The Media. What, if anything about the media influences teens like me to act/dress/look a certain way? Is it the Media's relentless use of persistent visuals that trigger today's youth to conform? Or is it the wisely chosen models that make us want to look like who we see in advertisements? Well this blog gives you the chance to decide for yourself...
and along the way I'll give my own opinion about the Media and how it has affected me.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
SPENDING
According to the Census Bureau the 25.2 million teens in America today between the ages 13-18 spend their money on food, cars, phones, but more than anything else... clothes. That doesn't surprise me at all! In fact I think it's the Media that causes such spending on our part. Flipping through my Seventeen Magazine I thought it would be interesting to see exactly how many ads are in the magazine. THERE WAS AN ADVERTISEMENT ON EVER F^*&#@G PAGE! I'm not even kidding, and ad on every page?! And it doesn't help that the people wearing the clothes being advertised to us, are beautiful, fit, and confident. When I see an ad where the model looks absolutely fabulous in her heels and whatever else, I think to myself 'I wanna look like that,' so then I go out and spend money on one designer thing, and there goes all my money.
haha I remember when my mom and I went shopping, back when the economy didn't suck so bad, and I got a $230 pair of jeans. Seven For All Mankind is the brand, and OMG they are fabulous, but when my dad found out how much I spent on them he flipped! And yes I made the argument that they were high quality jeans, and they would last me forever, but he still could not accept it. At that point I didn't understand, but now I totally do, because if those jeans didn't have the label... I would have never spent that much on them. The Media knows that and so do the companies that spend millions on advertising campaigns. Makes you think huh?
Jeans worth 230 dollars???
haha I remember when my mom and I went shopping, back when the economy didn't suck so bad, and I got a $230 pair of jeans. Seven For All Mankind is the brand, and OMG they are fabulous, but when my dad found out how much I spent on them he flipped! And yes I made the argument that they were high quality jeans, and they would last me forever, but he still could not accept it. At that point I didn't understand, but now I totally do, because if those jeans didn't have the label... I would have never spent that much on them. The Media knows that and so do the companies that spend millions on advertising campaigns. Makes you think huh?
Jeans worth 230 dollars???
Posters, Magazines, and the Web
When I think about how my friends have been affected by the media, I think of all the posters we put up in our rooms, cell phone backgrounds, facebooks etc.
I have not been in a guys room who didn't have at least one picture or poster of some "hot chick" in a bikini.
... Here's one I come across a lot
Megan Fox... every teenage girl's competition. Am I right? Or am I right?
So to get a better handle on what guys really think and trying to keep an open mind about how shallow guys are or aren't, I asked some friends.
Question one:
Who's you're dream girl?
A: Megan Fox!
What do you like about her?
A: She's hot!
Okay that wasn't every guys reaction, BUT all of their answers were very similar. Their dream girls weren't a friend, or an acquaintance, or even some pretty girl they actually met once, they were completely unobtainable celebrity girls who are beautiful yes, but logical? no.
I think that the ideas we have now-a-days are completely unrealistic. The Media has influenced us to think that our dream girl or guy is someone we don't know personally, but someone we see as a sex symbol or beautiful superstar in print or on our TV screen.
I have not been in a guys room who didn't have at least one picture or poster of some "hot chick" in a bikini.
... Here's one I come across a lot
Megan Fox... every teenage girl's competition. Am I right? Or am I right?So to get a better handle on what guys really think and trying to keep an open mind about how shallow guys are or aren't, I asked some friends.
Question one:
Who's you're dream girl?
A: Megan Fox!
What do you like about her?
A: She's hot!
Okay that wasn't every guys reaction, BUT all of their answers were very similar. Their dream girls weren't a friend, or an acquaintance, or even some pretty girl they actually met once, they were completely unobtainable celebrity girls who are beautiful yes, but logical? no.
I think that the ideas we have now-a-days are completely unrealistic. The Media has influenced us to think that our dream girl or guy is someone we don't know personally, but someone we see as a sex symbol or beautiful superstar in print or on our TV screen.
BOYS
If the question is how has the Media affected me and youth like me, then our relationship with the opposite sex should be addressed.
How has the Media affected my opinion about boys? men?
I know without a doubt, standards for me and today's youth have been set by the advertisements we see everyday. I'd like to specifically point out underwear ads. hahaa those muscular, tan, attractive men, wearing only their underwear.... :) every girls dream right? Well at least for the most part.
Lets take a look:
David Beckham
Another well endowed male
BUT regardless of how muscular and attractive these guys are GUYS IN REAL LIFE RARELY LOOK LIKE THAT and if they do their personality almost always is lacking. Now I really think that the Media has influenced teens like me to look for guys who are built and hot, but have nothing on the personality forefront. We are taught to like guys who have spent more time working on their exteriors and assuming its okay to have nothing else to offer.
