The effect these magazines have on our youth is detrimental as 8 out of 10 girls, aged 10, have experimented with dieting. The average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisments a day; models in these advertisments are seen as perfect and 75% of women feel badly about their self image after flipping through some magazines. In France a bill has passed saying that the promotion of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia will include a fine of $70,000 as well as a 3 year jail sentence. Certain websites will be shut down as they promote such disorders, embraceing the "thinsation" movement, and even provide teens with thin tips on how to shed pounds using laxitives and how to hide weight loss from their parents. The gender sterotypes in magazines has plagued the minds of society and subliminally regulates the way we think men and women should be and how they should look like.
With that being said I would be curious to know what readers feel about the nature of magazine ads and how they have affected your self image, if they have, and how they make you view men and women in society.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/world/europe/16france.html
I personally don't like many magazines and how they portray women. Magazines have given the messages that if a women doesn't have a body, she is not an important person of the society.
ReplyDeleteThey have downgraded women to just appearance and they have very clearly stated how a women should look like. We are well aware of the fact that not all women look like the women in magazines and ads yet it has gotten into our head that this is how we should look like.
I despise this action, and i believe magazines need to look at what they are doing to young girls and be considerate about it. They have not affected my self image because i have studied media before, and i can analyze it educationally.
However, it has showed me what an attractive man showed look like. Since i have been surrounded by media my whole life, i do believe that a guy with abs and nice muscles, short hair looks very attractive.
I am glad to hear that the negative gendersterotypes in magazines have not shaken your self image as it has done so to many girls. Its very important you are able to analyze the things media has for us to view, as it is a valuable skill to have. I am pleased you shared that some positive aspects of gendersterotypes in the media have influenced you.
DeleteI am in full support of the France bill. I blame the media for the widespread of eating disorders. People in magazaine ads are portrayed as sex symbols. If you are a fool, you will apply this to the real world. This had made me realize that people can easily be programmed by what they see on TV and magazine ads. Spencer, is there any positives to the way men and women are portrayed in media?
ReplyDeleteI do belive there are positives to the way men are portrayed in the media such as the desired figure of the male body as it reflects a fit person in good health. Although many sterotypes associated with woman and some with men, can be debated as to whether they are positive or negative. Deciding whether some of the sterotypes in the media are negative or positive, I would say it is manyly decided by the way an individual percieves it
DeleteI don’t really read a lot of magazines, but when I do, all I see is society’s perception of good-looking plastered all over the entire magazine. Magazines are a prime example that shows that media is a construction. The magazine editors only show what they want to. They show good-looking models/actors, because the general public likes this. What they don’t realize is that it is putting down a lot of the “normal” people out there. Personally, I have never felt discouraged by these magazines/ads because I know that a lot of airbrushing and “photpshoping” have been applied to these pictures, so they don’t even look that way in reality.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that magazines show what they want and find it's interesting what the general public likes. It's unfortunate that most people are insecure with their self image and let certain things such as magazines bring them down. And yes, a lot of photoshopping and airbrushing is applied to photos in magazine ads that happen to construct and manipulate the public eye.
DeleteMore than half the time all the women and men on magazine covers are photoshopped and due to that I don’t feel inferior to them. I don’t feel negatively about myself when I see size 2 models posing for ads. For all I know, she might be a larger size than me. But because I feel strong about myself I know I won’t be affected by my surroundings. But not all girls are like that especially tweens. Their bodies are changing and they feel like that have to look like a certain figure from a magazine to be beautiful. Younger girls are more prone to have their self-image shattered than older teens I think.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason why I don’t like the portrayal of women sometimes in the media Is the way they are projected as sexual objects. For example like in a car ad, women are usually scantily dressed and they look like an item on sale as well. I think the objectification of women needs to stop in our society because they aren’t a piece of meat for men to look at.
The same can be said for male models, all of them usually are very muscular, fit and tall. But in reality a lot of males don’t fit that category and feel unsatisfied with themselves.
I am glad to hear from and respect people with strong self esteem and self images. It is important that petty things such as magaznine ads doesnt change that. I absolutely agree with you that younger teens have a harder time accepting themselves after looking through some magazines. Often times men and women are projected as sexual objects in the media and it sends the wrong message to our youth as well as people of all ages.
DeleteI think in general everyone has an idea of what they might want to look like because they have seen a picture on a magezine cover or on tv and majority of the time girls seem to be the most affected by magezine covers or on tv because of how media displays women and how our society likes our women to be. As you have said spencer " a fit girl". It also can be men as well However, it doesn't even have to be a magezine cover that can cause such disorders, or changes it can also be comments received by family or friends. (Most of the time girls do tend to take the comments to the heart, whether they are negative comments or small comments and this might be the case for men aswell, i dont know :/ Do you think so?). Also in my opinion i'm not affected by what the media displays because I believe that not everyone is perfect & everyone comes in different shapes and sizes because if everything about us was the same, we would be boring people. As far as the fine goes I don't think that will stop or prevent people from having eating disorders or from being too skinny especially if someone is self conscious of themselves and because women do tend to judge other women, this can also cause eating disorders.
