Entry 1

Not only does the media influence the ways in which young girls think they should act, it

also influences the way in which they feel they should look. Almost every image that women see

are “ideals that are often both unhealthy and unattainable, yet culturally valued” (Markey, 2012,

p. 209). This is seen in almost every type of show, especially reality television. The problem is

although these are “real people,” they are “manufactured situations” (McInerney and Morris,

2010, p. 139). Because a woman’s body is so concentrated on in the media, there is suggestion

that it us used “on which the cultural understandings of gender are expressed” (McInerney and

Morris, 2010, p. 135). In other words, a female is symbolized through her body and the result is

a devaluation of her as an individual.

This information was not completely surprising to me because I have taken many women's studies classes which discussed the effects of the media on women's bodies. But this text gave a better idea of the problems behind the effects of women being known only for their bodies. The text implies that because women are only seen and put identity in their bodies, they are dehumanized and are more seen as visual objects rather than important characters on TV. Because of these implications and messages, there are a lot more of celebrity and teen cases of young women being obsessed with their body images as well as having health problems because they are so rooted in finding identity through their body image.