The Prototype

Media affects the world positively or negatively and or both. Unfortunately, media sometimes distorts our perception of beauty by showing us unrealistic images of men and women. I will take a look at it and discuss this social issue which is serious because we're already accustomed to the prototype images. Through television, magazine and radio, people are pressured to buy products to lose weight, look younger, and have better looking hair. We have become so accustomed to the beauty advertisements to the point that we do not even realized what we're buying into. It has become acceptable in society therefore the media continues to surplus.

It is apparent to me that the media affects us consumers. Therefore, at this point we need to think about, why the media shows a peculiar type of beauty, what it’s teaching us to look like and how it’s affecting us.

By showing the ideal models, the media sends us implicit message that young woman have to be beautiful and men has to be handsome and muscular. They set up social norms or acceptance that people may think they must follow by stimulating their desires. Also, the media manipulates us to perceive others by only their physical appearance.

For example, Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel who grew up on a dairy farm in South Africa, gave an interview saying that she thinks the media’s always asking her and her fellow models about pre-show diets and exercise. "It's always the first question, so, what have you been cutting out?'" she states. "I understand the speculation because [the show] is about our bodies and we take such good care of ourselves so people want to know how." But, she adds, "They want to think that you're unhealthy.” Media spends too much time showing skinny models giving information about their diet life.

Usually, media effects are described as cognitive, affective, or behavioral. The media distributes certain types of beauty and if we constantly are exposed to them, the images gradually become normal. Because the target audiences have become accustomed to the ads over and over, they have accepted the fictitious standards of beauty insentiently.

Woman has to be thin but suitably full breasts and hips, big round eyes, white skin while men have six-packs. Women are portrayed as weak so that the patriarchal man can protect them.

 Background history about the co-author

I grew up in South Korea and I moved to America nearly two years. My experience on American culture is very minimal. I learned what it’s like to be an American through the media. From watching movies, news, television programs, music videos and magazines I am naturally influenced by the media. From my point of view the media portrays that having clear white skin, big blue pearl eyes and tall and glamorous was what it took to be an American.

It was quite the contrary when I came to America. I was surprised to see the diversity of other races of people walking and talking amongst each other. My perception of America was totally off the mark. United States is extremely diverse; there are many different races, cultures and styles of beauty that cannot be defined with just one word. Looking at America outside in from the media’s standpoint it displays one type of beauty and it maximizes the Caucasian race as the prototypical image. However living here I can see there are tons of beautiful races of people. Even though the media broadcast different ethnicities domestically, it is not transcended internationally. It was just a stereotype.