Representation of women in media - Research Paper Example

How Do the Media Depict Women and the Use of Photo-Shopping? Lecturer’s Due How the Media Depicts Women Women’s behavior andimage deeply ingrains in the global culture. The media heavily depends on the image of a woman as a way to promote products and services. Watching TV, reading magazines and newspapers, the media plasters the images of perfect bodied women on advertisements. The media uses women to sell almost everything from food, clothes to cars. The media sexually objectifies women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997).

Researchers report that magazines advertise more on women weight loss than that of men. The television and articles reinforce the importance of thin bodies as a measure of women’s value. Most actresses, cover models and ballet dancers (Slater & Tiggemann) weigh less than the average weight of a woman since the media advocates for slender bodies. Women and young girls use diet pills to lose weight (Moffitt & Szymanski, 2011).The use of Photography and Photo manipulationPictures describe many things; they display beauty, send a message or simply advertise something.

Photographs are a form of communication between the photographer and the audience. Marketers use photographs to advertise their products. People use photos to store information as a form of pictorial memory (Benson & Allen, 2009). Finally, photography can be implemented as a career, which a photographer sells the photos to make money or as a passion.On the other hand, photo manipulation involves altering a photo through a computer in order to improve its look or beauty. Journalists use photo manipulation for resizing photos and cropping images.

Secondly, it is also used to restore the structure of a damaged photograph. Thirdly, web designers use it for designing web layouts and navigation tools. It can be used to construct an intact website. Finally, photo shopping is a powerful animation tool.Works CitedBenson, Allen C.(2009) The Archival Photograph and Its Meaning: Formalisms for Modeling Images, Journal of Archival Organization, 7: 4, 148 — 187The author of the journal talks about the significance of archival photography and mention the purpose of photographs.

Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206.The author mentions the objectification theory on women and how the media uses women’s body as a sexual object.Moffitt, L. B., & Szymanski, D. M. (2011). Experiencing sexually objectifying environments: A qualitative study. The Counseling Psychologist, 39, 67-106.The author talks about sexual objectification of women.

The environment pushes women to view themselves as an asset.Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). A test of objectification theory in adolescent girls. Sex Roles, 49, 343-347.This is a study carried out to determine how women view themselves in the society and how the media alters a girls mind.Szymanski, D. M., Moffitt, L. B., & Carr, E. R. (2011). Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research. The Counseling Psychologist,39(1), 6-38.The journal is a comprehensive text that includes studies and information background on women objectification by the society.