Free Essay

False Image, Real Effect

In: Social Issues

Submitted By so630
Words 2369
Pages 10
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 photographs all together.

Just as with women, photos of men are changed so that they meet the unrealistic image that has been made idealized by advertisements. As with the images of women, the images of men in advertisements are thinner than the average male. However, the images targeting men contain a high amount of muscle. The images used in advertisements affirm the idea that a man must be lean, have six-pack abs, muscular arms and a cut body overall. More men than ever before, are now experiences body dissatisfaction. Similarly to women, men are pushed into accepting and transforming into the acceptable male image presented in advertisements. Psychology professor Deborah Belle from Boston University and Researcher Ida Jodette Hatoum, in their artcle, "Mags and Abs: Media Consumption and Bodily Concerns in Men", reveal that normal and underweight men want to gain weight, whereas, those overweight wanted to lose weight. Unlike with women where there is only the idea to loose weight and be considered slim, men are faced with the pressure of not being large enough along with loosing weight, Because men are concerned with both loosing and gaining weight there is a growing connection with behaviors such as, dieting, exercising, and the use of beauty products within men. Researcher Crysral M Bonneou-Kaya and psychology professor Frederick G. Grieve from Western Kentucky University, in their journal, "Weight Loss and Muscle Building Content in Popular Magazines Oriented Toward Women and Men", develop their claim by first verifying that there is a difference between weight loss and muscle building in men's versus women's magazines. They then add that although there has been a slight decrease in muscle gain content in men's magazines, there is still pressure to obtain and maintain a muscular body. Although the advertisement content targets men and women differently the pressure to embody the ideal image is still very much alive. Because male's body shape dissatisfaction is a new phenomenon there is still an increasing pressure on men to achieve a certain body shape. Men now have a mass amount of images to evaluate themselves against, just as women have had in the past. Due to advertisements that have published images of the ideal body, men, like women, are pushed into one single ideal body size and shape, making them more likely to experience body dissatisfaction.

Advertisements support and provide examples of the ideal image for men. World known former English soccer player and icon, David Beckham has collaborated with H&M to create a clothing line. The collection is called, David Beckham BodyWear, which consists of basic clothing pieces and underwear. The advertisement images for this line are mostly of him in some to one piece of clothing. The photographs for this years campaign are in black and white, allowing for a more defined structure of body and face. In one of the shots, David Beckham is wearing only underwear and is exposing his athletic body. He is posing with his upper body twisted toward the camera, stretching his abdomen and causing more definition. Lights have also been strategically placed to illuminate and cast shadows in desired areas of enhancement. "The media [is] considered powerful communicators of body ideals due to their accessibility. popularity, and pervasiveness" (Bair and Grieve 116). Because advertisements are everywhere and always around they have become a great part of everyday life. People acknowledge what advertisements say or show more than they should. Because David Beckham is one of the world's biggest heartthrobs, women give more attention to his men's clothing campaign than actual men. Men are able to notice that women are attracted to David Beckham. This gives men the perception that they must look muscular, lean and possibly grow a beard. Using a celebrity endorsement or having one become the face of a certain product is nothing new to advertisement. Advertisers know that people will react to such tactics, even more so when there are changes made in order to create a person more appealing to all. Men believe and advertisement effectiveness proves that women will swoon over a man with god-like abs, chiseled jaw, and flawless structure. The advertisements create attention by using celebrities and making them appear lean and muscular, making a need for men to resemble the images.

There are plenty of people who understand that the images presented in advertisements are not real. That the images published have been changed to appear desirable and ensure attention. A majority of these individuals are adults. Yet, young adults still feel a need to embrace the ideal body and teens believe that the images are real, along with viewing the body image as an adequate goal. There are also other people who may consider the published images as art, along with the alterations made to the original. Another set of people may approach the changed images with a positive outlook on its help to fix small flaws. If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are many who would prefer the option to change what they see wrong with themselves. Society is made of the people. As a society, people have chosen to acknowledge the altered images and accept them as a social norm. That is, expecting every and all images to modified, in more than just advertisements. In a world of growing obesity, some people may also see this new ideal image as a motivator for many people to get in shape and live a healthy lifestyle. Although improving people's health is a real goal, some may attempt to fit the image in an unhealthy manner. Advertisements images do not have to have a negative effect, however the constant publications have introduced the idea for an unrealistic image.

