What Has Happened to the Culturally-Shaped Body in the Postmodern Society - Coursework Example

Question. What has happened to the culturally-shaped body in the postmodern society? Analyse contemporary representations of the body in your answer Introduction Media has offered the companies with better opportunities to advertise their product. The advent of media and the unlimited access of the public towards media have provided the companies to commercialize their products in an effective manner. Media is an icon for the common public that offers entertainment and updates to the public, and these important features have made it quite popular among the public (Leon, 2006). The technological development is responsible for the up gradation of the media, and it has been able to successfully capture the focus and attention of the public. In the present situations, media has adopted diversified roles, and has therefore got immense popularity among the public, the media had offered much beyond entertainment to its viewers and readers, and has included different programs and articles with particular reference to business, modern technology, healthcare, space and many other happenings around the world (Arthur, 2005). The commercialization of the media is regarded as the excessive involvement of the advertisements into product, in the present days very element within the media is in quest to secure maximum financial gains through advertisement campaigns, but such media agencies have been cautious enough not to affect the quality of their product, and therefore such advertisement campaigns are preferred through which maximum financial benefits can be achieved by the media (Tharp, 2001). Discussion The advertisement plans has adopted a major shift, the focus from the publication of the characteristics of the brand has shifted to the psychological needs of the consumer. The consumer of the specific brand is highlighted for the brand promotion purpose, against the attributions of the brand itself. It is common to observe the photographs of the female models with every brand advertisement, the women body adds more spice to the brand, and be it foods or automobiles. The advertisement industry has observed success in their brand promotion for specific campaigns that involved women models in particular. Several factors have been identified which shall bring about appropriate understanding of the women inclusion on brand promotion i.e. the women itself is source of attraction for the male consumers, therefore the inclusion of the women in any of the advertisement ensures reasonable market shares of the male community. The women portrayed in these brands are glamorous and sexy; such projection is regarded as the convenient method for the brand promotion (Tharp, 2001). The inclusion of the glamorous women also secures the market share of the female community. The sexy and attractive female models become source of inspiration for the female community, and this motivates them to look like these, such concept has been major success in the cosmetic and jewellery industry. The female constitutes more than sixty percent of the entire population, and such figurative and illustrious projection of beauty and glory capsulate majority of the market share (Arthur, 2005). The popular brands have tried to captivate the focus and attention of the readers, and have displayed the photograph of female models. The sense of sensuality and sexuality has been provoked through sexy and mesmerizing photographs of the models in invigorating dress. The vigour and drive towards the brand has been successfully achieved through the colourful and exuberant photographs of the models. The element of contemporary fashion is always transitional, therefore products associated with arts and fashion are expected to experience continuous shuffle with the passage of time, under the influence of technology (Tharp, 2001). The fashion designing has been a subject which has transformed with the passage of time, and the transformation of the products is not subject to the conditions and expectations of the market, rather such reforms have evolved due to the variety of options available through technology for designing industries. The images published in the article are placed at significant positions; therefore photographs are the major highlight of the article. The strategy has served as medium to express and communicate the active state of the company to the readers. From the perspective of many fashion oriented readers, they prefer pictorial communication over textual description, therefore the collection of such photographs and their placement has potential to motivate the reader towards the product, without reading the entire article (Arthur, 2005). The advertisement is the reflection of the fact that product is more meaningful then the text often published and printed in the advertisement for the description of the brand, the brand is itself self explanatory (Larry, 2006). The brand shall therefore try to facilitate the customers in the best possible option, and for that purpose different items has been exposed which are in lieu with the taste buds of the customers. According to the market analysis, the quality of the brand and services offered by the company has shown remarkable improvement, but the brands are further struggling towards personifying