...The responses to the survey were anonymous and conclude that most peers in my school have viewed their own body in a negative way at least once in their lives. However, people who answered yes to viewing their bodies negatively, explained why they had that answer. A good response that was given included,” Partially, the media pushes unrealistic beauty goals(I.e. Airbrushing, plastic surgery.) Before I realized these body types weren’t natural I strived for them, developing unhealthy eating habits. Today I’m healthier, and understand that there is no “perfect” body type, everyone’s got their own definition of perfect” (Anonymous). This shows how some people are willing to look past on having the ideal “perfect” body that the media gives out to our society. As a overall response that I got after conducting the survey, was that most of the people has viewed their own body image in a negative way at least once. Also, some people said they have viewed other people’s body image in a negative way. Both of these were influenced by the use of...
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...worked with marble and bronze, some statues were made larger than life, the 1.5 metre long hand saved from the bronze statue of Constantine 1, created in the 4th century BCE gives an indication of the magnitude of some of the works (Cartwright, 2013). It seems to me that having these gigantic god like sculptures staring down on you would be very intimidating, it’s as if the sculpture was bringing them to life. In addition the Romans also highly respected their deceased loved ones and it was customary to have lifelike statues made of them. In contrast to Greek sculptures, the Romans aspired to achieve a natural depiction of their deceased, this included the person’s defects, which in today’s age of photoshop and airbrushing seems unimaginable to me that a society actually embraced the “real” outlook of a person. Statues were a way of paying homage to the deceased and keeping their memory alive (Burgan, 2005, p. 96). The final way sculpture was expressed was in the intricate frescoes that lined the walls of great buildings, columns and arches. The images on the frescoes told the tales of great battles, a fine example is “Trajan’s Column”, a 35 metre high column that contains more than 2,000 in 155 scenes created to commemorate the Dacian war victories (Curry, n.d). In my view it is similar to how artists portray events in murals. Paintings Painted frescoes were used on the inside of houses, a form of decoration, or ancient equivalent to wallpaper I think. Colourful illustrations...
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...TRUE BEAUTY COMES FROM WITHIN “YOU ARE NOT GORGEOUS - IF YOU ARE NOT BEAUTIFUL” BY UJJWAL MALIK Societal pressures exist all around us especially in the form of mass media and social media. This has increased the scope for exploitation, in particular by the firms of the fashion industry in influencing people to make inappropriate decisions. I believe that there exists an ardent desire and a simultaneous pressure on individuals so as to undertake thoroughgoing measures such as undergoing cosmetic surgery or extreme dieting. The fervent aspiration to stay combative and zealous in the workforce or merely better their appearance so as to feel good about themselves and look appealing to their companion leads to an upsurge in actions which trigger this ongoing cultural phenomena. Selfie had been titled “Word of the year 2013” as its usage had incremented up to 17000 percent in that very year. The contemporary superficial world where people become self-critical of their appearances on social platforms is the major reason behind such a phenomena. Most of the content uploaded on the social platforms is image based content, thereby literally compelling individuals to embrace a magnifying glass up to the image of their own and gaze at them with an extremely self-condemning eye. According to a recently conducted study, it was observed that 33.33% physicians in the plastic surgery industry noticed an escalation in those patients who wanted facial surgeries...
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...Perfection Is real beauty skin deep? Looking at your reflection, what do you see? Do you think you’re beautiful? There is no greater challenge to a woman than to feel good about herself. Atypically, there are more things to help us in the struggle-technologically raped, plagued with images of flawless, stick-thin size zero women who appear to defuse perfection from the very pores of their untarnished skin. Drastic medical procedures such as elective cosmetic surgery. But still, many people in our society feel unattractive and unworthy. Attractiveness is one thing that everyone craves for but can the definition of perfect be argued? The mind of today’s society conforms painstakingly to the idealist doctrine of the perfect body image; portrayed extensively by the media the media should not have this control over what beauty is. How can one say what beauty is? Aesthetic appreciation differs from an individual’s opinion to cultural preferences. One may be fascinated by a certain eye color or skin color, beauty doesn’t depreciate if one is skinny or tall or in contrast, short and fat. The media’s influence on women talking among themselves is like listening to a bombardment of groans, whines and complaints about their appearance. Observing a women eat is to watch them pick perspicaciously through food, confronting a mental battle against calorie and fat inhibitions. women have crumpled into the furthest corners of their minds during their perpetual fantasies of looking...
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...Media suggests that women should be portrayed as objects of beauty, leisure, sex and nurture. In my opinion it is apparent that media shapes society and gives woman unrealistic goals for what they feel they should look like. This in turn, ruins their self-worth and self-esteem. Some experts say that media mirrors culture, while others say the media shapes culture (Luttrell). I strongly believe that advertising dehumanizes woman, destroys self-esteem and distorts the view of woman in society. First of all, the way ads portray women is very dangerous. It’s not only dangerous to women, but it’s also dangerous to all of society. Women in ads are seen as flawless and perfectly beautiful. The only problem is, this beauty cannot be achieved....