Advertisement images give people an illusion of what is admirable and ideal for a male's body image. These images influence men to take dramatic measures in order to achieve the body image desired. "Although images of models are endlessly manipulated and perfected via airbrushing and other techniques, they are presented as realistic and achievable representations of actual people" (Labre 188). Men, as well as women, believe that the spokespeople in advertisements, before and after photographs and other advertisement images are true and honest. They view these images as proof that the image displayed is achievable. People will use the product advertised or try some other ridiculous method to be able to resemble the models. Men will buy and over use body enhancers and supplements to gain more muscle weight to try and fit the criteria for what is portrayed as ideal and attractive. Men are unhappy with their body shape and size, making them vulnerable for quick alternatives in achieving the ideal image. Eating disorders are also a problem for men. They are not only affiliated with women anymore. Men are also going under the knife and getting surgery to enhance their features. That is going through with having jawlines perfected, having the chest built to look muscular with no need for exercise. As well as, 90 day, 60 day and other products advertising a time frame for results. Men can also become obsessed with attending the gym in fear of gaining weight and loosing the idea of being desired. Researcher Christine Elliot from the University of Oxford and researcher Richard Elliot from the University of Warwick, in their article, "Idealized Images of the Male Body in Advertising: A Reader-Response Exploration", discuss how men are being objectified or exploited in advertising. Thus, pushing them towards hyper-masculinity, exaggerated beliefs on what it is to be man. That is, falling into the tall, lean and muscular criteria. These ideas can lead men to extreme measures not affecting themselves but others as well. A man may start a fight in order to prove their manhood. Muscle dysmorphia consists of not believing a person is fit enough. It leads men to extreme work-outs, diets and restricts them to a specific routine. Men are vulnerable beings, despite the fact of them being men. They are easily affected and persuaded into taking ridiculous measures to achieve a desired body image.

It is in people's nature to want to reproduce and natural selection makes some people more than others preferable. But this does not mean that people should loose sight of reality because of the advancements allowing people to be modified in advertisement images. "In today's media, however, the boundaries between fantasy and reality are blurred" (Labre 188). Advertisements can create a false reality, they contain plenty of realistic features that create the illusion that what is published and broadcasted is reality. Because consumers or people, may not always take into consideration the acts of persuasion taking place in advertisements, is it easy to fall victim to the ideal body image. This is important to understand, as it can negatively affect people's lives. Positive attention to altered images in advertisements can make many want to resemble an unrealistic image that was made possible through the use of digital modification, air-brushing, make up and lighting techniques. Providing a label along with an altered image can avoid creating false hopes in men and women. Researchers Eric Kee and Hany Farid from Dartmouth College of New Hampshire, in their article, "A Perceptual Metric for Photo Retouching", describe an assessable and meaningful metric of photo retouching. They then offer photographs that are rated on the degree to which they have been digitally altered using the system they have created. Kee and Farid have found a way to judge how much a photo has been retouched and then provide that information to the public. Because not all people are able to recognize how much an image has been altered, this provides a solution to reducing the amount of photo retouching and opening people's eyes to what is actually being published. However, it is not certain that all advertisers and publishers will agree to incorporate the metric system. Another possible solution is adding a simple watermark or label letting viewers know that an image has been modified. Of course, it would not include a measure of how much but it will inform people just as there is a warning attached with beer and dangerous acts that are published and broadcasted. The ideal solution would be to have advertisers stop altering images. However that is easier said than done. Producers rely on advertisements to create and increase sales. There is no evidence or research done to hypothesize on the outcome of sales and advertisements if photo modifications stopped. Providing information with modified images could reduce the affects of eating disorders and image dissatisfaction in men and women. The images provided by advertisements would not be highly idealized for its unrealistic features.

Advertisements are presenting and influencing a new ideal body image for men, just as with women, leading to extreme and or unhealthy measures. Advertisers need to understand that they are selling more than a specific product to people, but an unrealistic body image as well. Pressure to conform to the images portrayed can lead to developing disorders caused by body dissatisfaction. Advertisements should include a statement of some kind that lets people know that an image has been modified. This could allow for men and women to still be persuaded towards a product while keeping reality in mind. Both men and women are targeted in advertisements, although in different methods used there is a body image ideal pushed. Change need to be done, the altered images are not only affecting adult men and women but children as well.

