Free Essay

Impact Print Media and Advertising Has on Standards of Beauty

In:

Submitted By hoosekit
Words 1089
Pages 5
Running head: Impact Print Media Advertising has on Standard on Beauty

Impact print Media Advertising has on Standard of Beauty
Prepared by: Team A Wilbert Bullins, Angela Louis, Alice Moreland, Raegan Phillips, Jennifer Valles
University Of Phoenix
SOC/105
GA09ELEC06
Rochelle Votaw, MA
July 29, 2009

Impact Print Media Advertising has on Standard of Beauty

Since the dawn of time and throughout the years following, society has had a predetermined idea of what the standard of beauty should be. As times have changed, the media has assisted in the evolution of what the standards of beauty are today. In this paper we will take a look at what the media has portrayed the current standards of beauty are in our society. We will also examine print media and how it affects what American popular culture believes beautiful is. We will review the positive and negative aspects in the media inspired, standard of beauty and why Americans would choose to partake in the, sometimes strenuous, process of achieving this status.

Print media is considered to be one of the most powerful tools that have helped shape Popular American Culture today; it sets the trend on what is stylish, acceptable, and what is not. Print media can come in the form of newspaper, billboards, magazines, post cards, books, and brochures, just to name a few. In this day and age, when you look in a fashion magazine, you will observe most of the models and celebrities have very similar traits, such as flawless skin and a nice, thin figure, which is not how the typical American looks.

Print media will usually show an image of what the advertised company believes is suitable for the message they are implying by promoting certain ads. For example, a billboard advertising a gym membership, will typically display a male or female who is already thin and fit. Ads such as these can be either encouraging or discouraging to a consumer that knows for a fact they have a long process ahead of them achieving that look. Even in the advertising of specific nightclub events and social parties, post card-like promo cards are distributed with scantily clad models that are presumed beautiful.

Sir Thomas Overbury1613; “All the carnal beauty of my wife, is but skin deep,”

According to what print media has promoted beauty to be, a person must have an illuminating clear complexion, highlighted cheeks, long full lashes, shiny hair, basically the perfect appearance. In the popular culture from young teens and young adult to adult women, looking like a perfect model affiliates you with the rest of society by comparing their looks and physical characteristics with models premiered in printed ads such as magazines. Magazines racks and newsstands offer a variety of material that targets teenagers and young adults. The young culture has also become a stigma that retail stores cannot ignore. Products featured in the advertisement and the models are intended to appeal and influence the popular culture. Print advertising is known to send strong messages to young teens and young adults by elaborating how the advertised product will enhance the natural beauty and how this effect will give them that self-esteem and confidence. On the other hand, advertising toward adult women usually aims toward achieving the younger look by smoothing away any of the attributes that may give them an older appearance. Acne is the number one fear among young adults and adult women and can be very damaging toward the reflection of their self-esteem. One’s perception of beauty can impact how people feel about themselves and acne plays a huge role in how teens are viewed by their peers.

Why a person would want to alter or change the way they naturally look can have both a negative and positive reason for doing so. Someone achieving a level of comfort within their own conscience, and not someone else’s, is a positive reason for them to utilize the products or ways of living the print media advertises as a way to gain what they portray as beautiful. On the other hand, the same advertisers promote beauty as the most productive way of being accepted into today’s society, ultimately boosting an individual’s self-esteem. Media also subliminally introduces beauty as a form of currency. According to the media, you can achieve all the luxuries of the world by only looking a certain way and using it to gain all the amenities of a luxurious life. However, one of the reasons that could possibly fall in both negative and positive categories is for the purposes of employment. If someone were inspired to have a profession that included a high level of physical activities, they would have to be sure to include what they knew would help them either maintain or achieve a certain level of health, and in some cases, physical appearance in order to reach their goal. The problem is that the many different types of print media can unknowingly cause you to choose a product or method of reaching your goals that does not suit your body type or even your health specifications. On the other hand, achieving employment by way of your appearance can also have a very negative approach to “using what you have to get what you want.” Therefore, most people feel a constant need to conserve the latest and the most youthful looks. Whether a person decides to base their life achievements solely on their good looks or their level of education, popular American culture is believed to enhance a person’s ability to obtain other people’s approval, attention and compliments. However, popular American culture has developed into a superficial force which often ignores beauty, based exclusively on a person’s inner being. There are many ways to improve the way advertisements portray a person’s actual beauty, however most industries have grasped onto the idea that “sex sells.” There are also ethical ways to promote a new product without a negative consequence, which consist of humor and real life changing experiences. Although most advertisements have a negative approach to graving consumer’s attention, like sex, glamour and luxury, there are some advertisements that raise awareness to fight disease such as AIDs, cancer and child autism. Beauty advertisements target women that struggle with low self-esteem; women that believe that outer beauty will attract a worthy partner. However, these women ignore the fact that most men that are attracted to outer beauty more than inner beauty, are shallow, and in most cases struggling with low self-esteem themselves.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Cosmetic War: the Influence of Cosmetic Advertising in Our Society

