So why does this continue today? There is an easy answer to this question---Economics!! Our consumer culture is interested in selling and buying, obtaining things as fast and as easy as possible. Comsumers are constantly targeteted, led to believe they should be unsatisfied and constantly longing in search for a new fix. How can industires make more money? They use what sells.We constantly see images of women used to sell anything and everything. Especially cosmetic and diet products. These industries are assured growth and profits if the ideal is unrealistic and unobtainable.
Blooger, Jess wrote a great article on body image in the media, http://www.actnow.com.au/Opinion/Body_image_and_the_media.aspx
I quote her here - "Why is it that once someone is seen on television, in a magazine or newspaper, they are suddenly seen as someone we should invest in?"
She has a great point. I would also ask why we invest in "things" we see on tv also. How are these advertisments reaching us? We seems to be victims of these images, some of us more aware of the impact than others. Are we slightly brainwashed? Why are we fooled by the messages, we do not need to listen to them, we are capable of thinking for ourselves, for coming up with our own ideas about beauty.
In comment to Jess's blog, Jinnan writes: "The "media" isn't really to blame since it is just a channel of communication, but I believe it is the companies that sell lifestyle and image products who are responsible and should be held accountable for proliferating these harmful body image values.
I have studied creative advertising and the sad truth is that advertisers deliberately create these role models for consumers to feel inadequate about themselves, furthermore, they purposely create these unrealistic body images to be unachievable, so that consumers will always be driven to consume more and more." http://jinnan.buzka.com/
Well said, the unrealistic body images created are unachievable, consumers will always need to buy something else.