Work Cited
Baird, Amy L., and Frederick G. Grieve. "Exposure To Male Models In Advertisements
Leads To A Decrease In Men's Body Satisfaction."North American Journal
Of Psychology 8.1 (2006): 115-121. Business Source Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Elliott, Richard, and Christine Elliott. "Idealized Images Of The Male Body In Advertising:
A Reader-Response Exploration." Journal Of Marketing Communications 11.1 (2005):
3-19. Business Source Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Grieve, Frederick G., and Crystal M. Bonneau-Kaya. "Weight Loss And Muscle Building
Content In Popular Magazines Oriented Toward Women And Men." North American
Journal Of Psychology 9.1 (2007): 97-102. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9
Sept. 2014.
Hatoum, Ida Jodette, and Deborah Belle. "Mags And Abs: Media Consumption And Bodily
Concerns In Men." Sex Roles 51.7/8 (2004): 397-407. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 11 Sept. 2014.
Kee, Eric, and Hany Farid. "A Perceptual Metric For Photo Retouching." Proceedings Of
The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 108.50
(2011): 19907-19912. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Labre, Magdala Peixoto. "Burn Fat, Build Muscle: A Content Analysis Of Men's Health
And Men's Fitness." International Journal Of Men's Health 4.2 (2005): 187-200.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

English 101 Term Paper

...casual connection in an electronic environment has its downside. These social networking sites do not improve the social lives of people, but instead, these sites ruin the social lives of people by creating false sense of connection, bullying, having less privacy, and decreasing people's productivity from the real-world. Ironically, social media sites do not make the social lives of people better. They isolate people from society and causes people to have difficulty communicating with others in the real-world. It is because the bonds that people have online are fake which creates false sense of connection or relationship causing people to struggle communicating with others in the real-world. "It’s true that by eliminating barriers like geography, time of the day, and physical availability for a conversation, these social media make it easier and quicker for people to remain in contact and have relationships with other people"("All this social media might be making us less social"). But these online interactions and relationships are taking place through computers, handhelds, or cell phones with people online, not with people in real-life. "This is a perfect example of social distance as fostered by our experience of social media- it's on screen, so it can't be real or, more properly, it doesn't carry the same weight or social valence as it would were it...

Words: 2193 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Essay

...While it’s logical to pay objective costs, such as package or production, it’s not understandable why pay company to tell us about the product we already bought. 2. Lying to Customers   Advertisers know that they cannot outright make false claims, because any claim they make must be supported by some kind of statistic, according to the law. However, advertisers can and often do bend and curve the truth for their own benefit and in order to promote and advertise own product.  Company can exaggerate certain features of their products or they can make vague and ambiguous claims that sound good. Of course any negative features of the product won’t be mentioned. Advertisements can be deceitful, especially for younger population who spends days in front of TV screen and watch aggressive and false advertising in between popular shows. 3. Conditioning and False Trendsetting But, in order to hypnotize mass population, companies need to create trends that customers will follow. This is the true purpose of advertising today. Advertisers have found out that if they make a product, and make customers believe that their product will make them happy, sales will skyrocket. To fulfill that, advertisers must bombard customers with images and false...

Words: 1300 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Body

...since the Renaissance period where self-starvation was practiced for religious purposes, however due to the growing influence of the Media, eating disorders have become more popular in the twentieth century and as a result the death rate has climbed horrifyingly (Frey, 2003). The Media has a heavy influence on how young women in the United States view and modify their bodies to achieve a perfect body type, however this ideology can lead to negative outcomes such as; low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, as well as affect other spheres of life. In examining the role of the Media and the negative effects it has on an individual one can clearly see that the issue have gotten to the point where young women live a life where they are mentally tormented and pressured to achieve one body type. Media attacks the subconscious mind and imprint false images of beauty which in turn leads to downward social comparison and allows young women to feel insecure in their own skin which leads them to a web of negative thoughts and feelings about their own bodies. The result of this mental and physical torment is evident in the mortality rate. According to the National Death Index, crude mortality rates in the United States were “4.0% for Anorexia Nervosa, 3.9% for Bulimia Nervosa and 5.2% for eating disorders not otherwise specified” (Bilgrad, 1990). This is an...

Words: 1741 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Alzheimer

...Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH INTRODUCTION With the extreme dimensionality of functional neuroimaging data comes extreme risk for false positives. Across the 130,000 voxels in a typical fMRI volume the probability of a false positive is almost certain. Correction for multiple comparisons should be completed with these datasets, but is often ignored by investigators. To illustrate the magnitude of the problem we carried out a real experiment that demonstrates the danger of not correcting for chance properly. GLM RESULTS METHODS Subject. One mature Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) participated in the fMRI study. The salmon was approximately 18 inches long, weighed 3.8 lbs, and was not alive at the time of scanning. Task. The task administered to the salmon involved completing an open-ended mentalizing task. The salmon was shown a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations with a specified emotional valence. The salmon was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing. Design. Stimuli were presented in a block design with each photo presented for 10 seconds followed by 12 seconds of rest. A total of 15 photos were displayed. Total scan time was 5.5 minutes. Preprocessing. Image processing was completed using SPM2. Preprocessing steps for the functional imaging data included a 6-parameter rigid-body affine realignment of the fMRI timeseries, coregistration of...