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...As a child we always have these big dreams that we can save the world by becoming doctors or lawyers. Some of us even think that being a firefighter or police officer can save the society we live in today as well. But what would the world be without the entertainers we see and admire on television? In the present day the people in media are influencing us more than the teachers and elders in our neighborhoods. One entertainer that I look up to is Zoe Saldana. Although, her career in entertainment has just recently begun she has impacted film and society in a positive manner through her ability to play strong female lead roles that challenge how we view female sexuality and which helps transcend Hollywood’s perspective of race and ethnicity. Her career started quite spontaneously. She was born in New Jersey but moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of nine after the death of her father. There she took interest in dance and was enrolled in a prestigious dance academy. She came back to the United States at the age of seventeen, where she was discovered by a talent agency after performing around town with Faces Theater Troupe, a theater troupe which focused on keeping teens out of the streets and trouble. Her dance ability and acting experience expedited her to land her first role in the movie Center Stage. Since Center Stage her career has taken off. In a 2003 interview Saldana was asked why she passed over the topic of race in her past interviews. She replied, “Because ethnic...
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...I Am Not Fat! Magazines at the grocery store, commercials on TV and movies playing at local theaters, all of these forms of entertainment seem to be harmless outlets of creativity. Yet these very forms of media affect women all over the world and tell them what they should physically look like to be deemed as beautiful in society. One may not believe that the media is up to such a terrible act, but subconsciously women believe what the media portrays as beautiful. Today’s pop culture demonstrates the impact of self-image and the effect it has on society and the way the society should look. Ads and pop culture enforce a negative outlook on the body image, which affects young women throughout the society. There are many aspects of today’s society that effect women within this pop culture and the way they have started to look at their bodies and see themselves as below average because they are not measuring up to the standards of society. In all reality, media and advertisement must know the effects it has on the young women and their body image in the world, but choose to ignore the fact because of the success that has sky rocketed in the past years. Not many people can ignore the media and find themselves beautiful no matter what features they have, but the ones who do such things are confident and strong while growing up in this tough and harsh world. Ads within television, magazines, newspapers, etc. all have some direct correlation to the media having an effect on the body...
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...Stereotypes/Expectations of Women? A regular American is exposed to over 3,000 ads every single day and will spend two years of his or her life watching television commercials. These commercials have the will to show food, cloths, beverages and the most important: beauty items in the most perfect way. These adverts show beautiful and flawless women exposing not only their desirable bodies and faces but also, their ideologies. Every time regular TV viewer watches television, magazines and even newspapers he is constantly in contact with this a massive and wild environment that has a clear effect in society. Sometimes the audiences do not realize the significance and the...
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...‘one of the most influential artists ever’. This one man has inspired thousands of musicians and has set the standard for indie music, worldwide. In this case, Morrissey’s celebrity status has made a positive impact on his fan-base, even though his private life might not be so admirable, he has been awarded elitism from the masses because of his musical skills. This is refreshing, especially in todays world where a celebrity, according to Wikipedia is ‘someone who is easily recognised in a society or culture’, they may be famous for 15 minutes or a lifetime, for an achievement or through pure infamy and be positive or negative, to name just a few. The stark contrasts between each of these groups connotes that a celebrity is hard to explain. And do they even need explaining? Not in the post-modern era were living in today; they’re quite simply just another part of society, at least in my opinion. Richard Dyer documented that ‘stars articulate what it is to be human in contemporary society’ and this seems so in the case of fan-culture and star worship my peer group are subconsciously members off. Rimmel’s young, experimental female 16-24 year old target market is me. Their marketing strategies have been effective in that I have bought and continue to buy their make-up products because they are up-to-the-minute, cheap and accessible. Or is it just plain consumerism at its best? The ‘equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material...
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...ethnography and social networking analysis to critically examine and analyze the focus groups at hand. Social networking sites are an important aspect in the digital world and involve increased networking of existing and compound relations which goes beyond close friends. It is a conglomerate friendship and relations of friends of friends. Technology has made vast and significant changes in social dynamics. It tends to both affect people in the society by either making them comfortable and uncomfortable thus affecting their self-esteem (Meadows, 2003, P. 23). The process of transferring human contact into the world through creating complete, genuine and reliable social inter-connections seems to affect one’s self-esteem. These social groups can be sampled and used as focus groups which can be used as an analysis of behavior for the entire society as a whole. The study is important in addressing the behaviors of participants in a focus group relevant to the overall effect of the digital world relevant to the self-esteem of individuals in the society. The Existing Literature Review Technology, social networking and the increasing reliance of the digital media has an undeniable effect on an individual’s social life. This section of the study reviews how these effects come to be. The study through the use of focus groups found that focus groups are established through mutual trust and intent of communication. This intent may be driven by the need for a sense of belonging to a certain...
