This paper is adopts an analytic view on the various ways in which the media portrays women. The paper seeks to illustrate how media constructs the female gender and the influence it casts on the population. There is also an overview on my personal view on how media constructs the female ideal and the effects on the growing population. In general, the paper is attempts to instil the critical thinking by women on the way the media portrays the female gender. The sole purpose of the paper is to create awareness on women on how the media utilizes technological programs such as Photoshop in shaping images. This is in a bid to inject a critical thought on how women are therefore portrayed and therefore influence their thoughts into a more critical one. This will help deconstruct the thinking behind the masked ideals of the media.
Patterson et al. (12) define media as any social platform that allows communication through TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet and other platforms such as news agencies. The word media is widespread as it includes different gadgetry as in the computer world where it would encompass the data and various forms of collecting it. This paper will use the definition of media as advanced above (with reference to communication through TV, radio, internet, news agencies, newspapers and magazines).
Saguy and Abigail (8) report that one of the most striking inventions of man is the communication through media. Its propensity in reaching masses is striking. The media has for a long time been known to shape personalities and influence the way people do things. This is inclusive in the cultural effects on different parts of the world. For instance, media has been acknowledged by Saguy and Abigail (9) as the most infectious cultural determiner in US. Many cultures have been eroded through the media. Its power of influence has been utilized in various capacities ranging from politics, economics cultural influence and spreading different messages across the globe. Therefore, the power of the media industry is way beyond human imagination.
However, the same media which has greatly influenced the spread of information and shaping of cultures across the world has some deconstruction effects on personalities. Lim and Weng (35) assert that the media fraternity and its macabre have constructed the female gender as the object of “ideals”. The ideals here is expostulated as the standard yardstick upon which the value of things is measured to or equated to. Therefore, the allusion that is based or inclined on the beauty of the female gender has been the sole hold of commercial advertisements in the 21st century. Having interacted with various media platforms, I have personally had an insight into the various ways in which the media constructs the female gender. For instance, there are various magazines and newspapers in the world with over 80% female content than man content. Worse still is the fact that the woman is constructed in similar positions and inclination; through advertisements.
Women are seen to have very beautiful bodies, thin and curvaceous than is the normal and natural way. The media portrays the bodies of women in ways that is blemish less (Cohen 2). This means that even though the person portrayed in the media is showcased as the ideal beauty and model, the reality is that their images have been changed and formatted using Photoshop and other software. Lim and Weng (35) note that the images are often changed basing on psychology of the society. The society has the ideal which they aim to achieve and see. This is the basic rubric upon which the construction is based. The media will usually utilize the ignorance of the society by portraying the ideals in the images. This is done by complementing the images with the right skin colour and tone, wrinkles faces, charming faces and ‘deadly’ smiles which illustrate the happiness of self-accomplished female. To the ordinary citizen, the images form the ideal or that which is highly held by the society as the standard beauty. The same effect is manifested by my girlfriends and my mum who thinks the model shapes in TVs and other media platforms are the ideal bodies that they should have. They therefore ape and diet in bid to acquire body shapes similar to those on media. Most women will therefore ape and emulate the images through the purchase of the items being advertised without actually knowing that the image is a hoax (Cohen 23). This will satisfy the purpose of the images, which is to influence the consumer behaviour in adopting or buying the brand being advertised.
The world has been in a constant dynamism especially in the fashion and lifestyles industry (Patterson et al. 46). One of the most affected areas of human life is the fashion and the social lifestyle. Cohen (21) claims that from the mediaeval time beauty was one of the most highly held attributes of humankind. Although this was the case, there were no pre-determined model platforms or schemes of measuring beauty. Just as William Shakespeare once said, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” the saying seems to have lived on. However, the 21st century man has undergone a lot of metamorphosis in terms of the way he portrays women. Woman is portrayed through different social platforms and media as the ideal object of benevolence (Cohen 23). This means that the image of the woman is utilized in various categories especially in commerce. There are various pictures of women used in advertisements in magazines, newspapers and TV commercials. What is more striking is the fact that the images of these women do not reflect the true self. More often than not, the images are found to have undergone lots of editing and additions that see it through the construction of the ideal image.
