Early adolescence is when young women need to learn to deconstruct the beauty myth.(Sheridan, 2001) How are young women as well as young men supposed to do this when they are bombarded by the media telling them how to live the perfect life?
Young women and men are being influenced by the media everyday of their lives. They see thin, beautiful people succeeding in the shows they watch, the songs they listen to, and sell the products they want to buy. These young men and women strive for this perfectness that is created specifically to sell. In their efforts to become what they are told is perfect they may develop mental health issues such as eating disorders.
In 2005, more than 500,000 Canadians suffered from some sort of eating disorder.("Eating disorder statistics," ) This is a shocking, yet somewhat understandable statistic because of the pressure that the media creates. Every second commercial on t.v. seems to be one about some kind of new diet out there and other commercials are accentuating how beauty equals power in life. What the women and men affected by these disorders need help realizing is that these ideals are not the norm.
In some ways the media is oppressive and something needs to be done in order to liberate these individuals from feeling the need to conform. The liberal feminist remedy for gender inequality is to reform (not transform) social institutions. (Mullally, 2007) Even though the media affects both women and men there is an emphasis on what is suppose to be the norm for women.
Gender inequality in the media appears in a significant number of ads, t.v. shows, etc. and it would be beneficial to reform the way it is presented. A radical change in the way media is made would not be a realistic goal. Sometimes the audience wants to see amazingly unattainable beauty but incorporating all different types of people would be a big step.
Alexis B.
References:
Eating disorder statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hopewell.ca/content/canadian-statistics
Mullaly, B. (2007). The new structural social work. Canada: Oxford University Press.
Sheridan, N. (2001). Beyond ophelia: feminism for girls. Canadian Woman Studies, 20. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdweb?did=000000646362421&Fmt=3&cli entId=43168&RQT=309&VName=PQD
I thought it was pretty shocking that in 2005 500,000 people have suffered from some kind of eating disorder. I believe the media needs to change the view on outer beauty; and focus more on inner beauty in shows, commercials etc. It should focus more on women’s and men’s power, capabilities and interest’s rather then someone’s outer appearance. If we get to the source it may become easier to treat and limit the amount of people affected by eating disorders specifically in culture where media plays such a large role.
ReplyDeleteAutumn B.
This is a very interesting post Alexis! The media does need to broadcast a more well-rounded representation of what society truly consists of. On the show America's Next Top Model, they decided to incorporate plus size models into the competetion. It shocked me to see the women who were considered to be "plus size" on this show. They appeared to be average, healthy sized young women. I think this is a negative portrayal of what it is to be plus sized, because these women appeared to actually be average. I think this would have a very negative impact on the self-esteem of young women who were actually larger in stature.
ReplyDelete-Eliza R.
This is such an interesting post. It blows my mind the statistic you incorporated. I can't believe 500 000 people in our country can all be so insecure with themselves due to the media. This makes me so sad. However, I must admit that I too was an insecure pre-teen/teen due to what the media portrayed as beautiful. But as I grew up and matured, I came to realize that there are many kinds of beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the media as a whole should consider what they put people, especially young girls through. There are ways to minimize insecurities such as what the previous comment stated, adding more plus sized people to television, even though these plus-sized people are only healthy, and realistically sized women. I believe there needs to be much more of this done on television and in magazines and so on.
There are all sorts of people out there with all kinds of shapes and sizes. None of these are right or wrong. The media needs to recognize all types of people and stop making people feel so insecure that they feel they need to go to the extreme of an eating disorder.
-Marina R
500,000 people! wow, thats shocking. People always think being skinny will make you happy, and it may boost your self confidence and help if you do it the right way, but eating disorders are just cheating and the media is such a big influence and actually eating disorders can result in death and less confidence.
ReplyDelete-Allery
There are som eproduct lines that are doing advertising that helps to promote healthy body images and multiculturalism in teh beauty industry such as the Body Shop and Dove. I've seen a few commercials that shows how Dove is doing work shops with young women to promote better self-esteem about bodies. It might just a PR campaign but hopefully it will have some positive outcomes for the girls who attend these workshops.
ReplyDeleteRachel Ryan-Dorn
Hearing that that many people in 2005 had eating disorders makes me sick. The media definitely needs to change their approach to advertising. These diet pills need to start informing people that a pill alone won't make them lose weight and that they need to eat healthy and exercise as well. They also don't realize that losing weight for some people is near impossible.
ReplyDeleteBrittney M
Interesting post. Every time I watch something on television that is shown as "beautiful" and products that are advertised and are known to make you "beautiful" can really make someone believe that. Just because it is said on television, that is how you must look, and that is what you should be doing. It is so implanted into our heads that it is changing our lives and so many people out there are even taking away their own lives because of the media and the stress to look perfect. I believe that the media has a HUGE role to play in gender equality. It is unfair for people who don't want to look "perfect" but society is drilling it into our heads about how we should be. Even children are imitating the media. This topic is very concerning. Great post to write about.
ReplyDelete- Angelene