Women today are constantly bombarded by media in one form or another. It could take the form of a fashion magazine, a favourite blog, a TV commercial, or a myriad of other sources. When in any public commercial setting such as a grocery store, a clothing store, or a hair salon, one is bound to see a plethora of magazines and various advertisements; most of them adorned by thin, happy models. Women see fashion models as the pinnacle of health and beauty, often feeling inadequate in comparison. They may strive to become like these women by radically changing their eating habits without fully understanding the potential risks and consequences. The inability to measure up to this idealistic body standard has also been linked to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The evolution, expansion, and ubiquity of technology has played a role in perpetuating an idealistic body image and bringing forth new methods to pursue it. An unrealistic body image has become an object of obsession for many women and this obsession is aiding in the development of physical and psychological disease among women.…
Glassmeyer addresses how our appearance-obsessed culture has facilitated an enormous incline in the pursuit of plastic surgery and consumption of weight loss products. Glassmeyer explains how transformation stories that drive body-enhancing advertisements captivate consumers with blandishments of beauty, improved self-image, and success. Recently, Glassmeyer describes, these industries have flourished and received more attention as individuals’ confidence in their bodies have plummeted. Glassmeyer clarifies…
This pressure is further exacerbated by the commercialization of the female body, with products and services promising to help individuals achieve the elusive thin ideal, reinforcing the notion that…
Iovative Health Sciences, Inc. is the owner of the diet supplement brand Hydroxycut. The company advertises through numerous media channels to reach its countless viewers. The Hydroxycut advertisements are most commonly visual images like commercials, billboards, and print ads that carry a voice all their own. With teen girls and young women being the majority of Hydroxycut’s audience it is only natural to focus on them and how Hydroxycut advertisements affect them. At this unripe but blossoming age, body image, how they see themselves, as well as how others see them is what primarily influences their self-esteem. Iovative Health Sciences, Inc. is mindful of this scenario, so they use it to their advantage by preying on young women’s insecurities and exploiting them. The British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, and journalist of the article Losing Bodies, Susie Orbach explains, “So deep and so pervasive is the sense that our bodies are not okay as they are that private organizations see profitable opportunities […]” (par.10). Day after day young women are exposed to Hydroxycut advertisements that tell them how they should think, feel, and look using convincing strategies to add to the already media induced thin ideal body image. Hydroxycut visual ads take part in molding this thin ideal and implementing it into the minds of teen girls and young women prompting them to turn to more drastic measures like eating disorders to fit this media influenced cultural standard.…
A stereotype is a predisposed idea about a group of people based on limited information you have heard or seen and assumed to be true about every individual in that group. In “Don’t Call Me a Hot Tamale,” Judith Ortiz Cofer describes how being Puerto Rican affects her every day. People make rude comments about her, based on her ethnicity, and without knowing her. Cofer describes how she was stereotyped in different situations. From being compared to a Latina character in a play to having her culture misinterpreted. She does not fight against this prevaricate ideas. Instead, she travels around the United States and reads from her books and poetry trying to clear stereotypes about Latinos. As Cofer describe “replace them with a more interesting set of realities” (Cofer 666). However, individuals are still being exaggerated categorized according to their culture.…
The pop culture of any area consists of many factors that ought to be considered when assessing the impact of any one specific icon. American pop culture specifically, has many symbols that represent the many different areas of pop culture and the preferences of the fans. Through an array of examples, the strong influence of celebrities on citizens of America can easily be seen through an analysis of the pop culture. The demographic, style, and behavior are three major areas in pop culture that most clearly show influence of major celebrities.…
The average woman is 5’4 and weighs 142 pounds (McDonnel 35). Many teenagers are aiming for that “model look.” Little do they know that the look that many models show off is unrealistic. Most of the time it’s photo shopped and put through a special design process (McDonnel 35). “The unnatural thinness is a terrible message to send out. The people watching the fashion shows are young impressionable woman “ explained van der Wal, a former Victoria’s Secret Model (Hellmich 1). Even former models are noticing how bad the present models have become.…
