Recently, I turned on the television and a woman appeared on the screen wearing nothing but a bikini and high heels. With makeup piled on her face and a can in her hand, she was “advertising” for an energy drink. Switching the channel, a muscular man appeared without a shirt and was holding a pack of deodorant. Unfortunately, this scenario is common. To me, the most frequent and significant examples of sexism occur within our media today.
Subtle messages in advertisements like these have the power to influence how we view both ourselves and other individuals. Such messages are often misrepresentations of society and negatively impact our perceptions of beauty and appearance for both males and females.
Today, the media frequently sexualizes women in order to sell products. In doing so, the average female believes that she must fit a specific stereotype in order to be accepted in society. According to “Miss Representation,” a non-profit campaign and media organization created to develop awareness about the misrepresentation of women in the media, “The number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youth 18 or younger more than tripled from 1997 to 2007.” Clearly, the media holds a significant amount of power in establishing gender roles within society.
Trust me, I understand how easily it is to succumb to advertisements and other aspects of the media. I remember recently flipping through a magazine and commenting how “perfect” Emma Stone looked in her advertisement for Revlon Products. Despite the amount of airbrush and Photoshop techniques that went into the advertisement, I allowed myself to fall into the trap and compare myself to an unrealistic image.
In order to resolve the misrepresentations and establish equality for men and women through the media, we must improve our media literacy. We cannot buy into what the media believes we should look, act or feel like. We must honor positive advertisements and other forms of media in order to limit the role that negative advertisements and media play in our lives.