We spend HOW MUCH on advertising a year?!

“The sex object is a mannequin, a shell. Conventional beauty is her only attribute. she has no lines or wrinkles (which would indicate she had the bad taste to grow older,) no scars or blemishes- indeed, she has no pores. She is thin, generally tall and long-legged, and, above all, she is young” (Kilbourne 122).

Well damn... looks like I miss the mark on nearly all of these “perfect qualities.” Luckily, I now realize how ridiculous all of this sounds; I mean, honestly, who REALLY looks like that? The media makes it seem as though everyone else in the world is in on some secret quotient of perfection that I am not worthy of knowing. But like I said before, luckily, I can see through these things now. NOW, after years and years of wondering what was wrong with me I finally understand that there is and never was anything wrong with me. Unfortunately, there are millions of teenage girls in America, trying to figure out why they don’t look like Jennifer Lopez. There are millions of women who are starving themselves all in the name of the elusive idea of perfection. And media images don't just affect the women and girls of America; men and boys are adopting the idea of what the perfect woman should look like and are also succumbing to the idea of who the perfect man is. It should not have to take people to get into their mid 20’s in order for them to understand the implications of what they are watching and listening to. There has to be a way to get this information to the younger generation so that we can shave off a few years of self loathing for them.

I feel that the best way to help people understand the truth about the media is for them to finally realize that they are being lied to on a daily basis. In “Beauty and the Beast of Advertising” Jean Kilbourne states that we are “exposed to over 1500 ads a day” and goes on to say that it may be “the most powerful educational force in society” (Kilbourne 121). I don't know about anyone else, but I find this information to be INSANE. Be that as it may, it is obvious that the only way to start promoting healthier images is to use the power structure of advertising on itself. In the article “Constructed Bodies, Deconstructing Ads: Sexism in Advertising” Cortese discusses a different type of advertisement that can help spread ideas that counter the mainstream. The article states “Advocacy advertising attempts to influence public opinion on important social, political, or environmental issues of concern to the sponsoring organization. It often challenges conventional wisdom and presents alternative interpretations of social problems and political issues” (Cortese 45).

Advocacy advertising has been used in the past as well as the present, as we’ve seen with anti-smoking commercials and anti-fur ads. However for the purposes of enhancing the notion of a healthy self image, I propose we used the idea of advocacy advertising in a different way. A line of advocacy ads should be designed to state some of the facts that I have learned from doing the readings for this class, such as “Advertising is a 130 billion dollar industry” and compare it to the budget for public education. We can let the public know things about the world of advertising that most people are clueless about (including myself prior to this class.) Another idea is to take images of women and men that have been highly photoshopped and remove all the editing, so that the two photos are side by side. I feel that an ad like this would have a profound impact on people who believe that the women on the covers of magazines are “all natural.” Another good idea was noted in the Kilbourne article when Dr. Steven Levenkrom stated “if I had my way everyone of them would have to carry a line saying, ‘Caution: This model may be hazardous to your health.’” And I ask WHY NOT? I think that is a wonderful way to get people to understand that these images are not harmless, that they promote not just a product, but a way of life.

My favorite idea is one that was stated in class nearly two weeks ago. I firmly believe in the power of face-to-face interaction; which is why I feel that the development of an advocacy group that deals with promoting healthy self image to school-age children is so important. Groups should be set up in elementary schools across the country; these groups can hold workshops about body image and media, offer mentorships, and allow children to express their own views on the matter. And these programs do not have to be gender specific, both boys and girls can benefit from a group program like this. I truly believe that both genders need to be taught how to love themselves before we can stop issues such as sexism and discrimination. A girl needs to be taught to respect herself in order to become a woman, and a boy needs to know that he does not have to objectify a woman in order to become a man. These ideas are NOT portrayed in today’s media, in fact, it is pretty much the exact opposite that is being taught.

I am going to conclude with one of my favorite quotes that I have read so far in this class. It really opened my eyes to what I was really doing to myself when I compared myself to the women I see on tv. “We have learned to despise the curves, bulges, stretch marks, and wrinkles that mean we’ve probably worked hard in and out of our homes, produced some fabulous children, enjoyed a good meal or two, tossed back a few drinks, laughed, cried, gotten sunburned more than once, endured countless indignities, and, in general, led pretty full and varied lives. The mass media often trivializes our achievements, narrowing the litmus test of female worth to one question: Does she have dimpled thighs or crows feet? If so, onto the trash heap of history.” We cannot afford to lose sight of the things that really matter. We need to ask ourselves about what will happen to ourselves once we reach the perfection that the media tells us we desire so strongly.