Televisions, billboards, magazines, ads of every sort are everywhere we look. In these ads are the woman’s persona of how they should look and act. Stereotypically the ads make us believe women are supposed to be sexy, great career driven super mothers, and the perfect wife. Advertisement conveys a negative influence on all women and the way they should represent themselves and how their body should look according to how the advertisement portrays them.
Women in advertisements weren’t always portrayed as this “superwoman” who does it all. These ads still had a stereotypical aspect to them. They showed women as innocent, quiet and weak individuals who cooked and cleaned for her husband. Today the women are showed to be a great mother, wife, and career driven. The clichéd forms of women from the past have disappeared to only have new ones take their place, while some have not changed at all. Because of the feminists movement the image of a women in today’s society has revolutionized from the past. Although the women are moving up and are seen as stronger than before they are now seen as a role that is near impossible to fulfill.
To be the perfect women of today’s advertisement they have to be in shape, cook, clean, work, laundry, take care of the kids, keep the husband happy, and look good. As a result women are more stressed than ever trying to fulfill all of the requirements because this is what they believe will make them happy. Between Victoria Secret and Olay commercials there is so much influence on just how a women should look conditioning them to believe if they aren’t a certain way then they aren’t pretty, not to mention all the reality shows telling girls that acting like a bitch and always having their way could land them on TV someday.
In attempt to sell their products, advertisers put emphasis on sexuality and the importance of physical attractiveness. The idea that thin is in is everywhere, and every where there is magazine articles boasting about who has the best beach body, or who needs to lose some weight. According to researchers, today’s fashion models weigh 23% less then the average female. According to communications theories, repeated exposure to media content leads viewers to begin to accept media portrayals as representations of reality. (e.g., cultivation theory: Gerbner, Gross, & Morgan, 2002; social learning theory: J. D. Brown, 2002) This leads to young girls and women to think that this way women look in the media is the way they should look.
The effect of advertisers using overly thin, and beautiful women in their ads sends a damaging message. Teen aged girls and women everywhere are feeling obligated from this endless exposure to thin models and celebrities. In a recent survey by Teen People magazine, 27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body. Through ads young females are subjected to the idea that their body is not perfect because of what a magazine or model on television says leaving them feeling unhappy with themselves, everyone should be happy with their own body image.
Advertising has a negative influence on women by making society think that the way they are portrayed in ads with amazing bodies and the role of a women who does it all is the way they are suppose to be. This sends a damaging idea that puts stress on women and also can even be harmful to their health. Although advertisement is necessary there should not be such a stress on the importance of a woman’s body image just to sell a product.
Works Cited
Butler-Paisley, Matilda, CA. Inst. for Communication Research. Stanford Univ., and Others And. Image of Women in Advertisements: A Preliminary Study of Avenues for Change. 1975. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
Claiborne, Keri. “The Effects of Manipulative Advertising on Society.” AE Forum. Web. 14, Dec. 1998. Pg. 3. 28, Oct. 2010.
“Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising.” HealthyPlace.com. 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
Grabe, Shelly, L. Monique Ward, and Janet Shibley Hyde. "The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies." Psychological Bulletin 134.3 (2008): 460-476. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010
Cited: Butler-Paisley, Matilda, CA. Inst. for Communication Research. Stanford Univ., and Others And. Image of Women in Advertisements: A Preliminary Study of Avenues for Change. 1975. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. Claiborne, Keri. “The Effects of Manipulative Advertising on Society.” AE Forum. Web. 14, Dec. 1998. Pg. 3. 28, Oct. 2010. “Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising.” HealthyPlace.com. 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. Grabe, Shelly, L. Monique Ward, and Janet Shibley Hyde. "The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies." Psychological Bulletin 134.3 (2008): 460-476. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010
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