Killing USftly: The Effects Of Mass Media

When a young woman looks at the cover of an American magazine, what does she often see? A tall, unusually thin, white woman. This is what many Americans consider beauty. In order for a women to be deemed beautiful, to most, she must be thin with blonde hair and blue eyes, and if she’s black, she has to be brighter than the sun and have straight long hair to fit the “white perspective”. These messages about body images are everywhere, not just in magazines. Ads all over the country, even the world splatter images of the ideal American beauty. According to the article, Sheldon and Stevens found that in the 1940’s, super thin women were perceived negatively by others and submissive, nervous, and socially withdrawn compared to those with realistic body types. But they found that by the 1980’s that perception had changed. Compared to those with those with thin body types were considered to be most sexually appealing vs those with bigger body types (Spillman and Everington). The standard to be thin to be beautiful is ever increasing at a rapid …show more content…
With a series of four movies, Killing Us Softly, that discuss the issues and it’s influence on society. In her fourth addition of Killing Us Softly 4, she explains the effects of several different ads that are displayed throughout the media. She describes the ongrowing effect that most ads have on young women in society. “Women learn ,from a very early age, that we must spend an enormous amount of time, energy, and above all ,money, striving to achieve this look; and feeling ashamed and guilty when we fail"(Kilbourne, “Killing Us Softly 4”). Achieving this “absolute” flawlessness is inevitable. Cindy Crawford once said “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford”(© Fashion Foie Gras 2009-2015). Many of the women in these ads and on the cover of Vogue don’t even exist. Some of the woman in these ads are really five different women photoshopped into