...Cosmetic War: 
The Influence of Cosmetic Advertising in our Society Advertising has become a massive part of our social environment, and can be seen at large throughout any industrialized society. Nowadays it is virtually impossible to avoid ads while carrying on with your daily life. Our daily dosage comes from television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, and most recently, social media, among others. The average person is exposed to as many as 5,000 advertisements a day, and nearly 10,000,000 in their lifetime (Gustafson). With that said, advertising’s impact in society is so prevalent that if advertisers do not take caution, it can also become easily detrimental. Cosmetic advertising can be held accountable for feeding especially women with unrealistic results and false standards of beauty. The problems with cosmetic advertising and the effect it has mainly on, but not limited to, women are innumerable. Considering the fact that “cosmetics are a major expenditure for many women, with the cosmetics industry grossing around 7 billion dollars a year,” cosmetic advertising is a practice that should be approached with caution, as it affects so many women daily (Thompson). The most simplistic and widely targeted critique of cosmetic advertising comes from the excessive use of photo manipulation in ads, including Photoshop and the use of filters. These tools create unrealistic images of the benefits the product can actually offer, causing women to become more dissatisfied...

Words: 1672 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Farah

...Media psychology seeks to understand how the media and the growing use of technology impacts how people perceive, interpret, respond, and interacts in a media rich world. Media psychologists typically focus on identifying potential benefits and negative consequences of various forms of technology and promote the development of positive media.[1][2][3] This field of psychology investigates the types of psychological impact on humans caused by a wide range of media such as social media, online education, virtual classrooms, entertainment consulting, traditional media interviews, in providing on camera expertise, virtual and augmented reality therapies, consumer products, brand development, marketing, advertising, product placement and game theory. ------------------------------------------------- Academic discipline[edit] Media psychology is a specialized area of psychology that emerged as an academic and professional discipline in response to the expansion of media and technology and the demand for research needed to explain the potential impact on human welfare. Psychology is fundamental to understanding the influence of individuals and groups on the integration of technology in our society.[4] In general, this field attempts to encompass the full range of human experience of media-—including developmental, cognition, and behavioral—using extensive research that contains numerous empirical and qualitative studies.[5] It recognizes the that people are not just passive consumers...

Words: 2220 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Project

...these individuals, specifically celebrities, can be seen most often in younger generations.  As young adults mature, they begin to develop a strong sense of independence.  With this new found self-identity, many adolescents look to media outlets for guidance in establishing social norms and behaviors.              It is extremely evident that media outlets have the power to create meaning. Image advertisements in particular have the power to create a set of frames that perpetuate ideological hegemony. Ideology is a culmination of social beliefs and values that are upheld by members of society.  Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others (Lull, 1995).   Ideological hegemony is a concept that describes an intertwined system of everyday realities that are created by dominant individuals.  As a result, ideological hegemony can often go undetected by common members of society.             For example, ideological hegemony can be detected in image advertisements. Gender stereotypes and dominant norms are often perpetuated in daily advertisements. Clothing advertisers often feature young women and men and exaggerate potential sexual relationships. This could indicate the importance of heterosexuality, and the importance of beauty in our society.  Due to the amount of messages an individual sees on a daily basis, these common stereotypes are not as obvious to the American consumer.   As active consumers, it is our responsibility to challenge the existing...

Words: 1510 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Women in the Media

...in the Media According to Dove Research, The Real Truth about Beauty, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (“Surprising Self Esteem Statistics”). Women in the media are shown as having a body type that is unrealistic and impractical. Although mass media has many negative effects on today’s women, including low self-esteem, an increase in eating disorders and an inaccurate definition of beauty, advertisements and thin models can also serve as role-model and as inspiration. From dolls to Victoria’s Secret models, women are exposed to all types of media images that portray “the thin ideal” from a very early age. Media pressure to be thin can cause individuals to have negative thoughts about their appearance. According to psychologist Tiffanie Domil, “Body image is the way people perceive themselves, and the way they believe others perceive them” (“The Influence of Media Images”). Therefore body image is all about what we see about ourselves, and our opinions of our bodies, even though they opinions may not be exactly true. For example, one woman might think she is overweight when in reality she is perfectly healthy. There have been multiple studies done to connect media to women’s low self-esteem. One example of the effects of media is in Fiji in 1995, when televisions were introduced. Statistics show that after 38 months of being exposed to media, females started to be more conscious about their bodies and even started dieting (“The Media”). 74%...

