Magazines and Personal Image

Description

This photo is of a magazine rack at the Moose Jaw Superstore.

Sociological Interpretation

Although we may not realize it, mass media plays a huge role in our lives and how we see ourselves. If we stop and think we can easily see what a huge impact magazines have on society, especially young women.

“North Americans spend a great deal of time with mass media” (Knuttila 78.) One popular method of this is magazines. We may see magazines and other forms of mass media as informational, a way of attaining news, knowledge, or advice. But along with this information comes advertising and imaging. Young girls look at these magazines and see no one that looks like them, only beautiful, thin, air-brushed women. What are magazines like these teaching young girls? By showing them what the ‘ideal’ way to look and act is, they can also result in low self-esteem. “As a child watches these images and messages day after day, year after year, the learning takes hold in a powerful way” (Knuttila 79.)

Magazines have a strong power over what young girls value in themselves. They teach girls that what is important is what is on the outside, on the surface. By focusing on articles that show you how to “get sexy hair” or “find the pants that best fit you” magazines are telling girls that these things are more important than how they act and their overall life long health.

These articles and images largely contribute to negative body images in youth. They look at these unrealistic models in the magazines and compare themselves to the models. For most girls these images are not only almost impossible to duplicate, but it would be very unhealthy. Trying to achieve these looks can lead young girls to extremes such as anorexia, bulimia, and intense diets or exorcises. Girls look at these magazines and see what only a very small portion of women look like. They see the models, celebrities, athletes, and other stars and think that this is how everyone looks. But in reality, how women are portrayed in magazines is not how most women look.

The use of mass media to illustrate the ideal look is not a new idea. It has been around for a long time. But it has become much more important in recent years and will continue to have a huge impact on our lives unless we realize how much control it has over us. We have to recognize that what is depicted as “social norms” in the magazines is not actually normal at all. As Knuttila states, “The sociological imagination promises ‘an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities’, an ability that, if developed, will allow human reason ‘to play a greater role in human affairs’ (Mills, The Sociological Imagination 1949, 4, 6, 15.)”