Munipulation In The Media

Manipulation in the media

There are numerous ways people are manipulated by the media, but the concern of outward appearances has always been one of the main portals the media uses when advertising. Everyday, people come across some type of advertisement, wither it be watching television, seeing billboards, reading magazines, or listening to the radio. These advertisements all instill into people's heads, what they are is not good enough. Most advertisements show photos of women and men with no wrinkles and flawless skin, no fat and built bodies, or stylish clothes and trendy accessories. These types of advertisements give men and women an unrealistic perspective of what they "could" look like, not suggesting the people being shown are naturally beautiful to begin with, but implying the allusion; one could look like this if this product is used. These types of strategies are used by companies continuously, manipulating the world into believing they can change themselves just by buying their product. Advertisements with reference to outward appearances commonly focus on three different aspects of societies concerns; stopping signs of aging or reversing it, losing weight or getting into shape, and wearing certain clothes, in turn, allowing a person to fit into societies superficial view of how one should appear on the surface.

Most women's worst fears involve growing old and part of that process is inevitably gaining and losing

certain qualities. Qualities gained are wrinkles, gray hair, cellulite, and even weight. Qualities lost are firmness, smooth skin, hair, and even perkiness in areas. All these stages of aging are irreversibly going to happen to everyone, yet slowing it down or putting it on pause has become an obsession with today's men and women. This obsession has derived form the constant commercials, magazine articles or ads, music videos, movies, television

programs, and the list goes on, all presenting a typical stereo type of how one should look, or how one should strive to look. Most commonly, when a person views such media, he or she may feel not good enough or not up to societies standards. This response is the exact goal of such medial advertisement, causing people to purchase their product. When looking at a photo or commercial on television advertising anti-wrinkle cream, one sees someone with perfect skin that claims to be older then they may actually be, and one may assume, by using that certain product, their results will be the same. Advertisements such as this, emit unrealistic illusions of a younger self, manipulating viewers into buying their product. Sadly, with the superficial concerns of today's world, these ads continue to work and these types of products are sold by the millions.

Another major concern of men and women is their weight. Almost every type of media shown on television and in magazines, portray men and women that are "gorgeous," "handsome," "good looking," and "in shape," as thin, petite, busty women or tall, built men. This stereo type also causes the rest of society to feel the need to change themselves. Loosing weight has become

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