The perfect body in this magazine is portrayed as being completely flawless which is firm, tight and sexy. There are messages like “tone those flabby areas and become a healthier and happier person.” These magazines emphasize the fact that women need to exercise to tone their bodies to stay healthy, fit and happy. However, they focus their attention on indicating to women that they must tone specific parts of their bodies like their chest, gluteus, and thighs to attain the “perfect body” to stay healthy and…
Female models that are on billboards in Times Square have what you call a “perfect body.” But the ads that portray the perfect body don’t have a diverse body type and cause women to try to obtain that body type and hurt their body image. Victoria’s…
Nothing is found more sexually appealing than a model in a bathing suit. In the advertisement released by Xenadrine Ultra, it not only contains two transformation photos but also a famous reality television show actor and a model in a bikini. The quotes from both celebrity Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and bikini model Nicole Grenier discuss the use Xenadrine and the results. Grenier states that she lost 35 pounds and has never felt more beautiful. This attracts the overweight women in the audience. The insecurity of not feeling beautiful unless the viewer takes Xenadrine to lose confirms the manipulation and persuasion used in weight loss ads. Using ethos by having Ortiz-Magro, a young fit average weight actor reassuring the viewer that it works because he uses it, gives the viewer a sense of security. In the mind of the viewer, if the celebrity trusts it, so should they. Intelligently displaying an image of the Xenadrine box so that consumers know what to look for in the stores provided at the bottom of the ad that sell this product draws the viewers attention. The attractive man next to the young skinny model in a bikini is where the sex appeal is targeted. Most overweight people want to feel attractive, so displaying a woman who went through the transition who is now standing next to an attractive movie star makes the viewer believe that the dietary supplement formula will make them attractive.While the ad has a lot going on, it distracts the viewer from the fine print that reads all groups who participated in the studies of Xenadrine were on a calorie-reduced diet and sensible diet and exercise are essential for healthy weight loss. The fine print implies that although Xenadrine works, other measures were taken into effect to lose excessive weight in such a short period of…
"Peanut, peanut butter and jelly." Advertising has an impact on its audience. From songs to logos to characters, food product advertisers keep their audiences in mind. Competition is the force which causes advertisers to target children. Children are targeted through the use of cute phrases, animated characters, and toys in these competitive advertisements.…
The ideal body is a socially constructed concept which can be defined in many ways, all by different people. Regardless of which definition is used, it cannot be quantified and so it cannot be accurately compared. Body image is “the picture of our our own body which we form in our mind that is to say, the way in which the body appears to ourselves.” (Hogg, 752) The media, especially advertisements, have a large influence on women's body image. It’s a lot easier to sell people things when you’re secretly telling them that there’s something wrong with them and your product can fix them. Triggering women’s insecurities by selling them unattainable beauty is the golden rule to effective advertising. Essentially we are trapped in this never ending spiral of being told were not good enough. In result we should buy certain foods, certain clothing, certain brands to achieve this “perfect persona”.…
Today almost all women try to lose a few kilograms. But to tell the truth, every woman in the world wants to look like a top model. If they could only dream about a fantastic figure, it was ok. Unfortunately some of them try to achieve this, and sometimes it becomes a big problem.…
I’ve been lucky enough to come across someone who makes me feel great. My boyfriend, Ricardo Rumbaut, tends to make my day everyday. He may not be perfect but that is fine with me. He does carry some great qualities; as long as his unpleasant traits don’t take the best of him.…
Although the “Perfect” models that are used in theses advertisements help give a specific look towards a company, what the advertisers aren’t aware of is the negative effects that are created due to the standards the models’ bring. Through the models’ nearly perfect skin and toned bodies, the audience is tricked into believing that their bodies are the norm (Robertson, 2010, P. 4). Stated in the class lecture, 57% of the girls feel that media pressures them into having a perfect body. The perfect body set…