My cultural background is Native American, Scottish, Irish, and Canadian; I have been taught a lot about our cultural background throughout my life. I have also been lucky in the area I grew up. I grew up in a very culturally diverse area. Many of my friends from elementary school through high school were from many different cultures. I grew up eating food at friends house that to this day I still cant pronounce.…
In today’s modern culture, many men and women suffer from a variety of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety and anorexia. Many of these psychological disorders can be prevented if society did not have preset standards for us to follow. For example, our society from an early age tells us that all women have to have a slim waist and be curvy. The controversial issues amongst women and their outward appearance can be found in “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” by Dave Barry as well as “The Pitfalls of Plastic surgery” Camille Paglia. In these two essays both writers put an emphasis on how the media often demoralize women by having preset standards of beauty, that threaten the female identity.…
The media has allowed others to expect that all women must have a perfect body. Young girls are seeing these messages and trying to mold themselves into these bodies. After this assignment, I was able to reflect how the media’s portrayal affects women’s self-esteem. We strive for unreachable expectations that aren’t real. They cause harm to a young girl’s self-image. I was also able to realize that ads and popular songs objectify women in a disgusting manner. It is upsetting to realize how many young girls listen and see these types of ads and songs. It is horrible that so many people are actually taking these fake images into consideration and striving for that type of body. By watching these films and applying them to real life examples, it has allowed me to understand that these issues are greater than we…
Women are also often objectified in particular, within men’s magazines, where a woman’s physical attractiveness is used to sell products or promote a brand. You can’t help but ask yourself why companies purposely choose to promote women as sexual objects within their advertising? You may have heard the phrase “sex sells” and sadly, it really does as it means large revenues for businesses. Through this society are unintentionally contributing to the objectification, sexualisation and exploitation of women in the media as we are allowing these companies to promote such a product through this representation of women and taking advantage of women by only focusing on their physical attractiveness rather than the qualities inside. Beauty should be a source of confidence, not anxiety. Us girls have the power to help the next generation of girls develop a positive relationship with the way they look, helping them to raise their self-esteem and confidence as well as reach their full potential without the pressures of women in the media shown to suggest the standards of beauty. Unattainable beauty. Young females need to learn how to overlook these negative messages the media is sending us in order to be happy within ourselves and not strive to be the media’s portrayal of “perfect”. We should be more grateful of our natural beauty. Having a negative view of our appearance impacts the choices in the friends that we make, the jobs we apply for, it impacts everything. It couldn’t be more critical to your happiness. We as young women spend a significant amount of time analysing and trying to fix the things that aren’t quite right and we should spend…
Even though, the modern media has had many positive impacts on our lives, when it comes to women’s image, especially in commercial advertisements and programs, it usually has such misleading interpretations about the perfect images of beauty and the happiness of women. Thus, many women who have already been struggling with their uncertain self-identities have become even more insecure and unsatisfied with their “imperfect” physical appearances and their unrealized “ideal” life styles. Therefore, the conflict about who they really are and whom they wish to be has caused such confusions that some women would lose touch with reality, and make decisions which can never bring them true happiness. In this paper, I will discuss the impact…
There have been discussions by researchers regarding how the media portrays us to what is beauty and thereby causing a person to be dissatisfied with their appearance, their weight and eating habits. (Levine&Murnen, 2009). The researchers have revealed as to what is considered beauty for women and teenage girls, and what standard they are using that complements what the media has used to define the beauty. In turn, they will use those standards as a means for evaluating their own level and rating of beauty. These women and teenage girls will then seek to achieve those standards so that family, peers and even strangers will be pleased with their appearance. (O’Brien et al., 2009; Thompson, Heinberg, et al.,…
Every day, thousands of teenage and college-aged girls flip through the pages of tabloids and fashion magazines, admiring the glossy images of models and celebrities. While this habit is seemingly casual and innocent, for many it becomes an obsession that is interlinked with a struggle to attain an ideal yet unrealistic body image. In their articles, Meredith Baker and Walter Vandereycken discuss the media’s influence on young women, agreeing that media exposure has a strong negative impact on young women’s self-esteem.…
