Portrayal Of Women In The Media

For decades now, people have debated the negative ways that images we see in media impact the way we perceive ourselves when it comes to beauty ideals and expectations. Today's beauty standards of women have been created by advertisments and photos in the media, that portray unrealistic images of beauty. A 2004 study showed that, 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful, and 90% of women would change at least one thing about their physical appearance (Brodbeck 2007). According to the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, 82 percent of women feel the beauty standards set by social media are unrealistic, and almost three quarters of women believe social media comments critiquing women’s beauty are destructive to their self-esteem (Brodbeck 2007). A Dove study showed that, when girls feel bad about their looks more than 70% avoid normal daily activities such as attending school, going to the doctor, or even giving their opinion (Brodbeck 2007).
Images of women in the media are manipulated so dramatically these days that it can feel like being beautiful is less and less attainable. Some of the media’s portrayals of how women should look are unhealthy and unattainable, but this still hasn’t stopped America from sharing their media ideals, and many girls judge themselves by the beauty industry’s standards. A study from Psychology of Popular Media Culture showed that about 50% of girls and women are dissatisfied with their bodies (Markey, Markey 2012). Many argue that the overwhelming presence of media images, of painfully thin women means that real girls’ bodies have become invisible in the media. The desirability to be what the media shows as beautiful or mainstream destroys young women’s