MEDIA VIOLENCE

Do you know that how the media and advertising affect the image of women in the society? Women are portrayed as sex objects to sell products and the beauty ideal stil tyrannize women.
First of all, according to “Killing us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne, this situation is called “violence” against women indirectly. The image of women should be powerful so the ads sell products and also they sell a view of sexuality. Kilbourne says that women’s worth depends on how they look. There is an idealized image and so many people are trying to seem like that. Here is the idealized image: thin, young, white-skinned and having breast implants… What is more, the issue is getting dangerous in society. For example, United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy because use of sex to sell things is increasing. Also, some fundemental human traits such as compassion, cooperation and nurturance are devalued because of that media violence.
Secondly, according to “The Canadian Women’s Health Network” and “Public Health Agency of Canada”, women are trying to get thinner with unhealthy methods. When they see ads, they think that thinness is the key for beauty. They start tos kip meals and they do excessive exercises. Unfortunately, they can’t realize that beauty is unaltainable. On the other hand, women’s magazines say that if they lose weight, they will have a perfect marriage , children and a rewarding career. So they and their body parts sell everything from food to cars.
All in all, media organs such as advertisements and magazines cause a serious issue in the society. Women are used to sell products in a worthless way. They force themselves to have an ideal image. I think that putting men in ads would be a good solution for that issue.
Cansu Mumcu