Media and Body Image - Research Paper Example

Media and Body Image Media, the most pervasive and powerful influence on how men and women are viewed, often communicates images of sexes that mostly propagate perceptions that are unrealistic, stereotypical and limiting. Magazines, for instance, have such a great appeal on audiences, especially with their glossy pictures and lead articles whose messages they impose on the readers unwittingly; at every turn of the next page, magazines insinuate their messages into the readers’ consciousness without their knowledge. Unfortunately, the images portrayed by these messages and vice versa have been accepted and normalized as the cultural standard for societies all over the world. In that regard, people have become victims of the media sources like magazines because they police and construct ideas on standards from fashion to everything in life. From an evaluation of the pictures and articles in the vogue magazine, it is clear that the media polices and constructs certain body images for both men and women; these body images are deliberate because audiences need something to feed on, to keep on reading the magazines, and the magazines themselves deliver just that. It is apparent that media treats the male and female body images differently, in addition to treating body images of heavy people and thin people differently. Evidently, all these body images pass across some subtle yet firm messages that reflect gendered societal views about both men and women; in that case, media constructs truths about life, thus, it is the most powerful influence on how both men and women often view themselves. There are clear indications that the Vogue magazine applies different standards in its portrayal of the body images for both males and females from the manner in which it portrays them differently. On a wider scope, the body images of both men and women in this magazine depict the sexes in stereotypical ways that constrain the readers’ perceptions of the limitless human possibilities. For instance, the body image of males in the vogue magazine depicts them as lively, powerful, daring, sexually aggressive and most importantly, they are depicted as being deeply involved and playing extremely important roles in human relationships (Horowitz). This magazine imposes this body image as the universal standard for males and as a result, it is consistent with the cultural views of males in society; however, the actual reality in the wider population is different. Truth of the matter is there are all sorts of imperfections in the body image of males in the general population; for instance, not all male are adventurous, active, powerful, sexually aggressive, and largely involved in human relationships. In the general population, you are sure to find males who are passive, incompetent, weak, dependent, and uninvolved in human relationships; however, these body images are not societal ideals because the media propagates distorted truths concerning standards. Contrary to the males, the female body image portrays them as generally young, very thin, passive, dependent, and uncompetitive (Woods); these images largely portray the females as sex objects who spent most of their time enhancing their body shapes and appearances to look beautiful. The female body image is highly policed by the magazine, and for that matter, it is subject to stringent standards of measure, slightly exaggerated than those applied to the male body image. For instance, thin beauty is highly regarded as the ideal measure of true beauty when it comes to females; pictures of female models in the vogue magazine depicts them as thin beauties with slender body structures as opposed to heavy body frames. In this regard, thin beauty is the ideal standard for females because magazines have portrayed it as normal and desirable for both sexes; this normalization is attributable to the pervasive influence of media on society and cultural standards. In addition to that, youthfulness is yet another key feature of the body image for females in the vogue magazine; it may appear that there are no older women in the general population but that is not true. In that regard, the magazine portrays youthfulness and beauty as the ideal and most desirable features in the female body image (Gay). Unlike the male body image, which portrays them as powerful and active, the female body image portrays women as passive and dependable; this is consistent with the gendered cultural perspectives of masculinity and femininity that puts men in charge while females take up homemaking roles. This sort of misrepresentation of the sexes distorts the reality and is not a true reflection of the actual situation in the general population; truth is you are sure to find older and heavy women who are independent in the masses. However, aggressiveness and independence in females is associated with a loss of femininity according to the gendered perspectives of the sexes. Given that thin beauty desirable for the females, it is evident that the Vogue magazine treats heavy people differently from thin people, and this further propagates the idea that they are not beautiful enough. In this regard, thin people are treated as beautiful models and women devote most of their time on diets trying to achieve that ideal body size to enhance their beauty by losing extra weight. Heavy weight is demonized by society because media has created the illusion that being fat is synonymous with being ugly; consequently, heavy people are treated with scorn and prejudice for their heavy weight. The magazine also propagates this illusion by treating thin people differently, as the models of ideal beauty, while largely underrepresenting the heavy people. There are very few pictures of fat people in the magazine that someone might easily be deluded into thinking there are no heavy people in the population. The only possible justification for the underrepresentation of heavy people in the magazine is probably because they are not as appealing as the thin people are, according to the set standards of measuring beauty. In that case, the magazine portrays thin people as the cultural standard and this is a gross misrepresentation of truth because different cultures perceive beauty differently and there can be no universal measure of the ideal beauty. The messages portrayed by the body images in this magazine have very clear and precise implications on peoples’ views of what men and women should look like because like any media, the magazine has a profound capacity to distort peoples’ perception of reality. As it is emerging, masculinity and femininity in males and females respectively is a very desirable quality in life. Both male and female body images have to conform to certain standards of