Women have spent decades trying to become men’s equal in the United States, instead of being treated as objects. Now, the emphasis that our society has placed on appearance and body image has women yearning to be the prettiest, sexiest ‘objects’ around. As women look around in the world today, it is hard not to see advertisements or videos that suggest ‘beauty is everything’. The media is constantly turning attention onto young women with make-up caked faces and, even sometimes, underweight, unhealthy bodies. Esquire editor Alex Bilmes stated at a panel discussion on feminism “One of the things men like is a picture of pretty girls. So we provide them with pictures…
Even generations ago, my family members realized how difficult it was to fit in time to see distant family members. That’s why since my great grandmother was around, we’ve spent one day during the holiday season participating in what we call The Progressive. As the tradition goes, each family is required to prepare one part of the traditional five course meal, the assignment of which rotates between the families each year. Each family prepares their part of the meal and hosts it at their home, allowing the entire family to visit everyone’s home and “progress” through one giant five course meal throughout the course of the day. It has, without a doubt, provided some of my family’s favorite stories throughout the years while allowing us to reflect on the year’s past with each other. Although it has been around since my grandparents were children, it has changed drastically since it’s inception those many years ago.…
When I was much younger, I had the opportunity to live in rural Georgia. While living there I had the assumption, since I had medical insurance everyone else does too. During this time I made some friends of which I had learned their family did not have health insurance. This raised my awareness of various topics. The first was not everyone is the same and not everyone has what you have. Looking back after reading and the live classroom, I realize having health insurance was a privilege, and in my case could be considered an unearned privilege. This is due to the fact my health insurance, which was earned by my father who was serving in the US Air Force, was given to me because I was his dependent. Listening to the live classroom, I came across some similarities as my classmates.…
Culture is an important and vital component that defines who and what we are as a person. We interface with cultural difference on a daily basis. So what exactly is culture? Good Question! I will attempt to identify my own cultural and explain what cultural means to me. So, lets start by defining the term culture. “Culture is a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.”. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2015) My cultural identity consists of several parts. I am most foremost a female that has a variety of racial genetic makeup of African-American, Native American, and European descent. I was raised in a Christian religious household and in a primarily single parent home. I have a sister and a half brother on my father’s…
The concept of beauty is thought to define us. It is an important factor in the challenging journey towards finding the knowledge of oneself. It either distorts our perception of ourselves or helps us accept the person we really are. Beauty is superficially defined as being aesthetically pleasing but in actuality it is much more. Beauty is, according to Aristotle at least, truth. It is unchanging, invisible and cannot grow old. Many factors influence what we perceive holds beauty and this in turn influences how we see ourselves and our knowledge of self. The media in today’s society provides us with a bleak outlook on what is acceptable and ideal. It dictates the way we should act, look and even think. Role models used to be shapely and unique including the likes of Marilyn Monroe. In today’s day and age however, where ‘beautiful’ is all bones and sunken features, women like this would be considered ‘plus size’. We define ourselves and others with labels. ‘Fat’, ‘emo’, ‘anxious’ and ‘ordinary’ are used seemingly interchangeably with a person’s name. Social media also allows this to go a step further, providing a way to create a ‘second’ identity and present ourselves in a way that doesn’t represent truth in our ‘beauty’. This is the challenge however. Social media allowing us to do this destroys the truth in beauty, or at least one of its basic principles.…
I sat at the table, grumpy and confused. I look up to see a grinning face at me. Not a normal happy grin, but a big, goofy, “I know I’m being stupid” grin. The grin passed slowly around the table, my dad, mom, and two brothers stare at me intently, mouths wide, teeth showing. Finally I give in and let out a smile and a laugh.…
It is a small world after all. Going to different states, cities, or even just around your local neighborhood, you can find many different people and cultures. American society is filled with culturally diverse people who open us up to a new way of thinking and help us perceive other nations with a less myopic view. As a culturally diverse person like myself, I have always enjoyed learning about others and their background. A plethora of information can overwhelm my mind just by chatting with someone who is diverse culturally, academically, and economically. In the same way I have encountered a similar experience in high school that has changed my understanding of the Chinese heritage.…
It is estimated that “7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members” (Linton 1), which is an astounding ratio, and certainly used to encompass myself as a victim. Throughout my middle school and early high school years, I was incredibly self-conscious of my body, looks, and somewhat gauche personality. I was at least eight inches taller than most girls in middle school, and as a result was a bit more heavy-set in my anatomy. I felt as though I was hideous and intimidating in stature, and my shyness as a result of that led to me making few friends during those years. I felt isolated in my struggle, and did not…