Have you ever thought about the impact that media has on the images of the world we have? More importantly, have you ever thought about how powerful media can be in shaping the images we have of ourselves? Ads are selling more than products; they are selling concepts, feelings, and images of success, love, and sexuality. The media are setting certain norms in society. But how does it all affect women? How are women in media portrayed? And, above all, what message does the media send this way?
Jean Kilbourne in her famous talk says that today’s media has an extremely negative impact on women’s self-esteem. Women in media are ideal; they have perfect figures, flawless faces, beautiful hair and everything else that falls into the category of ideal beauty. However, in reality, these beauty standards are impossible to reach. Moreover, girls from a very young age learn that they have to invest large amounts of time, money and effort to fit into that category of ideal beauty. Otherwise, they lose their value and they will fail in life. But those standards are absurdly high, and almost inevitably set all women to failure.
Here is the video where Jean Kilbourne talks about this issue. What do you think?