the introduced products in such sophisticated manner, so as to attract the focus and interest of the customers (Brain, 2001). The fashion is a message which is never received, but always delivered; therefore in such area the market has the option to invest its thoughts and finances for the fabrication of the goods which are coherent to the likeness of the market and in lieu with the technological advents, not to their need. Fashion is not a need; it has been a source of pleasure which is attainable through inquisitive ideas and uniqueness i.e. the motive of technology (Brain, 2001). The companies relevant to such profession are able to secure market share through their deep involvement and commitment towards the market, not to their need. The nature of advertisement is professional, and no glittering and coloured features are related to the advertisement, which is as per the business decorum, which is maintained and practiced when two companies are on the course of affiliation. The simple nature of the advertisement is the reflection of the partnership building measure, when any superficial and coloured advertisement is ignored to place the record and the status of the relationship straight and transparent (Ronald, 2006). The culturally shaped body has transformed and exploited. The female models were previously considered to be the projection of peace, fair, tranquillity and love, however now the projection has made major shift. The female models are the representation of sex, nudity, figure and lust. Such transformation has severely affected the social standing and contribution of the females within the society (Ronald, 2006). The projection of cultured women was restricted to wise and sophisticated character, which now includes characteristic features of vanity and nudity. Such projection has affected the health of the female population on massive scale. The projection of the females as icon of beauty, with thin body has although successfully resulted in cash flows for the brands, but it has influenced the female viewers to an extent that women population is struggling for such figure to gain public focus and attention (Brain, 2001). It is important to understand that the deviation from the cultural-shaped body in the post-modern world. The standards of the beauty have been imposed upon the women, and this has primarily resulted in the repeated health issues. The Quebec Action Network for Women’s Health has stated that "the age is a disaster that needs to be dealt with" (Peyton, 2002). The advertisement campaigns have injected the concept of consistent beauty and thin-outlook, this has adverse impact on the diet of the female, " diet industry alone is worth anywhere between USD 40-100billion (Leon, 2006). The aggressive marketing campaigns have developed strong aptitude of the female towards sexy and attractive outlook, it is therefore important for the female to ignore the ideology branded in the advertisement, and rather focus upon the traditional role of the women. It is known that an average model spend large amount of time and money to achieve desired outlook, which seems impractical for the working women to achieve. The women shall strongly adhere to their cultural role; the current role being publicly advertised is for the sake of brand promotion (Ronald, 2006). The post modern advertisement industry has exploited the role and character of the female, the role and significance of the female is limited to nudity and lust, which negates the cultural perspective associated with the role of the women in the society. The advertisement agencies have branded their products with women, only to capture the attention of the market; however our society has tried to personify these models in their daily life at the expense of their diet plans responsible for adverse health conditions (Peyton, 2002). Conclusion It is claimed that the traditionally the women was symbol of pride for the community, therefore her integrity was protected irrespective of consequences (Thom, 2003). The advertisement agencies have deprived the women of their cultural and traditional role, these agencies portray women as symbol of sex and lust, thus the concept of immorality has severely hindered the role and contribution of the women in their social and professional lives (Leon, 2006). References 1. Thom Yantek, Joe Harper. Media, Profit, and Politics: Competing Priorities in an Open Society. Kent State University Press. 2003. pp. 241 2. Peyton Paxson. Media Literacy: Thinking Critically about Advertising. Walch Publishing. 2002. pp. 94 3. Brian C. Anderson. South Park Conservatives: The Revolt against Liberal Media Bias. Regnery Publishing. 2005. pp. 102 4. Marye C. Tharp. Marketing and Consumer Identity in Multicultural America. Sage Publications Inc. 2001. pp. 187 5. Arthur Middleton Hughes. 2005. Strategic Database Marketing. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 189-193. 6. Leon A. Gorman. 2006. The Making of an American Icon. Harvard Business School Press. pp. 203-206. 7. Ronald D. Michman, Edward M. Mazze. 2006. The Affluent Consumer: Marketing and Selling the Luxury Lifestyle. Greenwood Press. pp. 78-80. 8. Larry A. Samovar, Richard E. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel. 2006. Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Thomson Wadsworth. pp. 43-67. Read More