simply viewing reality, exactly in actuality, the media often proves itself it to be the sole instigator of stereotypes, as well as the former of adverse social problems that often plague our society. Personally, I believe in stage to eliminate the stereotypes that the media generates the public must have a heightened awareness of both the existence of as well as the dominance damage caused by these unrealistic and/or stereotypical images and messages we are bombarded with daily.Unfortunately, and just as it was discussed in the Killing Us Softly video, these detrimental messages are difficult to fight and to even identify effectively because of the ways in which they are whole close toly or harmlessly presented via advertising. Overwhelming amounts of time and specie are devoted to raising a small, specially selected portion of the nation as models of animal(prenominal ) perfection and Killing Us Softly creator Jean Kilbourne exclaims, These corpse types practically do not exist For the about part, the types of people we see in the media are television and movie celebrities, means models, and sports figures. It is one social function to be acknowledged for ones achievements, entirely the issue lies in that the glamorous ways in which these occupations are represent by the media are seemingly impossible to separate from the sensual bearing of the people who hold them.The glamour that surrounds the media insertion of the lives and careers of these individuals extends, not surprisingly, to the clothes that they behave and the way that they look. One example solidifying this would be the fact that many celebrities, like Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton, create their own clothing and perfume ware lines, and both are prospering due to the constant bombardment of self improvement that television urges teenagers to make.In fact, so much attenti on is given to eminence appearances that entire television programs are devoted to little else but ocular exploitation of celebrity clothing, and their tangible products of their latest fad workouts so we too, as common folk can also aspire to be the hazardously come upny, 62, 97 pound beauty with the flawless skin and natural stage presenceachieving such characteristics is no sweat, right?The media presentation of the celebrity body has a single unifying image, regardless of the special(prenominal) job title of a given celebrity. It can be argued that, because the media portrays celebrities bodies as attractive, desirable, and good, they become national symbols of these characteristics. On the contrary, bodies that do not meet this marvelous goal frequently are, consciously or unconsciously, regarded as bad or ugly. Consider the successfully popular advertising campaign used by Subway, the national fast food sandwich chain. Jared, the star of the recent outlet of television commercials, supposedly lost hundreds of pounds while on a pabulum consisting mainly of the chains sandwiches. Jareds before pictures show him considerably larger than his current size, but they also show him alone, with no friends or family. In stark contrast, however, his aft(prenominal) action shots consistently show him not only thinner, but also constantly in the presence of a beautiful woman. Although this is not endlessly the case,) the advertising message here is clear and simple universe elaborate/not part of the 1% of the population that most models bodies fall into is considered to be the equivalent and/or predictor of ones life being bad, ugly, unhappy and lonely while being thin/having no source of natural body fat leaves one happy and with attractive partner. done these commercials, Jared has assumed celebrity status, solely on the basis that his body has changed to jumpy more fast to the current standard of what the media considers to be attractive.In truth, there is a huge difference between the male and female body types laud in the media and those of the public at large. For women, desirable physical characteristics (as they are visualised in the media) include being thin, long-legged, slim-hipped, and large-breasted. In addition, the media-portrayed desirable physical characteristics for men include being muscular and possessing a full head of hair. duration this has been the normal riddance of a desirable man for decades, in nearly cases this desirable form has also been altered to an extreme (much like the unrealistic physical expectations of women. Just like the counterpart Barbie dolls, G. I Joe has evolved into a extremely influential and popular action figure that displays levels of muscularity far exceeding the outer(prenominal) limits of actual human attainment. Thus, the unrealistic evolution of both Barbie and G. I Joe whitethorn seem insignificant, but in truth it reflects an ever changing and demanding projection of the human body that has been fabricated by none other than, the view media.In the gap between what is absolutely beautiful in the eyes of the media and the physical reality of the popular majority, it seems as though nearly everyone, at some point in his or her life attempts to alter him- or herself in a physical way, in order to conform more closely to the marketed norm of attractiveness and desirability. Television, magazines, and newspapers are filled with advertisements promoting self-loathing attitudes, while offering miracle, and body-altering cures. The body that does not conform to a sexy, sleek stereotype becomes a thing to be hated, improved upon, and generally tortured into submission. Again, in the video we watched, media activist Jean Kilbourne concludes that, Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we analyze and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel aflutter about our weight. Ultimately, the unachievable presentation o f the human body in the media leads to many outlets that can harm/distort the average human beings cognizance of themselves.The changes a person must make in order to become what the media considers to be beautiful leads to many problems such as impoverished eating, including anorexia, bulimia, over-exercising, excessive dieting, and over-anxiety over food (just to name a few. ) While most of the population recovering from disordered eating is still predominately composed of women, the yield of men with disordered and dangerous eating habits as well as distorted body images is reportedly on the rise.In addition to inevitable physical damage, intangible psychological harm results from body image problems to which the media contributes greatly and regularly. The perception that a single, narrow range of body types is acceptable and healthy for men and women is not only in error, but contributes to widespread social discontent. preferably of celebrating the diversity and beauty of the human form, the media stifles our desire to feel comfortable with ourselves.