Entry #9 The Media Modeled Mind

The human mind is like a puppet on a string that is easily pulled to the tune of the media. The strings are invisible and tugged by sleight of hand. Howbeit, the trick-to be fair- could hold no merit were it not for the driving need to fit in with society. The deadly infirmity we all share: a weakness for peer pressure and giving ungodly amounts of strength to what we see in media.

They play upon this plague of our hearts with key phrases such as “if you want to be loved,” “if you want to be liked,” “the majority believe this way,” “70% of so and so say this,” “This is best,” This is what everyone is doing,” “this is the smart way,” and so forth and our minds latch onto these parasitic words and accept them as truth out of the desperate need for acceptance. Whether it's the news trying to make you lean toward one way of thinking, the advertisement industry hoping to gain a loyal consumer, or a movie or TV show setting up the latest trend/way to be... we are subjected to untold amounts of image altering mind changing propaganda daily.

I've come to realize the severity of this recently after watching several videos and articles detailing the effects of sexualizing women in the media and the box known as masculinity that men are forced into by society and the media. I don't feel that I often pay attention to commercials, and my own sisters have never really been into magazines; so, I haven't really seen many of these appalling advertisements. But, these videos showed advertisements where girls as young as seven were dressed in full makeup, scantily clad clothing and posed in sexual positions, just to make a sale. These ads are then seen by other young girls... who compare themselves to the adds and try to imitate such things. And it's not just young girls, it's even adult women who are being downtrodden by unrealistic made up images of models. These women then end up starving themselves and losing self worth to keep up with what they think men want.

On the other side men are boxed into masculinity or -as one of the video's I watched put it so aptly-

“the mask you live in.” This was something I was able to relate to. Sometimes, it does feel like if you aren't careful in what you do or say you will be shoved out from the group. I was honestly stunned by how much the media enforces this type of thinking, nearly making it impossible for individuals to separate themselves from it. From having a clear dominance over women, to being able to throw a punch, to staunching emotion, and even having a clear perchance for violence and rough language are all the qualities of being a true man as portrayed by much of the media. In beer commercials, and in a lot of personal hygiene product commercials, claim that you can be a “real man” with lots of “women” on your arm if you buy their product. Basically claiming that real men have a ton of women. Even in movies and shows geared toward children contain a lot of the same propaganda and damaging words, some of which are “man up,” “you're a girl if you don't do this dare,” “men don't cry,” “men aren't weak,” “real men don't let things go,” and so forth. Thanks to these messages and standards, the process of growing up for young boys and being one's self has been made all the more difficult.
After learning the full extent of these issues, I've come to realize that we have unconsciously allowed the media to dictate much of how we feel about our ourselves and our surroundings. I have not been able to help but look at the news, contents of advertisements, movies and other media the same. Though, as a result I've found myself unable to support several companies. However, on a brighter note, I have also found upon this scrutiny many companies that have displayed positive messages in their ads. They are encouraging and uplifting, and do not photoshop every image and use only perfect models that set unrealistic standards. This has made me think that perhaps if more people focused their business on, or gave positive responses towards these types of media that the idea of sex sells, men being violent and assertive and the over all bias of media may turn around to something better than it is now.

How about the rest of you out there? What have you notice or felt about media as a whole? Feel free to share as I'd love to hear from you.