A Stereotypical Media Essay Research Paper A free essay sample

A Stereotyped Media Essay, Research Paper A Stereotyped Media The media of today? s society plays the pedlar to the stereotypes that plague our state. However, the media is non entirely to fault. Susan Sontag provinces in her essay? The Image World? : ? Through being photographed, something becomes portion of a system of information, fitted into strategies of categorization and storage? ( Sontag 196 ) . Through our ain demand as consumers, the usage of advertisement in telecasting, newspapers, and particularly magazines relays to the populace an fickle system of stereotyped information. The system of information relayed through photographic imagination in advertisement straight affects the ideas of society, on how a adult female should look and experience. Thus, blending the stereotyped adult female of daintiness, and magnificence with sex and gender. The huge sum of stereotyped advertisement today is directed at the middle-class, American worker. This specification in advertisement is due to the fact that the in-between category workers are the chief consumers. This thought is represented in the magazine, Newsweek. Printed on April 3, 2000, Newsweek prints legion articles of intelligence that are non so focussed and in-depth, but still contains valid consistence. The magazine is M/C Phillips, Page 2 genuinely tailored to the in-between category and so is its advertisement. In the thick of jumble, from articles of political power, to the rise of the doughnut civilization, sits an ad of poise and content. Posted by the Target Corporation, a shop tailored to the in-between category, the ad shows, a really immature, beautiful adult female covered shoulders to toe in Hedera helix, keeping a rayon pocketbook. She is poised, celebrated and elegant, a mirror image of a statue. The background of the image is unagitated, organized and calm. The ad reads? Hedera helix works $ 6.99, rayon crochet bag $ 14.99? ( Newsweek 7 ) . However, the ad? s imagination at first glimpse does non to the full portray the stereotypes within it. The visual aspects of stereotypes in this calm ad are difficult to happen, but are found deep in the text of the image. The evident intent of the ad is to sell points such as a pocketbook, and ivy workss. However, the apparent does non relay the world. The usage of a adult female? s stereotyped gender covers up the existent with the phantasy. A stereotype as defined by the Module, ? Images of Women and Men? , ? is viewed today as a procedure that distorts world? ( Unger A ; Crawford 219 ) . So in kernel this is what the image, or the advertizement has done. Ad takes the procedure of picture taking, and distorts its world by using such methods as stereotyping. This creates a coveted and common visual aspect of the perfect, beautiful, fantasy adult female. The position of this image relays a sense of polish, such M/C Phillips, Page 3 polish that would be found in the stereotyped elegant, sexy adult female. The arrangement of her custodies gives manner to the image of elegance. They are poised, and keep to the endearment of elegance, beautiful but refined. Even when with the sense, or stereotype of the polish, comes the gender of the image. With the polish comes the impression of sex. To explicate this, one must see that the adult female is covered shoulder to toe in Hedera helix. This is the same Hedera helix that is on sale for $ 6.99. The ad leads to the false belief that even the elegant and refined adult female can be sold. This ad besides carries with it, the stereotype of the phantasy, or the storybook impression. When looking at the ad, one can see world redefined. As stated by Susan Sontag, in her essay? The Image World? , ? Photographs do more than redefine the material of ordinary experience, they add huge sums of stuff we neer see? ( Sontag 196 ) . The stuff in this instance, is the application of the fantasy image. From birth, we are confronted with the ste reotype of the fantasy adult female, relayed to us by faery narratives and myths. Fairy dress suits and myths that convey the common semblance that all adult females must be beautiful, and graceful, re-confirming the phantasy stereotype. The ad in inquiry has besides re-confirmed this childhood belief. Covering the immature, beautiful adult female about wholly in ivy brings her to the fantasy degree. This image is about amusing in a sense, but is an fickle M/C Phillips, Page 4 stereotype. The image portrays her as a common phantasy, straight out of a kid? s storybook, posed in Hedera helix, controlled by a mer works. This image relays the attitude all adult females are governable and must adhere to the phantasy. Strive to be immature, scraggy and beautiful. In analysing the ad, another predominating stereotype can be seen. The usage of gender stereotypes besides plagues this ad, more specifically, the stereotype of the desirable, attractive adult female. Gender stereotypes can be defined as? consensual beliefs about the different features of work forces and adult females? ( Unger A ; Crawford, 213 ) . The consensual belief portraying the misconception of world. Or instead, the common positions of pigeonholing shared by our civilization and re-enforced by our media. The categorization, or pigeonholing of such properties of the? sexy adult female? ( Unger A ; Crawford, 217 ) , can be clearly seen in the advertizement at manus. The constructs of a good figure, long hair, and reasonably face are all combined in this ad to farther enhance this categorization. However, no 1 construct is more clearly used in this ad than the construct of the pretty face. In fact the face is straight focused on. Her hair is besides a prevalent factor of pigeo nholing. The hair gives the adult female an alien, yet refined expression. The environing boundary lines of the ad are a dark shadiness of purple and pink, but in the centre is a focussed light of the adult female? s face. The light does non concentrate on the M/C Phillips, Page 5 merchandises for sale, but focuses the consequence on the adult female. Directly heightening her face and upper thorax country, concentrating the attending on her gender and alleged chief control factor. Media has successfully continued to stamp down adult females and heighten the stereotypes that adult females are to adhere to. By using supposed unconscious effects such as stereotyping and classifying, we as a society have fallen victim to media? s gambits in advertisement. For old ages the common belief that a adult female? s merely power is her gender has been instilled into our society by media propaganda, in advertisement. The media is seen as playing to the crowd. The common impression that sex sells is straight represented in such gambits of advertisement and more over in this ad. As Robert L. Heilbroner provinces, ? advertisement is non merely a carrier of messages ; it is the message? ( Heilbroner 99 ) . The message that advertisement carries is the implicit in cabal of stereotypes. The stereotyped gambit that will pull the consumer to the merchandise, the merchandising characteristic. In this ad, the adult female and her fantasy image are non merely selling common stereotypes but selling the really adult female herself. Puting the adult female in the Hedera helix makes the statement that adult female is the Hedera helix. She is the really object that is for sale. The ad is besides, selling the really ploys that have been conflicting with the battle to prosecute equality and non the merchandises stated to be for sale. M/C Phillips, Page 6 We as a society will neer be equal unless, we strive to free the propaganda at manus. Media and advertisement are vas of all ruin, in the promotion for a stereotype free image of a adult female. What good is it for a adult female to declare herself an person, if she is continuously plagued with the common stereotypes of categorization and sex? To genuinely be equal, we must endeavor to see the debasement that all stereotypes in media and advertisement bring upon our society. 331