Words: 901 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Sonnet 130

...__________________________________________________________________________ SONNET 130 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. ANALYSIS The renaissance poet worries about finding new ways for expressing the beauty, but also to renew the themes of his works. In this period the poet wants to create a new world of beauty throughout a simple world. An important style of Renaissance Poetry was epic style, and sonnets (Shakespeare). Characteristics include: Rhyme, intensity in feelings, repetition, meter, iambic pentameter. The Renaissance poems came in many languages, commonly Latin, Italian and Greek. Some are translated and being used today as a historical and religious sources. The topics of the poems varied from religion to heroes. Most of the Christian poems talk about how they survived the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Poems about heroes-heroines were very...

Words: 1215 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Social Networks - Negative Impact

...Social Networks - Negative Impact Likes and dislikes are natural responses to the opinions of human beings according to the things that they are observing at the time and personal preferences. Problems occur when these personal preferences move from the realm of opinion into the realm of facts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social networks to discover their potential negative effects on the users and society. The primary focus of this paper being Facebook, one of the biggest names in the industry. Opinion Summary Vanderbilt Photographs are a way to memorialize an event that was meaningful, stupid, or sometimes dangerous. People usually share their most cherished photographs with close friends, family, and significant others. This is no longer the case. With the birth of Facebook and the explosion of social networking, complete strangers are now considered close friends because they liked something on the user’s page, or they are friends of friends (Vanderbilt, ). The sheer weight of this phenomenon has reached beyond the social aspect to the business and legal aspect. It has gotten to the point that businesses now check the Facebook page of potential employees to find out if they are truthful on their applications or to simply find out the kind of person they are outside the interview room. When it comes to the law, Facebook photos are being used as evidence to either prove or disprove an individual's state of mind at the time of the incident...

Words: 1854 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

The Shallows Rhetorical Analysis

...compare ourselves to what we read/see we may feel like we are not good enough. Social media hurts our self esteem and leaves us overall unhappy because of constant comparison, a false sense of connection and need for confirmation from peers. Body 1: One way social media hurts people's self esteem is because people are constantly comparing themselves to what people post. In the book “The Shallows” psychotherapist Michael Hausauer notes “teens and other adults have a terrific interest in knowing what’s going on in the lives of their...

Words: 685 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

The Negative Effects of Social Media

...The Negative Effects of Social Media Christine M. Boyd University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Social media is something that has become a part of the lives of millions. Every day we see people constantly posting on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Some think that these media outlets unite people together, but I’m beginning to think the contrary is closer to the truth. It’s common to see multiple people in a room glued to their phones instead of actually engaging with each other. In this paper, I will investigate why people have developed an obsession with social media, how social media creates a false reality, and how social media can be harmful to our mental health. There are a variety of reasons why people have developed an obsession with social media, making it harder to cut ties with it. According to the article Technology Addiction in Adolescents by Vivek Agarwal and Sujit Kumar Kar, “Companies making mobile phones, made them compatible for other technologies like – games, videos, internet browsing and many other applications which facilitate their wide circulation and making them more addicting objects” (pg. 171). When people have constant internet access through their smart phones, it makes it extremely difficult to avoid social media. Smart phones usually vibrate or make a noise when you get a Facebook or Twitter notification, which can increase your likelihood of checking the application. Along with constant internet access, excessive social media use has been linked...

Words: 1717 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Reality Television: Is It Helpful to Our Youth?

...Reality Television: Is it Helpful to Our Youth? Through decades of television, there has been a drastic change in the content shown on air. In past generations, family oriented television shows were expected to be shown around the clock. Shows that contained explicit content were not an option to be shown on television, but today there is not much of a filter that will not be shown on television. There are things shown on late night specials on cartoon channels that are not appropriate for anyone, let alone young children. Television programs have given children a false sense of what is expected in the real world and delays their chance to mature at a normal rate. Television stars are not helping to shape young minds, but instead they are making it difficult for children to learn what is right from what is wrong. This generation has a different view of what television should include, there should not be a limit on major issues; for example violence, sexuality, profanity, and drugs and alcohol. In past generations, those subjects were forbidden and were rarely even spoken about in the closest of friends groups. Now it is expected for it to be broadcast on television, in movies, and to be causally discussed in any scenario. Television and the media have given our generation the reigns to take control of what they think is inappropriate or appropriate. This now gives them the opportunity to talk about almost anything that could be thought of, there are no more filters...

