Women in media

Kristen Butler

February 13, 2015

Blog entry

Women in the Media

            Every day while watching television, reading a magazine or simply going online every person encounters some form of advertisement. These advertisements may be simple and show a clear message or they may have hidden messages in them that could be seen as dehumanizing and objectifying to many women.  Some imply that women are not as important as other things in life. Women are shown mostly as sex symbols or the stereotypical housewife. These ads influence the way women look at themselves. They believe they need to look a certain way to be considered attractive or to even be looked at by a man.

            In this week’s group presentations, one of the groups talked about advertisements. They addressed many advertisements that we are currently watching on television. The one that stuck out to me the most was the Victoria’s Secret: Love your body campaign. This commercial had a handful of Victoria’s Secret models that were in a bra and underwear saying that they love their body. You did not see one woman that was larger than a size 2 or had a single flaw. As a viewer this is showing me that the only way to love my own body is if I look like them, but let’s be honest, not many people do.

            After watching this commercial I thought about something that I saw on Pinterest recently. I was scrolling down and came across a pin that said “Victoria’s Secret Full Body Workout”, and next to the list of workouts you have to do, in order to have that perfect body, there is a picture of a model in a skimpy bikini and high heels. I instantly was aggravated looking at it, but I still pinned it to my own board. I was mad because it’s disgusting that society today has taught me that I have to look like that perfect model standing there next to this extremely difficult work out to be attractive to a man. If you watch any Victoria’s Secret commercial they are all about being sexy and getting that man of your dreams.

            Personally, I have two nieces that are both under the age of 6, they are growing up seeing all of this and it disgusts me that already at such young ages they are already getting this image of what the “perfect and desirable” women looks like to a man. I feel like ads are just getting worse and more degrading. I can’t image what they will be like when my nieces are my age.