Everyday all over the world, people of all ages, see some form of media. Media is greatly influenced by societies’ interpretation of what it means to be male or female. Whether this is intentional or not, it remains true. This is a picture of my sister getting ready for school one morning. The picture represents how media and advertising affect teenage girls self image. Advertising companies portray femininity in a very narrow-minded fashion. Very few body types are used to represent women, therefore girls are made to believe from a young age that only certain images are accepted. In the photo, she is doing her hair and is surrounded by hair products, make-up, nail polish, etc that she has seen on tv and in magazines. The tabloid photos posted next to the mirrors represent the media itself and the constant influence it has on people. The images in the tabloid photos represent the images society is showing to girls. The hair products are all the different choices about her image she has to choose from on a day to day basis. Her back is to the camera as if she doesn’t care about how she is seen, yet she is looking towards the camera in the mirror because it truly does matter to her how she is seen by her peers. Even though she is only seeing herself in one mirror, there are three mirrors in the picture to make us realize that the way she sees herself everyday is especially important. Media is critical to the socialization of children and teenagers. It may be one of the most dangerous tools in society today.
5 comments:
i agree with this photo, because the media has a influence on teenagers and how they should look and what they should wear. And also saying if you want to be in the "in crowd" you need to have these things or have a body image of a model, this photo was perfectly done and the description was very well written.
Looking at this photo from a parental view makes me very sad. If I was this child's mother I defnitely would not allow such a young cild/teenager goto such extremes to try and beautify herself. Having the pictures from a magazine taped on her mirror wold also not be allowed. The picture is very accurate in that children are trying to achieve a perfect look as per what the media makes it. But as parents it is our job to teach our children that everyone is different and no one will ever look like the next person they see. I thnk it's very important that we teach our children, especially girls, at a young age about realism.
This picture is very strong in portraying the media the as a weapon of mass destruction. Nowadays teenagers are influenced by celebrities and by what the media creates. The media has created these beauty standards that are close to impossible to live up too. It seems as if the media takes advantage of teenagers because they are in that stage of finding themselves.
I believe that this photo does tell a story of what its like for young girls in society today. The magazines show these women who look flawless, and girls look at that thinking that is what they should look like. But in reality, there the photos in magazines have been photoshopped and that is why they appear to be flawless. Girls spend so much time on as a daily routine to try and fit in and look beautiful. ANd the comment about how she really does care about how others think about her is very true, especially since she is looking back in the mirror to see what others are thinking of her.
This picture definitely portrays what young women go through to feel pretty. However most of the time it doesn't seem like enough because the media creates this unrealistic idea of beauty. The more women try to achieve this, the lower their self esteem gets. I think the media needs to start showing more average looking women who aren't overly skinny and extremely air-brushed. It could help with many self-esteem issues in our society.
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