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...represent their product is more appealing to the eye and draws in the customer. This is working for them; beauty tends to draw attention of the consumers. Thin, tall, and flawless is what is considered the standard of beauty in today’s society; by this standard, putting these types of models on billboards is logical, since they are trying to appeal to a broad spectrum of consumers. The opposing side...
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...watch rail-thin models strut down the runway, as they eat away the pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Facebook and Twitter had millions of people updating their status about this worldwide-recognized show. Such as, “Not eating for the rest of the week,” “She is not real, how is she so perfect?” or sarcastic comments such as “I’m glad I look exactly like all those Victoria Secret models” (Profitable Objectification). This show is a perfect example of how the media negatively affects our society. Not only does the Victoria Secret Fashion show cause women to question their beauty, but it also instills unrealistic expectations of what women should look like to all the men. The media has a great influence on our view of beauty and has created a false perception of what females should look like. This has made it difficult for anyone that does not fit this ‘ideal’ body to accept themselves the way they are. Celebrities and models have become a representation of the ‘perfect’ body image that our society emulates. The negative affects of media today on our image of beauty are often underestimated; this false perception causes females to feel self conscious and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance. The media has distorted the definition of beauty and the ‘perfect’ body image; which causes women serious health problems concerning their weight. The definition of...
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...Prof. Brown Engl. 101 Research Paper False Image, Real Effect Advertisements do not always present the truth but people can still choose to accept it as truth. Advertisers have always stretched the truth in order to sell a product. Advertisements present everything as an extravagant, over the top, perfect for all, necessity. Throughout time, new techniques for advertisements have developed. Because of technological advancements there are more ways to advertise as well. Before, news and anything good would have been spread through word of mouth. Now, there are voices coming through radio stations telling people what they want and need. Advertisement pictures and videos are constantly being played on the television screens, cellphones and almost any other electronic gadget. Advertisers still manage to stretch the truth, now in more creative ways. Advertisements, especially print, are photo-enhancing and distorting images to create a false image. Photographs of human beings, taken to help sell a product, are now being altered and becoming the product. There are many studies that have been conducted on the effects of these altered images, however a majority of these studies revolve around the female body. Targeting men with other men on advertisements is something that has spread widely and effected men's body image. Advertisements give a false image of how men and women should look; these advertisements need to reduce or label the level of retouching or possibly stop retouching...
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...Has there really been any difference between wartime propaganda and peacetime advertising or politics? 2500 words. Introduction Propaganda is an art requiring special talent. It is not mechanical, scientific work. Influencing attitudes requires experience, area knowledge, and instinctive “judgment of what is the best argument for the audience”. No manual can guide the propagandist. He must have a good mind, genius, sensitivity and knowledge of how that audience thinks and reacts From this we can consider that propaganda is not something based solely on warfare or politics or advertising. The use of propaganda is virulent in peaceful societies not at war by virtue of bombarding the general public with advertising (Newspaper/Magazines/Radio/TV/Internet) for goods and services, political canvassing and promotional material (to channel social development and public opinion, to mold the population into following the the ideals of conflicting political ideologies). Does this contrast with the use of propaganda in wartime? The objective is obviously the same – to get the general populace to accept what the propaganda states and take appropriate action i.e. buy goods, vote for a party or support the war effort. Advertising and political propaganda continue to take place during the periods of War propaganda although the reverse is not generally true (or is reduced to recruitment advertising and maintaining armed deterrents). The method of delivery of the propaganda...
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...Photo Manipulation in the Media A Senior Project presented to the Faculty of the Graphic Communication Department California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science by Stephanie Coffaney December 2011 © 2011 Stephanie Coffaney Table of Contents Abstract Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Appendix Works Cited 3 4 6 12 14 20 22 35 2 Abstract In today’s society there are photos everywhere; they are in magazines, advertisements, newspapers, and books because photos make the text or the story stand out. Some may not know it, but most of these photos have been edited and retouched. This research paper attempted to determine the majority opinion of what types of photo editing was above the tolerable limit, as well as the public awareness of media manipulation. The different levels of photo editing included changing the contrast, removal of blemishes and dust, addition/removal of objects, and addition/removal of main subjects. The results revealed that most people are aware of photoshopping in the media and they suspected there was more photo editing in magazines and advertisements than newspapers. 3 Chapter 1 In every publication there are most likely photos accompanying articles, advertisements, or exist as an article by themselves. Pictures help support an article, promote a product, tell a story, and bring the viewer in. Nowadays there are an abundance...
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