Midterm

How the Media Gives Young Girls the Wrong Motivation

We consume so many hours of media each and everyday; through television commercials and TV shows, music videos, videogames, magazines and ads throughout the subway and billboards.

To say that we are not affected by something that surrounds us for endless hours throughout the day would be a lie. The biggest concern about media consumption is the effect it is having on adolescent females or females in general. The media is pushing an image of an ideal female that simply does not exist. As young girls and women shift their motivations to strive to achieve this ideal female they fail; with failure comes low self-esteem and depression.

These ads show young girls that they must work extremely hard to be thin, sexy, submissive, and anything other than that idea would be considered unacceptable.

Killing Us Softly is a series of documentaries created by Jean Kilbourne. She goes on to discuss how the current media ads negatively affect young women. These ads push to sexualize girls at an early age, teach girls that they are merely objects with no intellect attached, how they must always be the submissive one, and that their value is solely based on their appearance. Studies have linked early exposure to sexualized images with 3 common mental health problems: depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem.

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These ads show only thin women who are almost always in a sexual position or being objectified, hacked apart, brutalized, murdered, or criticized for their appearance.

TV shows, commercials, and ads are harmless and cannot have that big of an effect some people might argue. This is something the growing field of media psychology is examining. A study was conducted in Fiji to see the effects westernized television had on adolescent females’ identity and body image.

Before the introduction of television the Fijian culture supported eating hardy. It was normal for individuals to have a “robust appetite” and normal for women to have a “robust body shape” or heavy build. In fact having large bodies was seen in a positive way. It demonstrated that you were a hard worker and displayed to others that you knew how to “care or nurture” someone. Eating disorders were rare to nonexistent in this part of Fiji.

Three years after the introduction of television the young girls had beliefs that they should reshape their bodies to resemble those they see on the television. There was an increase desire to loose weight, exercise, and eat much less. Disordered eating was much more prevalent in Fiji now.

Based on the interviews conducted some of the young girls stated:

“they look so sexy, and I know they look nice. The way they act on television, I like it. I have to act like them.”

“I want to become those women. Slim and tall, I’m losing my weight, I’m trying to be like them”

“I see the ads in the television, and I admire their fitness, their sizes.”

“Most of the times when I eat, I sometimes want to vomit it out. But, most times I miss my meals. And sometimes I walk in the farm, very heavy walk, so I know for myself that I am losing my weight”.

The introduction of western television has wiped out the Fijian traditional identity that being “robust” was acceptable.

Jennifer Siebel Newson is the creator of the film Miss Representation. On this Ted Talk she discusses some of her motivates behind creating the film which was to educate individuals about the harmful effects the media is having on young girls and boys. She also talks about how this idea stemmed from her having her children and the fear she experienced about the effects the media will have on them.

The videos, ads, and research presented is enough to bring light to the notion that a big change is needed to correct the poor message the media is sending out to young girls.

Here are links to the full Jean Kilbourne documentaries:

Here is the link to the Peer Reviewed Journal discussed:

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