Words: 1799 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Frued

...MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON BODY IMAGE and its AFFECTS Introduction Body image is a central part of mental and physical well-being, and because the mass media are pervasive communicators of social standards, they greatly influence people’s perception by setting unrealistic standards for what is “normal” for body weight and appearance. Thus, reinforcing people to emulate and believe what they see and hear. There is an extensive amount of studies on the effects of media exposure on body dissatisfaction and the experience of negative thoughts and esteem about one’s body, which is linked to a range of physical and mental health problems, including eating disorders and low self-esteem. Body Image: Self-Esteem and Identity Several individual variables predict or influence the relationship between media exposure and body disturbances. Most of the research has been done with women and girls, for whom the “body perfect” ideal is ultra-thin, and whose media models are typically underweight (Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). To determine whether viewing images of thin models influences how women feel about their bodies, there were many studies done using the social comparison framework, finding that women engage in “upward social comparisons,” comparing themselves to the thin models depicted in the media. When women believe that they do not measure up to the models, they feel more negatively about their own weight and body. For example, Lin and Kulik (2006) found that college...

Words: 1421 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Body

...Our Bodies in the Media In any civilization appearance has a huge impact on the daily lives, of those living in it. Some cultures favor piercings, others strength, some wear clothes, others do not. The contributing factors for how they appear, typically go back to traditional roots. Our culture in the US, although influenced by our history, now has to deal with an almost daily changes seen in the media. It is nearly impossible to keep up with what is “in” and how we are “supposed” to look. With so much advertising and media focusing on a particular self image, there is no doubt why so many people struggle with accepting their self image. Both males and females, are both affected by man different outlets. Whether it be a victoria secret magazine, a commercial,social media, or a toy figuring, there are a number of contributing sources to our image. Being a male myself, I can’t fully appreciate the relationship of a womans body image and the media, but I can get a pretty good idea based on observations and experience. Social media has become one of the biggest, if not the biggest influence on young people today. The fact that there many different words being created in reference to this, shows the impact it is having. For example the term “selfie” never existed before Facebook was invented. This effect can often often be seen as a negative, as Miribel Tran points out “Social media is prevalent in society today, and it has been scientifically linked with causing depression...

Words: 1107 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Media Literacy

...Media Literacy I have advocated for 30 years that, in order to preserve our democracy and protect ourselves against demagogues, we should have courses in schools on how to watch TV, how to read newspapers, how to analyze a speech – how to understand the limitations of each medium and make a judgment as to the accuracy or the motives involved. (Cronkite) Media’s influence on society is powerful and far-reaching because they introduce us to new and different images that affect our personalities and perceptions of the world we live in. A report by the Free Expression Policy Project has shown that media glamorize violence, sex, drugs, and alcohol; reinforce stereotypes about race, gender, and class; and prescribe the lifestyle to which one should aspire, and the products one must buy to attain it (Hines and Cho 2). If society wants to correct these negative influences of media, Walter Cronkite’s message on the need for media literacy is therefore imperative. Media literacy, defined by AMLA as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information in a variety of forms, will empower us to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of a wide range of messages using image, language, and sound (Center for Media Literacy). By becoming media literate, it is hope that we will have a better understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our diverse culture. To showcase the importance of media literacy, analyses of news and commercial media are...

Words: 3495 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Organisation Behaviour

...| HND in Business | | Advertising and promotional Strategy | | LCC 20135057 | | Syed Hussain | | 26/11/2014 | M A Kashem Table of Contents Advertising and promotional Strategy 1 Introduction 3 Task 1 3 1.1 Communication process that applies to advertising and promotion of Sainsbury’s to focus upon the consumers buying behaviour and decision making process 3 1.2 Explain the organisation of the advertising and promotions industry 4 1.3 Assessment of promotion regulation in UK 5 1.4 Examine current trends in advertising and promotion including the impact of ICT 6 Task 2 7 2.1 Explain the role of advertising in an integrated promotional strategy for Sainsbury’s PLC 7 2.2 branding and how it is used to strengthen the market position of Sainsbury’s PLC 8 2.3 Creative aspects of advertising by measuring advertising effectiveness in Sainsbury’s 9 2.4 Ways of working with advertising agencies by focusing on process and methods of agency selection and agency/client relationships 10 Task 3 12 3.1 Primary techniques of below-the-line promotion 12 The promotional strategy for any of the company follows some steps and flow onwards. The primary techniques of below the line promotional strategy for Sainsbury PLC are: 12 3.2 Evaluate other techniques used in below-the-line promotion by taking into consideration word-of-mouth personal selling and the use of new media in Sainsbury’s PLC. 13 Task 4 14 4.1 Follow an appropriate...

