Does the media hurt women's self esteem?

Question

With all the portrayals of women in the media as skinny, beautiful, sexy, etc. does this hurt the self-esteem of women? I am curious because if I was a woman I would not want to compare myself to superficial people that I will probably never meet.

Answer 1

No. People are in control of their own self esteem. Low self esteem is a personality flaw, and usually people use low self esteem behaviors as a way to get attention. i.e. "I'm so fat!" A person (woman) who says that says it so that her friends (or whoever) will say, "no, no, you are not fat you are so thin."

Answer 2

I agree that grown women don't have any right to complain when they can just turn off the TV or whatever. But it's a problem when it's all over TV/magazines/pop culture, and then little kids are influenced by it. Little kids are still learning from the world around them and finding their place in it. They don't know better, and can't be expected to. If a fat girl is always shown movies in which other fat girls are ignored and the heroine is always someone skinny and pretty, it's understandable that she'll grow up feeling like she isn't good enough, isn't special enough to ever qualify as anything other than the fat girl everyone pushes aside in TV/movies. And it's not hard to see that this is a direct cause of many young girls developing eating disorders. Women and men alike do have a right to be upset that young children are having their self esteem--and in some cases, their lives--destroyed in this way. You'd have to be a bad person not to be concerned.

Answer 3

Yes. I've noticed that adults tend to water it down and blame it on low self esteem. I think that is because when they were younger, they had Marilyn Monroe, who although she was sex symbol, was healthy and beautiful at size 10. Nowadays, models, actress are a size 00. It starts at a younger age, with Disney promoting stars that are unhealthy looking(with the exception of Raven). They give girls 'perfect' role models, like Ahsley Tisdale and Hilary Duff. Cinderella, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast are all examples of cartoons that promote the idea that beauty signifies a good person and ugly signifies a bad person. Fashion is targeted at beautiful skinny women, tall and busty, there are few clothing stores for larger women's fashions. There is so much pressure to be beautiful and good, some girls give in to unhealthy habits and try to get boys to notice them. Prettier girls get more attention from the start. It's unfortunate, and I wish the media would do something about the portrayal of women.

Answer 4

Absolutely the media hurts womens self esteem by highlighting their portyayals in an acular manner inorder to increases their sales.as a women naturally attracts the men the formula for increasising the sale of magazines is achieved.If no women is ready to be a display it may be an dead end.

Answer 5

I don't like how it is easier for a woman to become famous for nothing more than how she looks than it is for a man. I also don't like the rash of female celebrities are famous for nothing more than how they act and what kind of trouble they can get in. To be fair, Lindsey Lohan once did have a promising acting career but recently, all she's famous for are the DUIs, the partying, the drugs, and her stints in rehab. If she had been a young male, do you really think there would be nearly as much media interest? For example, Haley Joel Osment was involved in an alcohol-related car accident in 2006. I don't remember paparazzi following him around and watching his every move. Yes, it's been a while since he's been in a hit movie but it's also been quite a while since she was in a hit movie.

Answer 6

Yes and no. My self esteem isn't based on how I look, but it does bug me a lot that the media always gives us the message that men are so superficial and they only want these type of women who aren't famous for anything BUT how they look, and who most normal women could never compete with on that level.

Answer 7

I think some parts of the media hurt everyone, men and women. Often ads, television programs, and movies portray Americans as selfish, greedy, stupid people who only care about how we look. Our television news and often our newspapers obsess about disasters, you'd think the sky was falling every moment. Our radio stations often defer to the lowest common denominator.

But our magazines and books and the internet range from vapid, to intellectual, to pornographic, to violent, to art, social activism, psychology and philosophy. So the media is a mixed bag. Some of it is incredible, some of it is the worst schlock.

Answer 8

This is a very sad part about our culture. The female icon for our culture is tall, slender, beautiful and busty, but have a woman with her own mind and spirit and we call her a bit**? I think it is a very unfair portrayal and both men and woman are guilty of succumbing into it.
I wish I had a portrayal that shed a positive light but all I can do is express my one-sided opinion.

Answer 9

Of course it does...especially the young, impressionable females. Women are inundated with media portrayal of what it supposed to be sexy and hot.
Young girls look to the magazines and celebrity images.
Thank goodness there is a recent trend of admiration for thicker women....an appreciation for curves. Beyonce' is one celebrity that comes to mind, I'd take her dangerous curves over the unfeminine waif look of Nicole Richy or the Olsen twins any day.

Answer 10

Women know curves are best, men know it too. It is a mystery to me why skinny women have such a media prescence. Perhaps they want women who are more like malleable children?
Making love to a thin women is like making love to a radiator...

Answer 11

I agree....it sets unrealistic standards to young girls and young women.
Example when Britney Spears preformed at the VMA's I kept hearing from the media how she looked fat.....
ARE THEY STUPID?
I thought besides her awful preformance her body was smokin hot!
Beauty comes in all shapes. I wish more young girls understood that. As a matter of fact I wish all women knew that.