Advertising and It's Affect on Women

Advertising follies

Advertising is all around us, according to ConsumerReport.org the average American watches on average 247 commercials a day. Advertising has an adverse affect on people's views and it is through these commercials, magazines, billboards, etc. that Companies are able to morph and shape society's views on people, especially women. Women in advertising has been a growing problem since the beginning of it in the 1930's with the "flapper" movement. Ever since then the way women have been depicted in these advertisements have caused many problems for society. Mostly since women are being depicted as being thin, having flawless skin, and perfect bodies. These companies are able to manipulate women into buying their product because if they do then they will be able to look like the models that use these products, which is false. The way companies depict women are wrong because it causes regular women who buy these products to believe that if they are not like these women in the advertisements then they are not beautiful and it can lead to dangerous health problems such as eating disorders. Also, it objectifies women, and it gives these companies power in society because it allows them to shape society's ideas.

Women have been coaxed since birth with the use of "barbie dolls" to believe that they should have these "flawless" bodies. According to statistics taken from the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, "The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females. The average model weighs 23% less than the average woman. 90% of all girls ages 3-11 have a Barbie doll, an early role model with a figure that is unattainable in real life. 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures. 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. Officials, in Fiji, reported a sudden increase in anorexia and bulimia with the arrival of television in their communities." These statistics conclude that women are being manipulated into this thinking of being thin because of the advertisements that are being depicted from these big companies such as, CoverGirl, Olay, Teen magazine, etc. These companies target younger girls into buying there products because they are more susceptible to the pressure of trying to be considered "beautiful" even though beauty has changed due to the fact that it is relative, and each person has their own view of what beauty is. Eating disorders have been a serious epidemic in our society. I believe that these magazines, and commercials, and different types of advertisements are in a sense fuel to the fire that is eating disorders. However, it also is the cause to another problem, the