Words: 4016 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Branding

...9-508-047 REV: MARCH 25, 2008 JOHN DEIGHTON Dove: Evolution of a Brand In 2007, Unilever’s Dove was the world’s number-one “cleansing” brand in the health and beauty sector, with sales of over $2.5 billion a year in more than 80 countries. It competed in categories that included cleansing bars, body washes, hand washes, face care, hair care, deodorants, anti-perspirants, and body lotions. It competed with brands like Procter and Gamble’s Ivory, Kao’s Jergens, and Beiersdorf’s Nivea. Dove had recently launched what it termed a Masterbrand campaign under the title of The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. For some marketing observers the campaign was an unqualified success, giving a single identity to the wide range of health and beauty products. But the vivid identity owed much to the campaign’s use of the unruly, unmapped world of Internet media.1 Were there risks to putting the “Real Beauty” story out on media like YouTube, where consumers were free to weigh in with opinion and dissent? On blogs and in newsletters, marketing commentators argued that Dove’s management was abdicating its responsibility to manage what was said about the brand, and was putting its multibillion-dollar asset at risk.2 Unilever A leading global manufacturer of packaged consumer goods, Unilever operated in the food, home, and personal care sectors of the economy. Eleven of its brands had annual revenues globally of over $1 billion: Knorr, Surf, Lipton, Omo, Sunsilk, Dove, Blue Band, Lux, Hellmann’s...

Words: 4539 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Media

...Research Essay Effects Of Media On Teenagers In the last 10 to 15 years, the influence of media has grown exponentially with the advancement of technology. Starting from 1990s, the majority of our population did not have cable, teenagers back then relied more on news papers, magazines as internet was considered a luxury for the ordinary population at that time. With the passage of time, trends changed. Technological advancements and an economic boom have lead to increases in the standard of living. Teenagers have been exposed to media like never before. Cable networks and internet that were once luxuries have now become necessities. Media has a great influence in the development of a teenager’s personality and character. “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses,” said the American black militant leader Malcolm X (qtd. in Krishna). The power or influence of media can easily alter or change a teenager’s opinion. This means that media can depict an ordinary thing so negatively that it may compel people to believe or act in quite the opposite way. So it is necessary to analyze the effects of media on teenagers because of the influence it has on them. Media can be both helpful and harmful to teenagers. But the negative effects of Media on teenagers clearly outweigh the positive ones which is becoming a great worry for the...

Words: 2508 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Portrayal of Women in Media

...Taylor Barto English 101 Holman 4/4/2012 Portrayal of Women in the Media In society today attractiveness can be the base of the empire that one builds. A certain look could be the entire reason someone gets a role in a movie or television show. Everything today is flashier, bigger, better, and more glamorous than before so why would women fall to any exception? These women on television can all play different roles, for example, the corporate climber, the supermom, the social butterfly, the ruthless villainess, but they all have one common denominator; their attractiveness. The women seen on television are beautiful, thin, and primarily white. These are the types of women the media wants us to strive to be like because it boosts their ratings. How many people would watch a television show about someone’s life that was less successful and less attractive? Many would agree that the last 30 years some progress has been made in how the media portray women in film, television, and magazines and there has also been a growth in the presence and influence of women in the media. Nevertheless, female stereotypes continue to thrive in the media we view every day. The media’s portrayal of women plays a significant impact on the effects to body image and self-esteem to implications in sports and politics. One current popular show that many young adults watch on television is a show, Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl follows the lives of Manhattan’s Upper East Side socialites. Each show...

