The media has a way of portraying how people, both men and women are supposed to look and act. But does this really help our society?
There are still many stereotypes of women in the media, they are defined by how men see them and how society expects them to look and behave. Looks and appearance are the highest points of judgement women face today. Peoples views also are based around sexuality and relationships and even pushed to the point viewers want to be them or dislike them for not fitting in with the media norms of beauty and trends. If a magazine, for example, is criticizing the way a female celebrity looks after gaining 2 pounds, when still at a healthy weight, how are young girls supposed to remain happy with the way they look? Heat magazine for example is constantly putting celebrities down for their size or the way they dress. This does not give females a good image of what is so called, the wrong and right way to look. Surely they should be producing articles to reassure people that health comes first and everybody is beautiful in their own way? But no, females in the media are represented to be perfect without any faults and many flaws thanks to the altering of Photoshop. In a way women are portrayed to be sexual objects as in the media if you don't have the perfect flat tummy or the flawless airbrushed skin and the gleaming pearly whites, what are you? its all down to judgement and whats considered 'perfect'.
The article on the cover 'insta-scam' shows the way that celebrities alter their looks on social media due to the pressure of tabloids and other media sources. The celebrities where quizzed on why they still feel the need to edit their Instagram pictures and not show their real selves; most of their responses where the same and proved nobody is their 'real selves' when it comes to media due to the high expectations that have been placed on society.
This can also be related to men's magazines such as Men's Health. A picture of a male model on the front, muscles out, not an ounce of fat on show. It gives the male population false hope. That is not a natural way to look and actually becoming that way can cause more ill health that not having a six pack. The way men are portrayed to look in magazines can cause men to take steroids, the drug that can cause more damage than good trying to achieve the desired muscular physique. Not all men have to be all muscles to be healthy and happy but with thousands of magazines out there showing the opposite, how are they supposed to be happy in themselves? Not only this men and women are given aspirational and unrealistic role models to aspire to which is a breach in reality as not many people are actually going to look like what is represented in the media. These glorified illustrations put negative thoughts into peoples heads about how they look as this image is what is suggested to be 'sexually attractive' and the correct way to look when seeking women, it also sets women's expectations very high. The media this week described a new psychological disorder in men called 'bigerexia' which is when men become obsessed with using the gym and building muscle bulk through the use of steroids. This shows that body abuse affects both genders and is driven by media representations.
Men's Health is voted the best men's magazine since 2010. 'The new insanity workout no weights and a body like this' this is expressed to be an easy form of weight loss but when do you draw the line between getting healthy and becoming self obsessed? when does it become an addiction trying to look like the people you see in the magazines?, in reality nobody is going to look like that from following an article but the way the media is portraying this makes people think that they will end up like that super fit man on the cover which everybody envies.
The worst aspect of the media, is it is not just the way people are meant to look that is displayed, but also the roles in which people should take are pushed upon people in article after article. It is sad to think that in 2015 there are still media sites that believe woman belong at home, looking after children, doing the cleaning and preparing dinner for when the gentleman gets home from work. Men are made out to be the toughest sex out of males and females and therefore should earn the money for the family to live, but who says woman cannot earn their own money and don't deserve the same financial freedom as men? Magazines, documentaries, newspapers and the internet, that's who. This is how gender is defined and represented in the media all the time and it doesn't seem to be changing for the better only getting worse and showing this generation the vanity and judgmental views of society in the world today.
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