Women In the Media: Portraying the Ideal Woman or an Unr...

It’s nearly amazing how magazines are the only medium where girls are over-represented. However, almost 70 percent of the editorial content in teen magazines focuses on beauty and fashion, and only 12 percent talks about school or careers. (Phillips 2) There is a an adolescent crisis in confidence that is due to the conflict between the image that a girl has of herself and what society tells her a woman should be like. Young girls are plagued with images of what they should look like even at a very young age, with Barbie dolls being an excellent example. Young girls and teenagers are at the point in their lives when they are most susceptible to influence. As they see Britney Spears, Barbie Dolls, and magazine covers, the girls realize that they want to look and feel like the images placed in their heads. Because girls see that they do not look like their idols, girls tend to feel insecure or attain eating disorders. Common roots for the stereotypical problems women face in our society stem from conventional women's magazines, thus procuring insecurities and eating disorders among young women and teenage girls.

“The most cursory examination of media confirms that young girls are being bombarded with images of sexuality, often dominated by stereotypical portrayals of women and girls as powerless, passive victims” (Media And Girls 1). Researchers report that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery. Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women and their body parts sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Maybe one day this stereotypical society will change, but it doesn’t appear to be anytime soon.

Concurrently, there are the numerous fashion magazines for women that procure the “chic” woman. After analyzing the pages of In Style magazine, which claims to focus on celebrities, a woman’s lifestyle, and beauty, it was proven absolutely true. The cover alone advertised 184 easy ways to “Update your Look.” This also touches on the fact that Americans look for the easy way out, even to attain the objects they desire most in life. More importantly, after opening the cover, one must flip through 18 pages of advertisements to even get to the table of contents. Disgustingly, there are only 3 features on this page because the magazine is basically a breeding ground for designer fashion ads. Someone who isn’t into looking at tons of Louis Vuitton ads, and even more, celebrities holding them would not even be able to make it through this magazine. There is actually an article entitled “Sheared Perfection” with 6 beauty shots of an underweight model to follow (10/02). Then there's an add, which says that finding yourself and what makes you feel happy and healthy is always in fashion' but also runs ads for breast enhancement tablets. For $229.95, you too can enhance your physical appearance, 'feel more beautiful and sexier than ever' and have 'more self esteem, more confidence.' Basically, this magazine is Seventeen taken to the extreme and made to be even more superficial. (InStyle Magazine)

A great correlation between the growing circulation of women's health and fitness magazines in the late 1990s and the increased dieting rates of teen-age girls during the same time period exists. In a survey of 498 high school students, unhealthy eating and dieting

Some topics in this essay:
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