7th Entry-Mass Media: Slim equals Beauty
What is beauty? The mass media has defined beauty as someone who has a slim body. Our society has embraced the slimming culture and its cultural belief that the slimmer you are, the prettier you will be. It is a culture that has been passed down the generations and it is not uncommon to see teenagers going on diets and stuff themselves with bottles of slimming pills.
Article: http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090911-167228.html
In this article, we see that mass media has become a means to promote dieting and losing weight. Be it through newspaper articles, TV programmes or slimming advertisements, we are constantly bombarded by the mass media to embrace the belief that slim equates beauty.(Agenda Setting Function)
One of the media theories used is media determinism where the medium is valued as more important than the message. And some of the medium that are often used are the "celebrity effect" and "advertisement effect". These two effects are often combined by the mass media to promote things such as dieting to be the popular culture. Many people especially teenagers regarded celebrities as their role models. People modeled themselves after these celebrities. Therefore, by getting these celebrities to endorse for slimming products and slimming programmes, many will purchase the products and sign up for the programmes. Speaking of "advertisement effect", nowadays we see advertisements everywhere we go. Most of these advertisements are mainly about slimming products and slimming programmes and they usually portray a slimming girl as beautiful.
The above mentioned are some of the ways that mass media has cleverly used to shape our beliefs and influence our decision.
posted by Miss Dion @ 5:02 PM
13 Comments:
At November 8, 2009 at 2:26 AM ,
Uma said...
The media does shape our views in many ways, there are many subtle messages that we get from the media, that one way or the other, we unconsciously follow. Every 15 mins between programmes, we are flooded with repetitive commercials promoting products.
The case of people of all ages purchasing slimming products can also be attributed to mere exposure effect, which in this context is about us having the tendency to 'like' the ads and possibly purchase them solely based on viewing the advertisements so often. I also feel that the celebrity and advertisement effects are two good points that you have brought up.
-Uma
At November 8, 2009 at 2:40 AM ,
L!NG said...
Hi.
The media world has definitely brought in the slim = beauty mindset. After all, the models we see on the advertisements are also slim.
I guess that it is hard to ignore the influence of media. Though I have to admit, it is not just the media that reinforce the particular mindset. Culture can also play a big role in the slim = beauty. If the whole society believes that it is better to be thin, most people will conform to that.
At November 8, 2009 at 3:31 AM ,
XE said...
Many people misunderstood the true meaning of the word 'beauty'. People just think beauty means slim and tall and have perfect body lines, as they are always misled by advertisements on televisions and newspapers. People nowadays think slimming products are good because they can make one slim. But people who wish to be slim are usually unable to recognize the actual harm of slimming products, as they want to be slim in a really fast way and think that slimming products could really help them. They don't know some slimming products could bring side effects to the body.I think the 'real' beauty comes from the inner heart. If one is happy, helpful and pleasant, one is beautiful
At November 8, 2009 at 3:58 AM ,
Sharon Tan. said...
Ya, I agree. As we learnt,selection is pretty much affected by Frequency. So with constant bombarding, we will eventually embrace in whatever the media is trying to get across , regardless of consciously or unconsciously.
However, I think our environment plays a big part too. Because if our environment are against such informaion , we may be able "counter" it. BUt, the fact for now is that we are so enthu about Westen stuff, that we are actually accepting whatever they send out to us.
At November 8, 2009 at 4:57 AM ,
MICH:):):) said...
yes media do really play A BIG part in convincing people what is the truth or "being accepted as the norm"
almost every single acteress and all models are slim, even to the extend of skinny but media says that its beauty, it IS beauty.
At November 8, 2009 at 5:05 AM ,
Nero said...
Off cause the mass media plays a huge role in doing so as in the world today. it creates an information overflow which floods with images of beauty which practical screams thin is beautiful. However, it also has to do with the progression of human civilization as in some ancient cultures, fat was actually considered as beautiful.
At November 8, 2009 at 5:49 AM ,
Anonymous said...
agreed! the media of late seems to be portraying the slim=beauty idea.
if you looks back in the 80s or even 90s, models/actresses are still slim but not bone skinny.
even thou there was a big hoo ha in the USA & Europe about not using skinny/aneroxic models, i dont think that idea really took flight in the fashion industry. somehow, being stick skinny seems to mean that you look better in clothes.
At November 9, 2009 at 1:11 AM ,
xiangjun said...
Hi, errmm i think media has really great influence on the idea of slim=beauty. Most popular artist that appear on the tv have slim figures. Everyone would like to be as slim as them.
At November 9, 2009 at 1:19 AM ,
Danielle said...
I feel that media has a very huge influence over our self image. Look at all the models featured on the various fashion shows. They are slim to the extend that you can labelled them as boney. I remembered watching an episode on American Next Top Model and one of the contestant was kicked out of the competition because she gained weight, despite of the fact that she is a really talented model. The media is constantly telling the mass that slim is beauty and slim is what that is acceptable.
At November 9, 2009 at 2:29 AM ,
Anonymous said...
Media has definitely convinced majority of people's mindset that Beauty = Slim.
Models are all tall and slim which immediately give us a impression that they are beautiful. Everyone would like to be slim because as long as you're slim, people would think that you're beautiful.
At November 9, 2009 at 4:07 AM ,
yzanne said...
YEAH i think the world is getting superficial. i mean unless you have friends and bosses who are not judgemental (which is highly unlikely) the whole world discriminates people who weigh more.
i think its a tad warped. because who ever set the guidelines for the acceptable weight? but since the trend nowadays are that people think that girls who are reallllly thin, are hot. poor girls who are on the chubby side.
thats why more girls are obsessed with losing weight and looking stick thin. but well, i think every girl should feel comfortable as how they are. weight is just a number. doesnt bother anyone anyway.
At November 9, 2009 at 4:51 AM ,
Stella said...
Sometimes it is really hard for us to change our mindset of slim=beauty. The problem now is not just the media that is telling us that we should be losing some weight. It is also the people around us that are always judging us according to this standard of slim=beauty. And where does this standard comes from? Who defines it? It's the media. Therefore, the media is simply too successful in conveying the message that it wants to convey to us.
At November 9, 2009 at 6:47 AM ,
Ong Zhu Neng said...
This topic has been widely discussed by people globally. From my point of view, I guess it is important to note that different people view something. In this case, certain people may be attracted to either slim or plump partners, depending on their preferences. However, it is apparent that most teenagers of today associate superficial beauty with the physical appearance of a person. This will cause them to be self-conscious of themselves and they would resort to dieting and taking pills to engage in excessive weight-loss. This by itself, as has been well documented in various newspaper reports, has already demonstrated the cultural evolution of people today, particularly that of the younger generation. However, we have to note that extreme dieting and overloading of consumption of weight-loss pills may cause certain side-effects which may result in the fatality of person and that problem has to be addressed. Proper education on maintaining the weight of the body should be provided to ensure that people take the appropriate steps to shed those kilograms, not the diabolical way. Healthy living is desired from my own point of view however, and it is a plus-point to look fit and well toned! :)
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