ReplyDeleteI agree that woman seem to be affectly mostly by magazines and their ads as a smaller percentage of men. Comments from family and friends are definetly influencial to a persons self image and can help persuade choices that a person makes towards their desires. I for example was affected by both the media and family influences to lose weight and get in shape. I admit that the media had a larger influence on me than my family. I had seen muscular actors and models on television and in magazine ads that were in great shape. I liked the way they looked and I knew girls did too. Seeing guys in great shape in the media with the combination of memories with negative comments from family members, influenced me to change my lifestyle completely. Although I have gone through some drastic changes physically. I could say that some if not all of them have had a positive impact on my life although unfortunatly, I know many people could not say the same.
DeleteI, personally, think people should not be affected by advertisements much because they should have enough self-confidence in themselves to know they are beautiful or handsome, regardless of what the magazines say. No one can judge your personality and even the prettiest person is ugly with a hideous personality.
ReplyDeleteYes I definitely agree with you that people should know they are beautiful or handsome regarldless of what magazines imply it looks like. And it is very important that people should be more concerned with inner beauty rather than outer beauty. Most would agree that inner beauty should be just as much advertised as outer beauty.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the media has some affect on us as it is everywhere. Some people fully embrace the trends while others, with higher self esteem, don't really care much about trends much. I am a full supporter of the bill in France and i truly believe that people with low self esteem and self worth will go on eating disorders to try make themselves look and feel pretty. I usually find women doing it more then men(not ruling men out) and I admire women who know their own self worth and dont look towards the media to show them how to look.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the people with higher self esteem dont care much for trends. The bill in France is great and sends a strong positive message. I do aswell respect the women that know and appreciate their sense of self worth and do not look towards the media to try and grasp an idea about what they should look like.
DeleteI personally have love/hate type of thing with magazines. I love reading magazines when I'm bored because they keep me entertained. The parts of magazines I love are keeping up to date with new fashion, and reading about all the celeb controversy and rumors Lol. On the other hand, I hate seeing subliminal ads that portray the stereotypical roles of men and women. I also dislike seeing the way women are portrayed in maagazines. Some of them are way too skinny for their own good and some are sexually exploited as well. This breaks my heart because this shouldn't be the message people should be getting from reading these magazines. Many young girls around the world take this as an influence and condone in the way society believes a woman should look. This then leads to many problems like insecurity, depression and sometimes even health problems like anorexia and bulimia. I personally never felt bad about myself because of these magazines. I have enough self confidence and I believe all the girls reading these magazines should as well.
ReplyDeleteI think its cool that you keep up to date with what's trending, and whats going on in the celebrity world. I always wondered how you knew so much about what new and whats hot. I definitely agree that magazines send the wrong messages to their readers. Its a shame that so many young girls fall for the shady idealologies that magazines portray. I am quite proud to hear that you have a strong self image and are not one of them.
DeleteI think girls have always had this problem of not "looking good" or fat. This is just because of the magazines. They see models like the one in the picture and say why don't I look like her? They're not well educated about the fact that these girls have alot of make up on, and the photo is Photoshoped and edited many times. An excellent idea is to erase all models from magazines, that's when people in general start comparing themselves. Even guys, they see someone like Jason Statham, or Sylvester Stallone and say why can't I have those kind of muscles? Magazines need to step aside, period.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree that the general public and maybe even magazine owners, have no idea how much power they have an how much they influence people. Our youth should be educated about the power, as well as the nature of the media. I think a major aspect they should be taught is not to take the media too seriously. Young people flip through magazines and feel the world wont accept them if they dont mirror the images they see. As negative as magazines may be, you have to give the people what they want. No matter how unfortunate the reality is, most people love the availability of magazines and what they provide, despite the impacts they have on its consumer.
DeleteMy blog is as similar to your article you have posted. People go so far just to have that "perfect" body. Risking their lives just to look good, while causing serious damage to their body. I hate how people in our world can't accept the fact with how they look. These magazine ads are brainwashing people, especially teenagers. These images from the magazines don't affect me because I have realize that you have to accept with what you've got.
ReplyDeleteYes I do agree its a shame that many people in the world have a hard time finding a way to love themselves. Magazines absolutely have brainwashing capabilities. When you mix that with insecure teens with poor self images, you get kids experimenting with their bodies before they are of maturity. It is very important that a person can learn to accept and love themselves on the inside and out, before they can begin to live fulfilling lives.
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