Print and commercial advertising impact young girls perception of self-esteem and body image.

Advertising from the 50's, 80's and 21st century.

     Over the years advertising has severely changed in how women are perceived. In the 50’s women were shown as submissive housewives who stayed at home to cook and clean. In the 80’s women were shown on billboards, magazine covers, and commercials in bathing suits. At the change of the 21^st century advertising towards women became that of displaying women as sex objects. They are barely clothed (sometimes even naked) with layers of makeup and a size 2 waist. Due to this “perfect” image the media has constructed over the years young girls have become more self-conscious about their body image and suffer from a loss of self-esteem. All because the media has this idea of what a girl/women should look like to be “perfect”, when perfection comes in many shapes and sizes.

 

 The changes in advertising over the decades have more negative effects than good.

      In the 1950’s the only advertising that included women had to do with the kitchen. Advertising consisted of either what to buy your lady for Christmas (a vacuum), her standing in front of a well-stocked fridge, or the husband saying “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the beer”. The very first Barbie was introduced in March 1959 in a bathing suit, with an hour glass figure, makeup, and in either blonde or brunette. Not too long after did Barbie receive a dream house and a nice floral housewife dress to please Ken. Afterwards that’s all you saw women wearing, make-up and swim suits in the 1980’s. Just about every ad that a women was in during that time were either advertising make-up or some other product but none the less still wearing a swim suit. Nowadays in the 21^st century all advertising is skinny, beautiful women seductively staring at the camera, barely clothed and covering their body. 

    One advertisement that made a huge outrage was the Marc Jacobs perfume ad with Dakota Fanning that was banned in Britain because it was “sexualizing a child”. Fanning at the time was only 17 and she own with an over-sized perfume bottle between her legs. This caused a storm of outrage from parents causing the ban to take place. Just in the last 60 years advertising has only fallen negatively to portray the image of women. Every decade that goes by women are shown with less clothes and more make-up. Everyone knows the term “sex sells” which was originally used to sell dull objects to attract the viewer to actually read the ad. While this may have worked for quite some time, over the years it is starting to dissipate and no longer be the case.

In the most recent generation young girls have shown an increased rate in body image issues.

    Nowadays girls have shown that they are dissatisfied with their bodies at age 9 and would like to be thinner at the age of 7. This is a scary statistic that is only becoming more prominent in the last few years.
Advertising does a good job in reinforcing these unrealistic ideas of beauty that are leading to the main cause in eating disorders, low self-esteem and even depression in young girls. In recent studies as many as 10-15% of the population suffers from eating disorders. Also, as little as 2% of women globally consider themselves to be beautiful. In order to avoid this it is extremely important to explain to young children that all these images and commercials they see are not real.


Time Magazine did a study that showed that nearly 80% of children have been on a diet by the time they are in fourth grade with the fear that children will only get younger and younger. Instructor Jessica Vooris with the Women Studies Department at the University of Maryland, College Park explains her opinion on why she thinks the media purposefully uses this "perfect" body image. I can even recall growing up I always thought my thighs were too large, because of the images I was always exposed to of these tiny models.

 

Many people and companies have recently tried to stop or educate these negative issues.

    Dove recently did a commercial showing how an average looking model has make-up put on and her hair done. They then set a fan to blow on her and take pictures which they then Photoshop and edit. This commercial is a prime example of the false advertising that our youth is exposed to everyday. You’ll hear little girls say all the time how they want to look like that, but how can they look like something that doesn’t even exist, but instead computer generated. Body image specialist and consultant for the Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty", Dr. Carla Rice, states that "Girls have their self-esteem undermined every day in our culture." which just goes to show you how badly advertising effects young girls.

     One amazing actress who is standing up to the media and refuses to lose weight to no longer appear as a “fat actress” is Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer did an interview with Elle magazine and stated "I’m never going to starve myself for a part… I don’t want little girls to be like, 'Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner.’” The actress has repeatedly had to speak out on behalf of her weight and being considered obese for Hollywood. However, most models if weighed would be considered anorexic by being below 15% of their normal weight which is unattainable for about 99% of women.

    Over the years women’s images in advertising have only gotten worse contributing to a huge problem that is very prominent nowadays. Although this is now an important issue that we should address and fix too many people are willing to ignore it and act as if it’s not a thing. Ask yourself if your own body image and how you perceive yourself has been influenced from the advertising you have been exposed to over the years, even as a man, as Jessica Vooris does. Would you want your younger siblings or future children to have to go through the same thing? With an increasing population of young adults with eating disorders we have no one else to blame, but the main reason why, print and commercial advertising.

