Media Influence on Women's Body Image

Media Influence on Women's Body Image
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Media Influence on Women's Body Image
The issue of gender equality has been a major discourse on an international level. Over the years, women in different cultures have been treated less fairly than men. The inequality has been incorporated in media that worsens the situation. The media acts as a reflection of society, but also it influences how men and women relate and perceive themselves. Given the fact that media has now become a significant aspect of this digital, it is important to evaluate how it affects women's body image. Jean Kilbourne gave a speech entitled "killing us softly" where she address how women are objectified and oversexed by the media (Grau & Zotos, 2016). The objectification of women is evident in the 1950s and still is currently used in the media.
Over the years, advertising agencies have been changing the approach they use the women to appeal to the audience, however, the idea of "sex sells" has not changed. The agencies have found that sexual advertising tends to be very effective in attracting the audience's attention (Patterson & Story, 2009). Therefore, they use women's body images that fit what society defines as beauty.
From a tender age, women have been made by the media to believe that their physical appearance is more important than their academic performances. That has led to most of them spending a considerable amount of time and money on enhancing their looks (DiSalvatore, 2010). However, the media still portrays men to be the dominating gender and women to be their peripheral object. A review conducted on alcohol, the advertisement stated that men in the advertisements are portrayed to be strong and lovable while the women to peripheral and were always available whenever a man needed them.
A recent study on the objectification of women found that the teenage girls who watched films that depicted superheroines with oversexualized costumes experienced lower self-esteem. That made their attempt to change their looks. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons collected data between 2000 and 2009 and found there was a significant incr4ease in the number of women's breast augmentation by 36%. Additionally, the number of women who had sought breast lift and abdominoplasty services had risen by 84% (Patterson & Story, 2009). That is the period where the internet and the rise of social media platforms usage have significantly increased across the world. That reveals a strong correlation between media and women's low self-esteem.
Another negative impact of media is that it makes it difficult for women to be taken seriously in society and as a result, it becomes harder for women to climb the corporate ladder. For instance, in America, the women population accounts for 51% but only 23.7% are in congress (Sivulka, 2011). Studies show that in the workplace, women could have the same academic qualifications as their male counterparts but their looks will be more appreciated than their academics. There is a low number of women in a managerial positions in companies around the world and that is attributed to the gender misrepresentation that th...