Fashion, popular pleasures and media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fashion, popular pleasures and media - Essay Example The essay "Fashion, popular pleasures and media" talks about media, fashion and popular pleasures. The anguish in choosing the reading material for the aware and modern women helps define the difficult relationship between feminism and fashion. Even though she has an aversion towards the way women are portrayed in media but she herself is an active participant in the utilization and enjoys clothes and shopping. A six-year-old Sally and an eight-year-old Billy are sitting in front of the television enjoying their favorite programs. Suddenly an advertisement disrupts their favorite television show. The advertisement shows a woman cleaning a kitchen with a product that looks to be easy and enjoyable to use. The woman is smiling while she does her chore as she turns towards the camera and states on how quick the product helped her to clean the kitchen. Both Billy and Sally sit patiently through the advertisement and wait for their show to restart. They do not pay any attention towards th e advertisement. This is a scene that takes place at every household. Even though the time span is very short but the social impact is way beyond our imagination. A lot of individuals live their lives without being aware that how there advertisements shape their lives and how their roles get socialized. Advertisements places genders into given set roles and help perpetuate gender stereotypes. Gender representation has always been vital in order to understand what it actually means to be male or female. In the images provided to us in the patriarchal mass media surrounding us, it is always supposed that it has been encouraged to mould oneself according to a set ideal. For women, it means passivity, elegance, beauty, and good domestic ability. While for a man it means being aggressive, competitive and business minded. Now in the 21st century however, these ideas no longer seen important in order to be accepted into a society. Now, women are often self-reliant and career focused while a lot of men feel that it is their right to express themselves and indulgence themselves, to love and be loved. The new woman and new man are present in the contemporary society but the representation in advertisement is otherwise. As it is seen in the media, the role of women is highly limiting and stereotypical. Association of women with specific domestic roles has been solidified in advertisement. Women have been portrayed not as decision makers but as domestic providers who are dependent on men and are sex objects. Even though the number of offensive advertisements has declined but women are still seen as belonging to the private life of their homes. Women have to play multiple roles. One dimension is the fulfillment of her home duties and the other being a complete sex object. Early on, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, media provided a very clear cut distinction in roles of gender and the different variations within which they are exhibited. The typical