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Print and commercial advertising impact young girls self-esteem and body image. (Outline)

(Thesis Draft)  Over the years advertising has severely changed in how women are perceived. In the 50’s women were shown as submissive housewives who stayed at home to cook and clean. In the 80’s women were shown everywhere in bathing suits. At the change of the 21^st century advertising towards women became that of displaying women as sex objects. They are barely clothed (sometimes even naked) with tons of makeup and a size 2 waist. Over the years young girls have become more self-conscious about their body image and suffer from a loss of self-esteem, all contributed to their exposure to this negative advertising of what a girl/women should look like. (Insert image here)

 The changes in advertising over the decades have more negative effects than good.

1.       Explain how advertising has changed over the years. (Use support from articles)

·         50’s, 80’s, 21^st century

2.       Explain how the change in advertising has gone downhill to reflect the image of women.

·         What was different about each few decades.

·         With more use of sex appeal how this has changed the view of women.

In the most recent generation young girls have shown an increased rate in body image issues.

1.       Use support from articles to explain how young girls have more self-esteem issues in recent years.

·         Statistical information

·         Include a brief statement of my own opinion

2.       The use of what is considered “the perfect body” have contributed to most of the effects.

·         Use examples of make-up, weight (must be skinny), lack of clothing.

*Add advertising examples and images

*Insert expert interview here in reference to their opinion on the issues and if they feel it has effected them growing up as well.

Many people and companies have recently tried to stop or educate these negative issues.

1.       Support from interview with actress Jennifer Lawrence.

·         Talks about how she is “fat” for Hollywood but she won’t lose weight just to conform

·         Sends the wrong image to girls

2.       Dove commercial showing how the model has make-up put on and then the image is changed on the computer. *add commercial link

·         Proof of how we are expected to look like something that is virtually impossible because computers edit the images.

(Conclusion) Over the years women’s images in advertising have only gotten worse contributing to a huge problem that is very prominent nowadays. Although this is now an important issue that we should address and fix too many people are willing to ignore it and act as if it’s not a thing. Ask yourself if your own body image and how you perceive yourself has been influenced from the advertising you have been exposed to over the years even as a guy. Would you want your younger siblings or future children to have to go through the same thing?

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North Korea applies strict media censorship to all mass media sources going against their own Constitution.

Imagine living in a world where you have no internet access, only eleven television stations to choose from and you can only read a specific newspaper based on your occupation. This is exactly what life is like living in North Korea which is also called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea although it is far from democratic with its strict censorship and complete government control. Mass media in its entirety is government controlled allowing no information in or out of the country other than an agreement made with Japan to share a few satellites.

North Korean government has strict censorship on all mass media and deviation from the official government is not tolerated.

Article 53 of the North Korean Constitution allows freedom of speech, press, etc. but, only when that speech is supporting the government or KWP objectives. All citizens are prohibited from listening to foreign broadcasting otherwise, they are severely punished. No external media is allowed free access to North Korea, keeping information both in and out. All of the mass media sources within North Korea are major carriers for information dissemination and political propaganda. Radio and TV’s are first set to a specific government channel and can only receive official programming that can’t receive any other stations unless designated. After buying a radio you have to have it checked and registered with the police. The government is even in control of artistic and academic circles or media.

In the mid 1993’s North Korea had only eleven TV stations, two dozen AM stations, ten FM stations and eight domestic shortwave stations. Out of that small out of radio stations compared to the U.S. thousands North Korea only has two main central stations. Newspapers are only published by two main companies and citizens are provided with a newspaper depending upon their occupation (government, army, teacher, railway worker). From 2004 to 2008 the use of mobile phones was banned in the whole country. Nowadays mobile phones are given 3G speed with no internet access and the government is starting to get strict again about phone policies with the potential to ban them again. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is responsible for gathering and disseminating news throughout the country.

Restrictions on the internet in North Korea go above and beyond extreme.

The internet in North Korea or rather lack of internet has no broadband network. A fake internet that is government controlled through “mosquito internet” which only allows the bare essentials in and out of the system is called Kwangmyong which some people are allowed to access from home or internet cafes. On this “internet” whenever Kim Jong Un’s name appears it is slightly bigger than the rest of the text in the article, not considerably but enough to notice. 