I know I am as guilty as the next girl, equating looks with compatibility, but the Media is responsible for that, whats publicized is what people like. It's whats appealing so when the majority of guys we see in print are "hot" and what girls like, then we become influenced to appreciate guys who look like the models, not the ones who are really good for us.
How has the Media affected my opinion about boys? men?
I know without a doubt, standards for me and today's youth have been set by the advertisements we see everyday. I'd like to specifically point out underwear ads. hahaa those muscular, tan, attractive men, wearing only their underwear.... :) every girls dream right? Well at least for the most part.
Lets take a look:
David Beckham
Another well endowed maleBUT regardless of how muscular and attractive these guys are GUYS IN REAL LIFE RARELY LOOK LIKE THAT and if they do their personality almost always is lacking. Now I really think that the Media has influenced teens like me to look for guys who are built and hot, but have nothing on the personality forefront. We are taught to like guys who have spent more time working on their exteriors and assuming its okay to have nothing else to offer.
I know I am as guilty as the next girl, equating looks with compatibility, but the Media is responsible for that, whats publicized is what people like. It's whats appealing so when the majority of guys we see in print are "hot" and what girls like, then we become influenced to appreciate guys who look like the models, not the ones who are really good for us.
Supermodels, Superglam, and Super insecure.... or Super confident?
This post is focused on my friend B (sorry can't name names)... she has been one of my good friends since freshman year of high school. So when I started thinking about the Media and its affect on me or my peers, I thought of B immediately.
First I want you to see a picture of her room.
(ignore the girls haha take a look at the walls)...
Now imagine all four walls of her room covered with ads. Every wall is covered with glamorous extravigent advertisements with skinny girls, in next to nothing in terms of clothes, but caked with makeup. And B has always had self-image issues, she wears extensions (fake hair) in her hair, wears heavy makeup to school, and even heavier makeup when she goes out, and she always talks about how "fat" she is. This really makes me think about how the Media is has a really big affect on her, and how different she might be if she woke up to something other that images of "perfection" every morning. I think this room covered with ads makes B really insecure, but I know thats not the case for all of my girlfriends.
That brings me to another friend of mine... K. She has been told numerous times how beautiful she is, how she looks like a model, how she has the perfect body, and trust me I agree with all of those things, but she lets all of the compliments get to her head. I asked her if she would answer some questions for me regarding the high fashion ads posted all over B's room. She told me that when she sees a crazy over the top ad with some beautiful girl, she gets inspired to do her makeup like that, or wear her hair like that. For her the Media makes her excited, she wants to see different takes on beauty and there really is a plethora of models in the Media today. I honestly think that K likes seeing the ads, because people tell her she is as beautiful as those girls. In K's case I think the Media makes her more secure, but it also makes her cocky.
First I want you to see a picture of her room.
(ignore the girls haha take a look at the walls)...
Now imagine all four walls of her room covered with ads. Every wall is covered with glamorous extravigent advertisements with skinny girls, in next to nothing in terms of clothes, but caked with makeup. And B has always had self-image issues, she wears extensions (fake hair) in her hair, wears heavy makeup to school, and even heavier makeup when she goes out, and she always talks about how "fat" she is. This really makes me think about how the Media is has a really big affect on her, and how different she might be if she woke up to something other that images of "perfection" every morning. I think this room covered with ads makes B really insecure, but I know thats not the case for all of my girlfriends.
That brings me to another friend of mine... K. She has been told numerous times how beautiful she is, how she looks like a model, how she has the perfect body, and trust me I agree with all of those things, but she lets all of the compliments get to her head. I asked her if she would answer some questions for me regarding the high fashion ads posted all over B's room. She told me that when she sees a crazy over the top ad with some beautiful girl, she gets inspired to do her makeup like that, or wear her hair like that. For her the Media makes her excited, she wants to see different takes on beauty and there really is a plethora of models in the Media today. I honestly think that K likes seeing the ads, because people tell her she is as beautiful as those girls. In K's case I think the Media makes her more secure, but it also makes her cocky.
Friday, January 29, 2010
CONCLUSION
So I guess the rest is up to you...
Throughout the process of this project my opinion about the Media has been shaped to think that what we see has both negative and positive effects on us, but we are responsible for how out of control we let the Media become.
But tell me what you think!
Throughout the process of this project my opinion about the Media has been shaped to think that what we see has both negative and positive effects on us, but we are responsible for how out of control we let the Media become.
But tell me what you think!
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