...Influences of Sexual Behavior in Adolescence During Adolescence, children are more likely to imitate other role models because they want to be accepted by others in their age group and peer pressure. The importance of peers and media in middle childhood and adolescence can influence them to have risky sexual behaviors. Due to the need for acceptance during adolescents, children are more likely to act upon certain risky behaviors they wouldn't otherwise act upon. The media is the biggest influence in adolescents that promotes sexual behavior. Sexual explicit behavior affects an adolescent by initiating early sexual tensions and leading to drastic consequences they aren't ready to accept. The Need for Acceptance Adolescence is a time when children are trying to understand their identity in their society. As most of their time is spent in school, children feel like they need a sense of acceptance and belonging in a particular peer group. The need for this recognition leads them to make certain choices; they feel like they need change their attire, how they talk, and how they behave so they can be accepted into a group. Certain groups have higher expectations and joining them increases social statuses, adolescents get too...
Words: 1156 - Pages: 5
...In today’s social world there is a lot happening. It’s a busy world, with all this social influence there is a lot to take in, especially when it comes to the media’s influence in beauty. Most people think that they can decide what to take in from it all. Like all they have to do is to just say yes or no, like whether or not to buy something off a commercial. However, there is countless evidence that shows that it’s not that easy. Today’s media is influencing people’s perception of beauty without even realizing it. The way people are seeing themselves and others is being negatively impacted by media from media’s “ideal body image.” Thanks to the constant exposure everyday throughout our lives from early is radiating on people making them...
Words: 890 - Pages: 4
...possible causes and triggers for these disorders, the media’s influence on body image cannot be overlooked. The media has been playing a central role on the growth of eating disorders such as anorexia. As adolescents we are convinced with images and messages that tend to further the idea that to be happy and successful we must be slim. Nowadays, It is nearly impossible to open a newspaper or listen to the radio, or turn on a TV without being confronted with the ideas that to be fat is to be undesirable. When adolescents feel as though their breasts, weight or hips don’t match up to those of supermodels and actors, they feel fatally feel secure. This in turn makes to feel insecure about their body image and thus resulting in this eating disorder. Surveys show that there is plenty of evidence demonstrating that the media encourages slimness and weight loss and over-emphasize the importance of beauty and appearances. It appears that beauty and fashion magazines significantly impact the process of identity development in young women, especially with regards to gender-role learning, identity formation, and the development of values and beliefs (Arnett, 1995; Thomsen et al., 2001).The result of this is that the adolescent girls in question will do whatever it takes to achieve such body figures and thus in the long run result in eating disorders. Magazine articles, television shows, and advertisements have also created a social context that may contribute to body dissatisfaction and...
Words: 936 - Pages: 4
...In the years from 2005 to 2017, the average usage of social media by an individual has increased by about seventy-eight percent. Over time, technological advancements have facilitated this growth in not only the popularity of media, but also the authority of media in society. In today’s society, the media stands as the ultimate source of truth to many individuals as news channels successfully influence a person’s beliefs regarding society. Furthermore, when an individual relies upon the media for valid information, he allows only one perspective to influence his beliefs, and this closed-mindedness often results in him inadvertently acting prejudicially towards minority groups. While hatred has always existed in the world, the ever growing authority...
Words: 1864 - Pages: 8
...Modern society under the influence of the media has evolved into a materialistic, narcissistic society. This is a universal theme prominent through Dawe’s works ‘Televistas’ and ‘Breakthrough’ as well as the visual stimulus depicting the media spoon-feeding an elderly man. As social commentaries, these works examine the negative effects of the domination of the media on the core values that underpin the society. We are encouraged to question the dictatorship we have appointed to the media. ‘Televistas’ highlights the lack of independence present in today’s society. The superficiality of the personas’ relationship as well as the passive lifestyle we have adopted is the core of Dawe’s concern. The title ‘Televistas’, literally meaning television...
Words: 1318 - Pages: 6
...Digital Technology and Social Media’s Necessity in Communication Theory Courses Communication is a social process in which individuals imply symbols or behaviors to create meaning in their surroundings (West & Turner, 2018). Communication plays a vital role in society, especially in the present, digital mass media. While communication is often presumed to be face-to-face interaction, due to digital technology social media has altered that assumption. Social networking has a variety of discrete characteristics and trending effects. The use of social media is necessary to study to enhance better communication skills and is important to study in a communication theory course. Social media’s extraordinary prevalence will continue to grow within...