Words: 1412 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Compare And Contrast Piaget And Vygotsky

...with it. In Paget’s view cognitive development consists of 4 staged. Sensorimotor stage: birth-2years old using senses and actions, during which infants know the world, mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activity. Preoperational stage: (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) words and images, using intuition rather than concrete logic. Concrete operational stage: give (physical) material, they begin to grasp conservation, during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think. Piaget believed that children comprehend mathematical transformations, conservation and logically about concrete events. Formal operational stage: (normally beginning about age...

Words: 648 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Media Without Make Up

...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...

Words: 2942 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Social Medias

...Online Social Networking Dangers and Benefits Social Networking Site Dangers One of the most popular social networking sites is Facebook. While Facebook restricts members to those who use a ".edu" email address, this may give you a false sense of security. There are hundreds of thousands of active ".edu" email addresses of current students and alumni in just the United States and many of them can gain access to your site. Some colleges and universities will grant free email addresses to alumni; however, they do not always follow-up to check whether the individual is an actual alumni—therefore making it relatively easy to create false ".edu" accounts on Facebook and gain access to the site. Other social networking sites such as Myspace, Friendster, and Xanga offer even less security and protection because they are open to anyone. Because students often post detailed and specific information on Facebook (including phone numbers, addresses, class schedules, social plans, etc.) you can be more easily stalked by strangers (or even acquaintances). Impact on Schooling and Employment Students are getting in trouble with University administrators for incriminating and inappropriate information or pictures on their social networking profiles that are violations of school policy or the code of conduct. (Note: Administrators are not monitoring social networking sites; however, if information or pictures on a student's account that violate policy are brought to their attention...

Words: 1678 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Thesis Copy

...WIRELESS FINGERPRINT BASED STUDENT ATTENDANCE SYSTEM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering by Debidutt Acharya(10602015) and Arun Kumar Mishra(10602061) Under the guidance of Prof. Susmita Das Department of Electrical Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela-769008 2010 WIRELESS FINGERPRINT BASED STUDENT ATTENDANCE SYSTEM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering by Debidutt Acharya(10602015) and Arun Kumar Mishra(10602061) Department of Electrical Engineering National Institute of Technology Rourkela-769008 2010 National Institute of Technology Rourkela CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled, “WIRELESS FINGERPRINT-BASED STUDENT ATTENDANCE SYSTEM” submitted by Debidutt Acharya and Arun Kumar Mishra in partial fulfilments for the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Technology Degree in Electrical Engineering at National Institute of Technology, Rourkela is an authentic work carried out by them under my supervision and guidance. To the best of my knowledge, the matter embodied in the thesis has not been submitted to any other University / Institute for the award of any Degree or Diploma. Date: 14-05-2010 Place: Rourkela Prof. Susmita Das Deptt. of Electrical Engineering National Institute of Technology ...

Words: 6449 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Marriage and the Family

...Marrying And Having Children Are the “Natural” Thing To Do Myth 3 “Good” Families Are Self Sufficient Myth 4 Every Family Is a Bastion Of Love And Support Myth 5 We Should All Strive To Be A “Perfect” Family It is unfortunate that common myths have shaped our beliefs concerning marriage and the family. Knowing what has been deemed as image instead of reality is instrumental in the transformation from a dysfunctional to a functional marriage and family. It is interesting that the first most common myth about the marriage and the family refers to the past: the “good old days.” Seemingly, this myth has influenced the formation of the other four myths. The “good old days” can refer to any period of time concerning or covering the past. Movies and television have spread the notion that people were happier, there were fewer problems and families were stronger in the past. We live in a world of change. The technological advances, the growth in business, industry, education and the economy all have produced change in our lives. Inevitably, people must change. As people have changed, the effects have been evidenced in the family structure and even in gender roles. There would be no growth in society or in people if there were no changes. We study all sorts of problems and situations for a solution. We have social programs and policies in force to guarantee provision for health and safety in the home from abuse and neglect. But, it seems the...

Words: 597 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Gender In Advertising

...ads in general has also dramatically changed over the last couple decades. In 2005, the Baker study broke grounds when exploring women’s roles in advertisements worldwide. The study concluded that consumers are exposed to over 3,000 ads each day, which means it’s a competition between companies on who can have the most attention-grabbing and sometimes controversial ad in a sea of advertisements. Many researchers have shown that women in advertisements are portrayed as sexual objects (Baker 2005). An analysis reveals that common forms of sexuality in ads include the following: nudity/lack of clothing, physical attractiveness of said model, seductive behavior portrayed in ad and suggested innuendos along with setting, context and camera effects in the ad (Reichert 2002). Sexuality isn’t just nudity in an ad, it’s the entire feel and perception of...

Words: 776 - Pages: 4