1/14/16:
Do you see evidence around you of this getting better or worse?
I would say the evidence suggests this matter is getting worse. The media message is that the best thing a women can be is pretty is getting worse. Kids are getting pressured into this idea of perfect beauty at younger and younger ages. The media people consume is only rising in levels as time goes on. We now can view these kinds of media messages 24/7 no matter where we are. We go to school and we have little phones in our pockets that we can take out and look at to see all of these messages. We can go home in get on the computer to be bombarded with these advertisements and videos telling us that we are “things.” We go to watch TV and yet again we are bombarded with commercials. All of this is advanced technology that is only continuing to grow and take up more and more of our attention. It is an advertiser dream. Everyone has their attention on some sort of technology so it is easy to reach the masses.
Another very important aspect to this growing is the amount of advertising there is. We have this giant blob of information being thrown at us. Advertisers are having to try harder and harder to stand out and capture our attention. This may mean making the negative messages being implied to girls even worse and more extreme. With all this being said and the power media has over us there is two sides to this question.
We are beginning to see more and more females take leadership roles in our society. Some people are slowly beginning to realize the effect of media. In doing so they have the power to rise above it. We have Hilary Clinton running for president and doing so with quite a large amount of determination. Win or lose that shows girls who are aspiring to be presidents one day that it may be possible. The less we confine ourselves to the preset standards given to us the more potential we have to make a great difference in the world. In order for young girls to aspire to be something amazing they hold get the privilege of seeing strong powerful women. They should be able to see women who aren’t respected because they are pretty but for everything else about them. We have the potential to make that change and we can take the lead against these stereotypical media messages.
I agree with you in this post. I love how you connected the fact of how we are exposed to the media with Tv, phones, and computers; that is something I haven't see yet and really makes me see how much the media is around us 24/7. Also I like your points about how kids at a younger age are feeling more pressure to be the image of pretty and perfect, I talked about this in my post and how it is almost like they are setting a standard for all of the views to compare themselves too and other women too. This power that the media is carrying over us really does affect the girls and women negatively; but your example of Hilary Clinton is a good example of what the film called role models for the girl. As we see more strong women around us standing up it lets other girls that is ok and its possible. Great post, very well done. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying as far as the influence of media goes, but I have to disagree when it comes to optimism versus pessimism in this scenario. I wrote in my post about how I think that while things are pretty bad now, there is a major oppurtunity for them to improve. In my post, I talked about how the overall social consciousness in the direction of gender issues and equality is being raised, and I think that this can definitely contribute to the breaking down of stereotypes and standards.
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