masculinity and femininity respectively, which are a reflection of the gendered perspectives of the appropriate way of conduct for the different sexes. The most resounding message from these body images is that men are the cultural standard because they dominate the females in important roles and appearances; the overrepresentation of males gives the impression that men are more dominant than females. This is consistent with the gendered cultural perspective of the roles of both males and females; males should take charge and be involved as the leaders of womenfolk. In that regard, the males must be aggressive, dominant, and engaged in exciting activities that contribute greatly to human relationships to retain their masculinity; according to this body image, there are no gray areas for the males because they are portrayed as the cultural standard. Gentleness in males is not desirable at all because according to the cultural standard of masculinity they have to be independent, aggressive, powerful, confident, and competent; in this regard, established males are those that are tough, and distanced from the pack. This media stereotyping of the males created by the extreme masculinity media further reinforces the traditional cultural perspectives of masculinity. Women on the other hand are perhaps the most unfairly misrepresented victims of media body images, which are limited to the traditional stereotypical perceptions of femininity; the message being passed here is that women can only be successful if they embrace feminine aspects such as subservience, passivity, and beauty (Yaeger), while standing beside a man. Therefore, the females are generally perceived as dependent, incompetent, passive sex objects whose role is to take care of others; this sexual objectification of the females as depicted by the female body image in the magazine implies that women are merely objects to be valued for their use by others. The female body image is thus perceived only in terms of its beauty and nothing else beyond that in terms of important roles in human relationships. The message portrayed by the magazines insistence on thin models is rather direct and clear, that thin women are more appealing than heavy ones because thin bodies are more desirable by men. In this regard, thinness is portrayed as the cultural standard of beauty, that for one to be considered beautiful by the cultural standards, they should have thin bodies because thinness is more desirable. These media body images of men and women communicate some subtle yet provocative messages of the intricate relationships between the sexes; generally, key aspects that characterize these relationships are women’s dependence versus men’s independence, men’s authority versus women’s incompetence. According to these body images, men are independent and they provide securities for women who rely on them on virtually everything; in this regard, men must perform and succeed to earn their worth but women’s’ worth is only unleashed through their beauty. The aspect of incompetence comes out forcefully too, that women need to be saved from their incompetence by their male counterparts because men are the competent authorities who perform and succeed against all odds. Additionally, these body images typify women as the primary caregivers and males as the breadwinners; women feature predominantly in the traditional feminine roles as homemakers, mothers, and wives and their expertise is only limited to specific areas such as nutrition, childcare, and housework (Sullivan). Most of the pieces in the magazine emphasize the role of women as caregivers who must devote their time in pleasing others, and the males are at the central focus; for instance, advertisements focus on how to look good and appealing, how to remain young and beautiful, how to cook good meals, among other things that please the males. From this perspective, it simply means that women focus on others all the time while men focus on their work away from homes because they are the breadwinners for their families. Nevertheless, another factor that comes into play from the portrayal of the relationship between the sexes is the depiction of females as victims of their own beauty, passivity, and sexiness (Johnson), while the males are the aggressors due to their aggressiveness, dominance, and active sexuality. This implies that females are only perceived in terms of their bodies and how males treat them because their individuality does not matter so much in a male dominated society, where brashness and aggressiveness in women is associated with a loss of femininity. Ultimately, having looked at the pictures and articles in the Vogue magazine, it is clear that media often communicates images of sexes that mostly propagate perceptions that are unrealistic, stereotypical and limiting. Unfortunately, media is the most pervasive and powerful influence on people’s perceptions concerning men and women, which largely are typical traditional gendered perspectives that have been reinforced over time as the cultural standard. Body images for males and females are treated differently in all aspects; whereas nudity, thinness, and youthfulness are the desirable features of female body images, aggressive sexuality, confidence, and built physique are the desirable features in males. Thin people are idolized as the models of beauty while heavy people are the subjects of scorn and are underrepresented in media because of their unattractiveness. Generally, the body image of males in the vogue magazine depicts them as lively, powerful, daring, sexually aggressive, and involved while the females are young, very thin, passive, dependent, and uncompetitive. These body images of both men and women in this magazine depict the sexes in stereotypical ways that constrain the readers’ perceptions of the limitless human possibilities. Works Cited Woods, Vicky. “Kate Winslet On Her New Love, New Movies, and New Life”. Vogue Magazine. October 15, 2013. Web. October 18, 2013 Sullivan, Robert. “Samantha Power Takes on the Job of a Lifetime as Ambassador to the U.N”. Vogue Magazine. October 14, 2013. October 18, 2013 Yaeger, Lynn. Going Solo: The Delicate Impact of a Single-Strand Necklace. Vogue Magazine. October 09, 2013. October 18, 2013 Horowitz, Jason. Could Republican Senator Rand Paul Win the White House? Vogue Magazine. September 16, 2013. October 18, 2013 http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/republican-senator-rand-paul-for-president/#1 Johnson, Rebecca. A Captives Tale: Amanda Lindhout on the Story of Her Somalia Kidnapping. Vogue Magazine. September 09, 2013. October 18, 2013 Gay, Jason. Sandra Bullock Is On Top of The World with Her New Film Gravity. Vogue Magazine. September 17, 2013. October 18, 2013 Read More