Portrayal Of Women In Advertising

There has been increasing controversy surrounding the idea of how the media should be portraying women. On one side of the spectrum, there are the overwhelmingly thin women who are depicted as super models and idolized in magazines and advertisements. Then on the other side, there are the women representing companies, such as Dove, who are featured in campaigns to promote “real beauty” as a way to fix the “thin” phenomenon, and direct positive attention towards women who are plus-sized, or do not possess the average body type of a model. Dove’s initiative is to promote self-love; however, this message is construed to mean everyone is entitled to have media representation. Campaigns similar to Dove’s are unintentionally enforcing the idea that …show more content…
When the average person watches an advertisement, it is not because they are hoping to see someone that resembles themselves; rather, they are viewing it as a potential buyer of a certain product. If a company is selling makeup or skin products, they wouldn’t feature a woman with acne; rather, they are likely to feature someone with flawless skin as a way to persuade other women to buy their products. It is impossible to allow every different type of woman to market products in advertisements, because the variety of different looking people is large and everyone has a different perception of what it means to be beautiful. By suggesting it is a problem to portray flawless women in advertisements, women are led to believe that they should have a spotlight in the media even if their features only slightly differ from that of an advertisement model. Since the large majority of women is not represented, they tend to feel neglected; however, fail to realize the absurdity of insinuating that every woman with a slightly different appearance be entitled to media …show more content…
One of the arguments against promoting extraordinarily thin models, is that an average female (primarily a teenager or a woman in her twenties) will see these unnaturally thin models, and potentially develop an eating disorder in hopes of achieving this false normality. Although, the women being featured in magazines and advertisements promote the ideal of achieving a thin body, it ultimately should not have a major effect on the way women view themselves. Our society must acknowledge that the fashion companies and the media are capable of promoting a thin ideal; however, that should not shape society’s perception of the ideal body. Everyone has aspects of their body that make them unique and it is not necessary to conform to what the media insinuates is a beautiful appearance. Teenagers and women in their twenties would feel less pressure to look like fashion models if they came to the realization that they are capable of forming their own ideas of what it means to be comfortable in their bodies, contrary to visuals the fashion industry is promoting. As frequent viewers of media, it is important that we keep in mind that advertisements and television should not affect the way we view ourselves.
The media should not be held accountable for an individual’s self-perception