Words: 1157 - Pages: 5
...Streaming Media: The Tailor-Made Option In today’s world entertainment such as: Television, music, movies, etc. are all available at any time to be streamed through the internet. Streaming media means that data is instantly available where in the it would either have to be downloaded to a harddrive on come pre downloaded like in a CD or DVD. When we stream media we are allowing ourselves to pick and choose when, where, and what we want to spend our time watching or as we say streaming. Streaming media is now providing entertainment that is applicable to one’s individual routine making it tailor-made for us all to enjoy. This means that we, as consumers, have access to huge amounts of personalized data without any wait times or ever having to leave the house. As technology continues to grow and get stronger, we find ourselves purchasing equipment to make our tailor-made services of streaming even better. Between BlueRay DVD Players, Apple TV boxes, PlayStations, and many more. The majority of these providers can easily stream media straight from them. When streaming media is mentioned to most people the first thing that comes to mind is Netflix. Music is in there too but with Netflix one can watch TV shows with majority of the seasons, as well as the movies that Netflix has purchased. It can not get much better than that, even though a person will only have to pay a small monthly fee of $8.99 Netflix pays for itself after one or two movies which could cost up to twenty dollars...
Words: 1798 - Pages: 8
...fit this definition act as role models for women who want to look like they do, and magazines and television advertisements are constantly telling women how they too can be “beautiful” by selling them weight loss products, exercise programs, and other image enhancers. The constant exposure to the media’s version of beautiful is not something that is often thought of as negative. However, their portrayal of what is beautiful has become distorted over the years, to the point where achieving this “thin-ideal”, which will be defined later, is nearly impossible for women if done through healthy means. Because of this, many women develop body dissatisfaction, which can lead to serious and dangerous consequences, such as the development of eating disorders, in order to be “beautiful”. While there are many factors that can be linked to eating disorders, research has found that the media’s influence on society’s portrayal of extremely thin females as the ideal body is directly correlated to the increase in body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and other harmful conditions found in women. By analyzing this from a feminist perspective, it can be argued that not only does the media’s influence on the idealization of thinness effect females physical and mental health negatively, but it also acts as reinforcement for the patriarchal culture prevalent in today’s society. There is a wide range of eating disorders, ranging from minor to severe. Body dissatisfaction, which is “a psychiatric...
Words: 2979 - Pages: 12
...Images of Beauty Dana Alkhandak #106621937, Group D Psychology 10 October 2, 2013 Rough Draft #1 Adolescence is a time of both delicate concern about social acceptance as well as self-conscious obsession with self-image and identity. Becoming more aware of society's selective standards, many youngsters look to the media for guiding on the "ideal" way to look and act. Teenagers have more access to images from the media that sponsor a growing acceptance of makeup, fragrances and unnatural beauty, their self-esteems becomes dependent on an unnatural and constructed thought of beauty. The images promoted and portrayed in the media, can be harmful and have dangerous impacts on the lives' of many individuals. The images revealed and published by the media harmful effects begin the minute they start being used for entertainment and sale purposes; however, it doesn't stop there, the images can also be demeaning the self-esteems of individuals as well as creating unhealthy habits that teenagers find the need to follow. Everyday more ads are being released whether it's for a newly engineered face wash or the season's latest sweater. Quickly as soon as the item is advertised, teenagers run to the nearest shopping malls to get their hands on the "Oh, So GREAT" invention, without realizing the price worth of the item. Therefore, now the happy teen picks out the item and gets to the checkout stand, later to discover that the item is $150. At that point, the teen has two...
Words: 970 - Pages: 4
...forms of hybrid culture and identity that increasingly occur amongst youth throughout the world, but what factors best explain the participation of young people in these subcultures? Also, how do these factors operate? The purpose of this paper is to argue that the participation of young people in youth cultures is best explained by 2 factors; the media and one’s ethnicity. This argument is will made with particular reference to punk and hip hop subcultures as well as brief discussion of Indigenous subculture. The paper will begin with an over view of how subcultures are used to form identities and invent cultural meaning which will be followed by a discussion of the mass media’s influence on youth in today’s society and how and why the media is a major factor in determining youths involvement in different sub cultures. The influence a young person’s ethnicity has on their participation in subcultures will then be addressed with reference to Cohen’s (1955) version of strain theory and how this effects the formation and involvement in subcultures such as indigenous subculture and hip- hop. A conclusion will then be given stating that both ethnicity and the media are the best means of explaining youth participation in subcultures as they are largely influential in determining youth involvement in, as well as the original formation of subcultures. Sub- cultures are often seen as a way of forming collective identities from which an individual identity can be achieved outside that...
Words: 2261 - Pages: 10
...Contents Introduction………………………………...............………....................4 Media’s Role in Stereotyping……………………………………….…..….4 Origin of “Acting White”……………………………...………………...…6 Accusations of “Acting White” in the Caribbean…………………………..8 Combating Accusations of “Acting White”…….…………………………10 “Acting White” and its affects on Identity”……………………………….11 Peer Pressure and Physical Appearance…………………………………..12 Coping with Peer Pressure……………………..……......................….…13 Summary ………………………………..................................................14 References ………………………………................................................15 Introduction In the article “Peer Pressures and Accusation of Acting like others” Author Dr. Bahaudin Mujtaba investigates the pressures students face to conform to what their peers consider acceptable. Due to media exposure and lack of understanding diversity, stereotyping minorities has become more prevalent and those who step out of the box are accused of acting like others. The article references the accusations of acting white that black students face when striving for good grades and aiming for professional careers. The article also references the spread of these accusations in the Caribbean. Students face peer pressure of acceptance not only in racial and ethnic identity but in appearance as well. These accusations can lead to issues with confidence and one’s self identity. With the potential detrimental effects of peer pressure it is important...
