https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jeirCk0EYbMD1DO-yNtOQ
Andrew Maxey
Sociology
MLA
May 13, 2020
The Detrimental Effects Advertisements Have On Women’s Self Esteem
The purpose of this essay is to shed light on the detrimental effects advertisements have on women’s self
esteem and body image. Advertisers create an obscured, unrealistic view of the ‘ideal
woman’ which leads to their futile search for an unreachable beauty standard.
The first example given exerts that women who appear in advertisements are often grossly thinner than
the vast majority of women are in reality. This sets an unfair ‘bar’ as the images used for such ads are
‘doctored’. To illustrate, Cindy Crawford is quoted as saying: “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford.” indicating
her own awareness of the inauthenticity of her own image. A photo editor for the magazine ‘Lucky'[Ken
Harris/ n.p] admitted that photos are ‘touched up’ as much as thirty times. This process renders the original
image of the body or face unrecognizable, compared to the original. As the female consumer is unaware of
such deceitful methods, she is determined to exert all her time and effort in pursuit of something that is
unattainable.
The second example utilized, rendering further proof of the detrimental effect of misogynistic ads, is the
increase in cosmetic surgeries and non-surgical beauty procedures. Botox and breast implants, for example,
have seen a sharp increase within the decade of 1997-2007. From a little over two million to almost twelve
million cosmetic procedures were performed during this time, which is a 457% increase in one decade. What
does this increase indicate? That such ads have a definite, unhealthy effect on the psychological well being of
women. To further reinforce this conclusion, A study by Marika Tiggerman and Belinda McGill, after measuring
the mood and satisfaction levels of participants, stated: “exposure to either body part or full body images led
to increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction while the amount of comparison processing was affected
by both image type and instructional set.”[ The Role of Social Comparison in the Effect of Magazine
Advertisements on Woman’s Moods and Body Dissatisfaction pp 23]
In conclusion, women’s damaged self-image due to enhanced advertisers images leads to dissatisfaction
with themselves, as individuals, and an obsession with frustrating efforts to obtain the unobtainable. To
combat this scourge, women should be aware of these negative effects and focus on character qualities that
truly make a person’ beautiful.’