Words: 1647 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Dove: Evolution of a Brand

...9-508-047 REV: MARCH 25, 2008 JOHN DEIGHTON Dove: Evolution of a Brand In 2007, Unilever’s Dove was the world’s number-one “cleansing” brand in the health and beauty sector, with sales of over $2.5 billion a year in more than 80 countries. It competed in categories that included cleansing bars, body washes, hand washes, face care, hair care, deodorants, anti-perspirants, and body lotions. It competed with brands like Procter and Gamble’s Ivory, Kao’s Jergens, and Beiersdorf’s Nivea. Dove had recently launched what it termed a Masterbrand campaign under the title of The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. For some marketing observers the campaign was an unqualified success, giving a single identity to the wide range of health and beauty products. But the vivid identity owed much to the campaign’s use of the unruly, unmapped world of Internet media.1 Were there risks to putting the “Real Beauty” story out on media like YouTube, where consumers were free to weigh in with opinion and dissent? On blogs and in newsletters, marketing commentators argued that Dove’s management was abdicating its responsibility to manage what was said about the brand, and was putting its multibillion-dollar asset at risk.2 Unilever A leading global manufacturer of packaged consumer goods, Unilever operated in the food, home, and personal care sectors of the economy. Eleven of its brands had annual revenues globally of over $1 billion: Knorr, Surf, Lipton, Omo, Sunsilk, Dove, Blue Band...

Words: 4830 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Media: Mirror of Society

...Media: Mirror of Society Everywhere in the world, society keeps evolving and changing. The thoughts, mindsets, and ideas of cultures all over the world are constantly changing due to the influences of what they see. The media has always had a role in the construction of an individual’s body image and ideal self. In the article “How does the media influence our thoughts on body image?” Kayhan, Baig, Mehmi and Basra argue that during the early 20th century the ideal, beautiful woman was 5’4 tall and about 140 pounds with a small mid-section; yet, for some if not most women, in order to achieve a small waist they would be put into a Victorian hourglass corset, which shrunk the woman’s waist to a much smaller size, we still see these tactics used by today’s women. This issue isn’t only occurring in the United States, it is a worldwide problem that continues to grow. The media uses the social elite, such as athletes and actresses, to advertise products and goods; the use of these models can have significant outcomes, both negative and positive, on individuals in our society. The positive being that viewers of these magazines that advertise skinny models and fit athletes may be influenced to change their lifestyle from unhealthy to healthy. The negative being that viewer’s want to take the quickest and easiest ways in order to achieve results, which can lead to dangerous side effects and habits. So the question is, is it even worth it to try to look perfect if dangerous methods...

Words: 2036 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Dannone Marketing Plan

...yogurt market, of which Activia captured more than 76% (4.3%of the total yogurt market) By 2010, Activia reached 84% (5.7% out of 6.8% of the total yogurt market) DANONE considered probiotic yogurt a good business opportunity. Now, DANONE is challenging the low awareness of probiotic yogurts in Egypt by developing an advertising campaigns and PR activities including 360 campaigns, whereby the company used all available communication tools to reach its target market. * Introduction It was not easy for Danone to grow and lead the probiotics market in Egypt because of the low awareness of probiotic yogurts in general. But Danon nevertheless considered probiotic yogurt a good business opportunity and began working to tackle those challenges. Danone attempted to raise awareness of the vitality of probiotic yogurts to show how they positively affect the digestive system, and help those who have digestion problems. To achieve these goals, Danone developed advertising campaigns and PR activities including 360 campaign, whereby the company used all available communication tools to reach its target market. Accordingly, Danone designed television, radio and print ads; held press conferences; issued press releases; printed point of purchase materials, flyers and brochures; and organized sampling in large supermarkets, universities and hypermarkets. All these communication tools carried a consistent message to the consumer stressing that the product is 100 percent natural and guarantees...

Words: 4113 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Women and Media

...Women in the Media   The Psychological Power of the Media to Trap Women in A Role. The power of advertising to change, shape and mold the public's opinion has had a major impact on the lives of women. Women are the main target for many advertisements and are used in many forms of advertising. The media has historically used propaganda to define who women are and what they should be. The time period following WWII maybe one of the greatest examples of how completely media can control the ideas of the society on a specific group of people.   During WWII women were encouraged to go out to factories and work to support the war effort. This gave women a sense of need and belonging that many had been left out of before they had the opportunity to persue any type of career in an acceptable manner. With the men away at war, women were encouraged to find work outside the home due to a lack of factory workers who could produce war goods. Once the war ended, however, this propaganda not only stopped- it abruptly changed.   Once the men were back in the states there was an excess of workers. Men came back form war to find that there were no jobs or that their wives were occupying them. With production plummeting after war time highs there were few jobs to offer the men returning home. This started a media blitz on women. Women were encouraged to return to the home and take care of their families. Women's magazines were overflowing with ideas on how to make a perfect...

Words: 3257 - Pages: 14