Emotional abuse
A critical observation of the images reveals that most of the information contained in the images and the media have a lot of influence on the lives of most people. Cohen (11) holds that the thin model and “size eight” is the highest regarded shape and level of beauty that most young women aspire to achieve. Among the effects is the emotional abuse. Emotional abuse refers to any behaviour that is designed to control human beings through fear, intimidation, coercion, guilt and intimidation (Cohen 2). The emotional abuse is normally constructed on through emotional control rather than physical control. The construction of the ideal image of the woman has therefore been categorized by most [psychologists as emotional. This is because most women have admitted to have aped and been influenced by the TV advertisements and model shapes. Most young women spend lots of their time trying to look like the model shape and achieve the same levels of thinness by the standards. Bissell and Kimberly (18) note that, most w omen have ended up being frustrated due to failure to achieve the level of beauty standards as constructed by society.
The society holds the control over the level of beauty that is held by the media (Cohan & Alan 22). This therefore means that it is the same society that controls the level of behaviour that is manifested by the women folk in the society. Several women spend a lot of time dieting and trying to achieve the same level of thinness as those of the models. Saguy and Abigail (18) observe that most of the women who fail to achieve the ideal model shape tend to be depressed. Depression is assign of emotional abuse. The emotional abuse can be manifested through a number of ways. Sometimes the people concerned will often find themselves lacking confidence in their self-image. They will indulge in activities that try to ape others and are generally unsatisfied with their bodies and their appearances. Such people are emotionally unstable and are easily irked by small issues that pertain to their body. The extreme caution taken by women in trying to look like the model shape is therefore a form of emotional abuse that is instilled by the media’s construction of the ideal beauty.
Dieting and health implications
Dieting and health implications are another part where the media’s ideal shape and beauty have had an impact. Cohan and Alan (2) develop that dieting is one of reducing weight and achieving s healthy living style. While dieting is good for prevention of conditions such as obesity and excessive fatness in the body, extreme conditions of it may be disastrous to the body. Such is the predicament of most girls who are aspiring to achieve the ideal shape. Most women place themselves on diet for long and sometimes go without major food just to achieve the ideal figure without knowing that the extent of dieting which they indulge in is harmful; to their health. This as Patterson et al. (61) observe may have serious health issues to them. Twenty years ago the model size of weighed 8 times less than the average weight. However, the present model is deemed to w eight twenty three times than the average size (Black et al. 3). This means that the standards of the ideal beauty have been launched higher. Women are therefore found to emulate these standards without following the proper procedures ending up losing lots of body water and consequently being dehydrated. The health implications of the indulgence are therefore much high owing to the fact that the body requires the standard BMR to function properly.
Unattainable beauty
Reports from Barbie proportions have indicated that over 450, 000 Canadian women suffer from bad dieting practices. The research also showed that most women have the reason for the diet style to be the struggle to achieve the level of thinness and slenderness that is held as the ideal in the society. Most women were therefore antagonized by their shape and size. Saguy and Abigail (18) highlights that the shapes that have been held by the advertising companies and other media platforms have a low achievable capacity. The standards showed that very few women can actually achieve that level of size and thinness. The team also showed that a woman with such small size would actually suffer from chronic diarrhoea, fatigue, muscle crises, and the body would not support much of the upper body. The person would actually experience difficult in virtually almost all aspects of physiological activities. This confirms that the efforts of the women in trying to achieve extreme low eights through dieting, may cause problems rather than have that fulfilling shape.
The media’s construction of the female body as an inflatable balloon that is subtle and flexible in taking shapes cannot hold. In fact doctors advise that women should nit ape the media in trying to achieve the weight standards as portrayed. Bissell and Kimberly (11) advise that women should avoid the view of the external world on their personal appearance, but rather concentrate on their life activities. This will give them peace of mind and less issues to think of. Their bodies will achieve their own standards. Even though this is the case, the numbers of women who seek the ideal shape is still increasing day by day. This is a manifestation of the increased influence of the media industry in the lives of people.