Words: 2960 - Pages: 12
...The influence of media on gender roles Over the last forty years, the gender roles for male and female have changed quite a bit. In the past, women were often viewed as having to assume the duties of the housewife, while the men are the breadwinner in the family. However, these stereotypical views of men and women alike have changed over time to shape the present. Firstly, in attempt to define the meaning of a stereotype Wikipedia (2009) notes that: “Stereotype is a preconceived, oversimplified, exaggerated, and often demeaning assumption of the characteristics possessed by an individual due to his or her membership in a specific group. [It] usually functions to deny individuals respect or legitimacy based on their membership in that group. They are the hardest to dislodge in situations where a dominant group desires to keep another group subordinate”. The purpose of this essay is to generate an understanding of how gender roles are shaped and defined in society due to an overwhelming amount of stereotyping and the influence of the mass media that has left an undeniable impact on our everyday life. When talking about gender, we are referring to “culturally learned notions of masculinity and femininity” (Tepperman et al., 2007, p. 187). As noted by Tepperman (2007), “From a social standpoint, gender is the social enactment of a biological difference.” The result of this is males are treated as men because they play masculine roles, and females are treated as women because...
Words: 2783 - Pages: 12
...Mass media has a huge responsibility to the public in the way it influences and shapes people’s ideas. The more the audience interacts with mass media the greater the influence it has on the viewer’s ideals. Living in a socially and technically evolving society means that like Mass Media, what we deem socially acceptable in terms of sexual roles/ identities or even body image has also changed (Silverstein, B. 1986). Mass media acts as an authority that creates a frame work for its audience to perceive reality, using this we can see how manipulation occurs through simple advertising campaigns. The more we interact with media, the more accepting we are of the social reality presented (Gauntlett, D.2008). We want to believe our reality is ‘objective’ when in fact it is ‘subjective’ (McQuail, D. 2010). McQuail argues that our perspective is our reality; Jeffres expands upon this by explaining that mass media acts as an “authority to provide us with an interpretation of reality, explanation, personal opinions and even instructions on how to understand it” (Jeffres, L.W. 2001). Gauntlett believes that on a subconscious level, we seek such an authority to provide us with a framework to perceive reality. Through advertising we see that mass media has the ability to manipulate its audience. Advertising utilises many psychological principals based on research and depending on its target audience, persuades viewers into believing they ‘must’ have the product advertised. A great amount...
Words: 842 - Pages: 4
...Have you ever been infatuated by a social media account? or even caught yourself staring at your phone screen forgetting that you’ve been on twitter for excessive time? Based on the article, The Psychology of Begging to Be Followed on Twitter, written by Kayleigh Roberts, shows the factual information about teens and tweens being glued to their phones and social media. Roberts states facts about our adolescents being stuck on their phones in awe of the glamour that social media has. One can see this article as effective due to how it creates positive reinforcements to many individuals, the Internet providing the means for adolescents to engage in subcommunities and fan bases giving people new identities. In her article, Roberts exhibits her ethos by stating a quote from Dr. Marion Underwood, clinical psychologist, daughter's friend, “Twitter is the best and Twitter is the worst.”, she uses this quote to display the emotions that adolescents have towards social media. Underwood then adds that her daughters friend said, “I can’t get off of it,” the girl elaborated. “I can’t stop getting on Twitter.”,...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...the perpetrators women are the victims.” The above quote from Jan Dimmitt executive director of Kelso’s emergency support shelter in Longview Washington, United states reveals an all too common attitude towards male domestic abuse. Such a discriminatory attitude is not simply limited to the United States however it is also seen here in the Caribbean, a region with a history of domestic abuse and even more concerning is realization that the media helps to proliferate such a view. Media of all kinds can influence and even distort the perception of persons’ opinions on topics such as physical attractiveness and politics. Similar problems arise when applied to the issue of domestic abuse and the media has a responsibility to ensure that it does not misrepresent men by offering only one view of the issue. The media has a prospective responsibility to ensure that they portray the reality of domestic abuse to avoid stereotyping men as aggressors. The media in all outlets whether social or otherwise is the major provider of information on various issues and therefore has a prospective responsibility to provide information without bias. Prospective responsibility according to Garrath William’s centers around a duty or obligation one person has to the other for example a journalist has a duty to report information free of bias. As the media is primarily used to inform the masses on issues in society it therefore needs to be held accountable for what it shows. The media opens our minds...
Words: 1292 - Pages: 6