All computers in North Korea run on an operating system called Red Star that was in part made by the late Kim Jong Il himself and displays the year 101 rather than 2012. The year 101 represents how many years the Jong family has been the leader of North Korea. Within the whole country only elites, some academics and some scientists receive internet access and even fewer (about 13 families that are all related to the Jong’s) receive full unlimited and uncensored access. Journalists in North Korea who write articles for the “internet” have to be especially careful because for something as simple as a typo will have them sent to a revolutionisation camp.

Government censorship and restrictions all tie into how the country is run as a whole.

North Korea is run on a totalitarian, family dictatorship that controls the country and its people in all aspects. All property and things manufactured are owned by the state or cooperative organizations. Personal property only exits for socialist distribution that benefits the state and society expenses. Also stated in their Constitution is that any and all property is guaranteed by law as a right of inheritance. Article 70 of the Constitution states that citizens are assigned to their occupations based on their abilities. 

North Korean economy is one of the poorest and least developed countries despite being so strict. Each citizen is required to belong to at least one political organization. The people also cannot move whenever or to wherever they please but must apply for the right to and be given permission. The same works for weekend vacations and holidays that must go through the police and approved, otherwise you must wait for your vacation quota for the year. All countries relay on a different means of government and rules, while some are obviously more strict than others North Korea has definitely earned its rightful spot as the tenth strictest and second most censored country in the world.

File sharing gets artists music more widespread and gains them popularity.

     

  

     While the music industry thinks that file sharing is more harmful than beneficial they might want to start thinking otherwise. Even though with the wide spread of file sharing nowadays the music industry is losing some of its money plenty of people still buy their music. File sharing actually helps the artists music get out to more people and a wider spread of audience members especially if you’re an upcoming artist looking for popularity and fans. People are more inclined to show their friends a new song they downloaded by an unknown artist than one they bought by a popular one. Also, some music sites like Amazon or iTunes don’t sell songs by certain artists or specific songs by an artist. Artists are split down the middle as to whether file sharing of their songs is bad or good but those who aren’t in favor should research more on how it’s actually benefiting them in the long run.

All media including commericials, news reports, and movies tie into the functions of mass communication; surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission, and entertainment.

In today’s society there are 4 different functions of mass communication; surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission, and entertainment. With mass communication no longer being straightforward or easily definable these 4 categories are used to break down mass communication. Correlation, surveillance, and cultural transmission are the 3 main functions and entertainment ties all 3 main functions together. Correlation is used by the media to help society better understand its role on a larger scale. Uggs recently released a commercial with pro quarterback Tom Brady in hopes it will change society’s view that Uggs are only for women. Uggs have always attracted more women buyers even though they’ve had a men’s line for just as long. They hope those who know who Tom Brady is will probably think that if Brady can wear them and look cool so can the average male. What was interesting however is that the commercial has Brady in different pairs of shoes that are “Uggs” but the commercial never in fact shows the brand name on his shoes. How does society know it’s not being tricked into just thinking he’s wearing Uggs when in fact he is not and only endorsing them. This is importantly tied into correlation because the media is hoping to change the beliefs of some society members that possibly thing male Uggs are not cool. Surveillance is mostly journalism stories that inform society about the events and issues occurring in the world. ABCNews did a report on the update of the navy yard shooting and the shooter on Thursday morning (9/19) which is also important because media is deciding which stories are important for society and the public to know about. ABC announced to the public that the navy yard was once again open and that the shooter (Alexis) was undergoing psychiatric testing due to “voices” he was hearing and the messages he left on his gun. The most intriguing part of the report was when the reporter informs the public that although Alexis claimed to be hearing voices and having microwaves keeping him up at night these reports were never taken up the chain of command to be further investigated. Lastly cultural transmission is showing the next generation or an immigrant the dominant culture and how to fit into society. The movie Coming to America has a great scene that demonstrates cultural transmission. The main character, Prince Akeem has come over to America from Africa and in hopes to try and fit in better with American society he tries talking to his boss about football. After describing football as a “contest” with an “oblong ball made of pig skin” and a “big H” his boss stares at him and tells him that if he wishes to keep his job to “stay off the drugs”.  Although Akeem is trying to allow American society to change him so that he can fit in it’s not working at all because people within American society as still looking at him oddly. It’s interesting how through socialization he is still not picking up on what is socially acceptable. The functions of mass communication play a huge role in everyone’s lives whether they notice or not and each function has its own special role to play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAbR4Cml0QA  (Tom Brady Uggs commercial)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_YiQBtUJsw&list=TLeLfSJ9eAu9k (Navy yard shooting news)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI7M4Om2ITw (Coming to America-Football Scene)