The media has been pumping the idea of a perfect image into peoples minds for a long period of time. From unrealistic beauty standards to worn out stereotypes, the media somewhat struggles to be representative and inclusive. All over the world there are controversy over what being advertised but we are yet to tackle this problem as this seems to be cyclical.
For hundreds of years the idea of being Caucasian was seen as being hygienic and pure. However over time these ideas began to change as new generations began to learn that no race is superior. Furthermore, the media will tend to stay away from advertising anything remotely racist as there would be an uproar . Unfortunately , China failed to do so and created a very shocking advert. The company "Qiaobi" produced an advert for their washing detergent . Within the ad there was a black male who had the detergent shoved in his mouth before he was pushed into the washing machine . When the man comes out the washing machine he becomes an asian man with a gleaming white smile . This caused global outrage however this would happen later on . The advert was released in China for a while until someone had posted it onto a website , and from then the world caught wind of this. The message that was portrayed was that being black is being dirty which correlates back to the time to where black people where seen as less than and undesirable. The way minorities are portrayed in the media is often stereotyped or over exaggerated.
The standards of how women are portrayed in the media is not a surprise to most. For a long time the media has put women in a complete different category to men and even now they keep making that same mistake. But the most common source of media where women are represented differently to men is music videos. Throughout time women would be dressed is promiscuous clothes and would be instructed to be all over the man. The year of 2012 is when of the most talked about controversial video would be released. "Blurred lines" by Robin Thicke ft TI was a catchy pop song which spent 12 weeks at number 1 and sold over 1 million copies in the US alone. When the song came out I was 9 years old singing lyrics such as " I know you want it!" and "You the hottest bitch in this place". The song had many problems like theses lyrics being able to play on radio as-well as the video being able to air on TV, exposing children to such profanity and exploitation. In the music video the women were as usual dressed in "skimpy" clothing being seductive towards the men however the men where in suits touching and asserting their dominance of these females. The inequality between male and female in the music industry is mind boggling.
As much as there are brands that are not inclusive , some brands like "Savage X Fenty" promotes body positivity and self love . My mum was watching the fashion show and asked me " Why can all brand be inclusive like that ?" They had models of all shapes and sizes and all genders that people identify with , there was even disabled models . The way that this fashion show has revolutionised they way designers think and work is outstanding . Rhianna said "The minute you learn to love yourself you won't want to be anyone else. I think a lot of people are afraid of being happy because of what others might think. You have to just accept your body. You may not love it all the way, but you just have to be comfortable with it, comfortable with knowing that that's your body." We've argued many times that not enough people are being represented but now that Rihanna has included everyone , it not only shows a change in the fashion industry but as a whole.
To conclude the media presents various people is many ways. Some can be positive however they tend to be overshadowed by the negative. As we know media plays a big part in how society works therefore they should be promoting body positively and unity. A quote to leave you with is by Aristotle - "Tragedy is representation of an action that is worthy of serious attention, complete in itself and of some magnitude - bringing about by means of pity and fear of curing such emotions."
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