Weight Loss

Description

This is a picture of a Jenny Craig weight loss ad

Sociological Interpretation

In our society today, we see many ads for losing weight. The term Mass Communication is defined as "various modes of communication(all print and electronic forms from radio to the internet) that are produced and presented in an effort to communication some messages to mass audiences"(Knuttila 299). This picture is an advertisment for a weight loss program called Jenny Craig. The women in the photo is celebrity Queen Latifha saying how she has lost 20 pounds while using this program.

In society, there is a certain body image of what women are supposed to look like. There is an image of what the "ideal" is. Society has created this image by television and magazine advertisments showing young girls that they should be skinny, tanned and have long blonde hair in order to be accepted into society. Advertisments like this tell girls that if they are a few pounds overweight that they need to lose weight in order to be happy with themselves.

By putting a celebrity into this ad, it shows girls that if Queen Latifah can lose weight than so can they. This also helps for the producers to sell their products if the person in the ad is someone that people know rather than an ordinary stranger. This tells us that in order to feel beautiful and healthy that we must lose weight by taking pills, drinking weight lose drinks and even joining these programs. Society has grilled this image of beauty into our minds that it has caused some girls to go to extremes to lose weight. Some girls have developed eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia in order to fit into this image of the ideal woman.

It is a horrible thing that society consistently reminds girls that they need to be skinny in order to be beautiful. Girls of all shapes and sizes are beautiful and our society needs to start accepting people for what they look like rather than by the ideal image that our society has created.