Self-identity and self-concept
Self-concept refers to the personal uniqueness, ones beliefs, character, and generally how they conduct themselves in terms of social esteem, confidence and the self-expostulation before others in a social context (Black et al. 33). According to Sakr & Naomi (3), the social comparison theory advances that all human beings have the tendency to compare themselves with others. The comparison of oneself with others can take place in a two direction manner. One is the upward comparison and the other is the downward comparison. Sirgy and Joseph (66) expostulates that the comparison in an upwards trend results to people viewing themselves as having better qualities or traits than when compared on a downwards trend. For instance, the media models are held to be the ideal standards of beauty and shape that the average woman compares herself to. The average woman is therefore comparing herself on a downwards trend. This means that the model is on an upward scale as they represent the ideal standard of beauty that is held by the majority. The correlation with self-identity comes when the person concerned compares herself to the models. This means that the person will be dissatisfied with her body and therefore struggle to achieve the ideal that is highly held by the society.
Black et al. (23) note that the comparison that is adopted by most women in the world to the ideal model is responsible for the deconstruction of self-concept. Dissatisfaction with one’s body shape or weight is responsible for constructing the negative self-concept (Cohen 4). This means that the women concerned will figure themselves in a low esteem as compared to those people who are satisfied with their own self. Comparing oneself to the ideal model will influence the women’s take on issues; their character will be shaped by the level of comparison. Those who view themselves in an upwards scale will most often manifest signs of maturity, composure and satisfaction. Adachi-Mejia et al. (12) reports that most women who compare themselves on an upward scale will be happy with their bodies and therefore confident before the public or in any social context. The self-identity therefore will be constructed on the type of comparison that women put themselves onto. However, it is generally conceived that most women compare themselves on a down ward scale in relation to the media models of beauty. This has led to many people viewing themselves in a low scale than they are supposed to view themselves. Bissell and Kimberly (16) hold that this has to be responsible for the increased dieting and aping of the ways if the model women; virtually in every aspect of their lives.
Falsehood of the images
In 1969, a theorist and scholar, George Gabner advanced the cultivation theory. According to the theory, the TV and the media world construct the ideal images in their own media depicted formats, which have no relation or correlation to the reality in life. Adachi-Mejia et al. (34) observe that if one were to investigate the ways in which the media images were edited and shaped before being aired, they would wonder at the two contrasting images and personalities which are poised. The model of beauty therefore as advanced by most media houses and fraternities are therefore in most cases veneer dissimulations of the real self. Most of the images will undergo cutting and chunking of various parts which are to be constructed as per the ideals of the society. These areas are then replaced by colours, textures and graphically enhanced to achieve the societal aesthetic standard. The aesthetics of a society will form the basis upon which the image is finally settled.
Aesthetics in a society are transcendental but change with time. This means that what is aesthetically held as the ideal beauty as in the case of advertisements may not be the case in the near future. Therefore, women who compare ape the socially constructed ideals of the model beauty may find themselves sounding or appearing ridiculous in the eyes of subsequent generations (Sakr & Naomi 47). Women ought to understand that the images and the commercial advertisements that are run through the digital and non-digital platforms do not actually represent the natural person. Therefore, they should not antagonize over visually altered images in attempts to look like them. Better still they should be contented with their appearance as satisfaction and accepting oneself is the secret to self and internal satisfaction (Sirgy & Joseph 76).
Conclusion
The media constructs the image of the woman to coincide with the societal hold on the ideal beauty. This means that what the media portrays or airs to the public is the ideal that is compelling to the eye, and ultimately attract the attention of the majority. This is done so that the public can generate that highly held viewership of the programmes and achieve consumer influence. The advertisements also utilize the same ideological inclination towards using the ideal model women to advertise their products. In these advertisements, women’s images are taken and edited using highly sophisticated software to change the image and add some levels of furnishing. The images are therefore made to conform to the highest standards of beauty that the society aspires to uphold but do not have any correlation to the natural person. Women should therefore note this fact and stop utilizing their bodies through various activities that may be harmful. In the end the level of beauty that is constructed by the media may not be achieved, thus leading to self-depression and negative influence on their self-concept. Change will only occur to them when they acknowledge the secret to happiness and internal tranquillity-contentment with oneself.
Works cited
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