Advertising has become a major part of today’s society. It shapes women’s attitudes, beliefs, and self-esteem. It is impossible for women to escape the in your face ads that try to persuade them to conform. According to the article “Women and Advertising: The Social Cost of Commercial Culture” written by Jessica Moore, “Advertising is the opposite of therapy…it’s designed to generate an inner-self conflict with ourselves.” Even a beautiful, confident, highly educated woman can begin to feel inadequate when comparing herself to the models featured in ads. Most women are not going to reach the level of beauty that has been set. Women will spend thousands of dollars throughout their life time on all sorts of beauty products. Young girls are now taught that being pretty plays an important role in their social status. Advertising featuring images of perfection affects a woman’s self- esteem and the way she views herself. This has become such a big issue that a campaign has been set to try to bring back confidence.
Based on advertising, women should have luxurious hair, eyes that pop and are surrounded by thick lashes, no wrinkles, white teeth, no unwanted facial hair, luscious lips, big breasts, they should have long legs with no cellulite, they should be perfectly fit, and, of course, they should be a size two. “Statistically only 5% of women have the body type most portrayed in the media - the only one seen as desirable and acceptable” (Kilbourne). Women have become sexual eye candy for advertisements. Ads put a lot of pressure on women to conform or desire to be like the women selling the products. Women are constantly being compared or comparing themselves to the unachievable looks of these models. According to a research study by BBC’s Money program, one in three women believes that media images portraying unrealistic, beautiful women make them feel overweight and unattractive.
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