Do representations of Women in Advertising impact on Teenage girls Body image?

MOST DEFINATELY!!Do representations of Women in Advertising impact on Teenage girls Body image?
I think I could go on forever on this subject - there is much debate on this, but my opinion is most certainly YES.





I don't think it is coincidence that women have become more and more critical of themselves, their bodies, everything because of this Hollywood Ideal that is projected out toward us everywhere we turn. Showing up as depression, eating disorders, even getting boob jobs and plastic surgery, shopping addictions and skin cancer from trying to always have that golden tan no matter what time of year it is.





We are getting the impression that women are not beautiful as they are. How many women do you know, that feel totally okay not wearing make up versus how many say things like, ';I'm not going out without make up - I look like crap!';. (make up, to me, is to enhance when I want to - certainly not a requirement for me to go to work or out and about!)





Look at paintings from some of the classic artists in history, and women's bodies were much more realistic and beautiful. If aliens were to base what human women look like by looking at the magazines, tv shows, porn, etc - I'm sure they'd conclude we never weigh more than 130lbs and we are all between 5'7'; and 5'9'; and all have at least C or D cup bra sizes.





No one can convince me that the images we see all around us, even cartoon characters, doesn't create an impression on young minds. The brain is processing information we cannot even imagine - that 80% of our brain we supposedly don't use, I think is total crap - it is processing and forming associations based on the impressions it gets from the outside world.





How women should look and act is portrayed there, then little girls grow up with this impression, and it is no accident that by the time they get older, how they look and act almost mirrors what they grew up seeing.





When we are 5-10 years old, our brains are forming at rapid rates - absorbing all that we see and experience around us - and forming impressions about the world around us and where we fit in to that world.





No one can tell me that seeing Victoria's Secret model show on prime time TV, seeing the ';helpless'; female cartoon character that always needs the man to come to her rescue, or seeing commercials where it is pretty much always the woman washing dishes, or vaccuming, or washing clothes, or changing diapers, etc. doesn't create an impression and impact self-image!





Again - if aliens were to look at all this, they would form the opinion that human males are incapable of doing these tasks and human females must have some natural ability for domestic chores.





Take Porn for example. It does have a purpose, but generally speaking, I am of the opinion that making a habit out of watching it should be limited. Porn, just like regular movies, is often a distorted view of what sex is really like and how people really do it. There are edits, cuts, breaks, etc - it is ACTING. And, the porn industry is largely targeted toward men.





I think that as a society, we'd be a lot more confident sexually and ENJOY sex more, if the distorted impressions that porn makes didn't in some way lead us to try to live up to them. Porn reality is not Reality - no wonder why people go out and cheat and aren't happy in their relationships - they seem to think that sex is supposed to be like what they see in Porn and it simply isn't!





Plus, I think generally speaking Porn has led to a general lack of appreciation of a woman's body and sexuality by men. Men have become desensitized to the beautiful and wonderful thing a woman's sexuality, body, and mind really is as the result.





I equate it like this - I grew up watching horror movies from before I can even remember. In my adult years, it is now very very hard for me to find a new horror movie that will even make me flinch - it has to be spectacularly good for it to get my heart pumping.





I think Porn and the Hollywood media portrayals of women act in much the same way to contribute to the same type of de-sensitization.





I will add, that this also doesn't just affect girls, but affects guys. Guys are also pressured to live up to ideals that the media portrays about how they should look and act as well.





To top it off, if I was a guy I'd be really bothered by how men are portrayed. Most TV shows and things, portray men as completely simple-minded idiots (tim the toolman taylor, according to jim, etc) who are incapable of figuring out how a washing machine works.





Thankfully, women are more and more starting to break out of these ';roles'; portrayed to them and becoming more confident of themselves and their abilities.





I am in a career dominated by men. You'd think based on the media, that it would be impossible for me as woman to understand something technical like computers! I am one of only 2 women techs nationwide, out of over 25 on our team.





I don't think it is an accident as to why this is. Everywhere we go, women have not been encouraged to get in to these fields until recent years, which is starting to grow.





I'm glad that women are starting to break free from these impressions and roles that have been outlined for them, and paving their own path!





(told ya I could go on forever! lol)Do representations of Women in Advertising impact on Teenage girls Body image?
Yes it does in my opinion it has a huge impact on how we as females view our bodies it starts conditioning us at a early age. Monkey See Monkey do. We learn by example, at least 95% of our learning is done through sight. So what we see is what we desire to become .Like what we eat is what we become same thing . Keeping up with the Jones. Peer Pressure, young girls are always looking to older girls because they want to be them when they are grown . Of Course it affects them, that's why they do it to sell merchandise. Sex sells , Hence all the bad body images, eating disoreders, poor netueration, and the use of illegal drugs to aid them in weight loss. We are encouraging them to make wrong choices in life, and teaching them to relay on outward appearences instead of their minds. We all have different body styles, These ads are sending the wrong signal.One size does not fit all.
Yep. It really affected me when i was in my teens, i used to think I was fat when i really wasn't, because i was constantly subjected to stick-thin models. I'm 20 now, and it still affects me to an extent.
Yes! Young girls think that it is what they should look like. They don't understand that these people are proffessionals and do this for a living. As well as air brushing! I wish some of these young girls wouldn't try to compare themselves to these women. But unfortunately, some of them do.
Undoubtedly. It is not just women, however. It's people in general. A lot of people place a large amount of importance on image, since (many) people are pack animals constantly trying to ';fit in.'; How do you judge normal? Look at what other people are doing, buying, and asking for. Hence the words trend and trendy. Representations of women in advertising also impacts teenage boys at that delicate time in their life when they are looking for social cues to learn what they should like about the opposite sex (and if) and why they have a curiosity about women.