Muntinlupa National High School – Main

NBP Reservation, Poblacion, Muntinlupa City

NAME: Rea Akhira H. Bago GRADE & SECTION: STEM 1204

Beautiful Women: Portrayal by Media

Magazines, newspapers, billboards, social networking sites,

commercials, and news stations are one of the common examples of media.
Media, by definition, from an app Dictionary, is means of communication.
Since we live in an advanced world, we often see media just almost
everywhere, be it on roadsides, at homes, in malls, or even at your nearby
convenience stores. Having showed that media’s presence is almost
everywhere gives us the idea how powerful media is when it comes to
disseminating certain contents and information. That reason alone contributes
to the factors of why many companies of different industries hire certain
people who could show the true essence of their products based on their own
concept and standards.

In 2007, a L’Oreal advertisement was banned because of the excessive

manipulation of Beyonce’s skin in which they made it a lot lighter than her
original skin tone. A Dove advertisement that showed three different women
with different shades of skin color became controversial as it displayed being
black is the ‘before’ and white as the ‘after’. A cosmetic brand Lancome also
became controversial when it released an advertisement showing an over-
photoshopped Julia Roberts with no wrinkles. The world has since been so
used to seeing beauty advertisements with women becoming beautiful than
ever before they used a certain featured product or brand that, we almost do
not notice anymore that these advertisements are showing us that women are
supposed to be perfect--- by perfect, meaning, they are following the norms
or the “standard of beauty’’. Being beautiful is never a sin, neither a
wrongdoing to be a one too. For women, being able to feel beautiful means
that they are happy and confident. They feel like they are in an open field full
of colorful and fragrant flowers with various big and tall trees around which
gives shade and a sweet moment of feeling romantic because of the falling
leaves while the wind is blowing. Many companies look for their models who
suit their concept to represent their own brands and having this kind of beauty
never feels disappointing. As long as you are an optimistic person, good things
will come your way, even if it’s messy along the road.

Many artists and entertainers nowadays are using various items from
different brands to doll themselves up. It is now a trend to do your own
hairstyle and make up at home. Hair straighteners, blower, make up, hair
roller, and many more home essentials are coming out to the market because
of media’s power to execute promotions. Through photoshoots and filming,
visual advertisements get easily done. Notice that when it is about beauty,
having an attractive look of the model is the most crucial. Especially if the
brand is aiming for the beauty itself. Cosmetic brands will most likely not
choose a person who does not fit for their products. Instead, the media is used
as a medium to relay videos on TV and the main goal is to look nice, otherwise
our time there. Beauty ads are one of the examples of the most seen
advertisements that feature women the most. Having fair skin, pointed nose,
small eyes, long lashes, and plumped lips, are just few examples of the
“standards of beauty”. These “standards of beauty” are mostly shown on the
advertisements and, we may deny it as much as we want but, these
advertisements make us think about our own selves not fitting the image of
the women on these ads. The insecurities of a person who would see an
advertisement like that could be worsened. It could also cause self-doubt and
lowering of self-esteem. These beauty ads do not give appreciation to
women’s own beauty instead, they suggest that we should change according
to the norm. The ads from L’Oreal, Dove and Lancome are examples of how
the media have distorted our perception of beauty.

It is probably easy to say that we shouldn’t let ourselves get affected by

these mere ads. Of course, it is always easier to throw out words just like that
other than doing the act in reality. We all know that the power of media is
really strong and very dominant. It is a massive platform that has a capability
to influence people in different ways. A study in April 2011 from the issue of
the Journal of Consumer Research showed that a girl can easily be affected
just by even looking at the objects that enhances beauty makes her feel
plain/worse about herself…. Women who are unhappy about their bodies can
develop eating disorders, depend on diet pills or steroid, or try cosmetic
surgery and botox injections. For some, the trend to look as perfect as the
models that advertise the products are just ridiculous, but it could also be
possible. The portrayal of the media about women is almost about the physical
appearance. But, being beautiful does not just all boils down to being pretty.
A woman could also be called as a beautiful woman because of her personality
and attitude. The media always portray women as gentle, caring, and helpful.
Women are always expected to act as such characteristics when it comes to
using media, otherwise, many celebrities would have lost their fame just from
a media coverage. Once women act tough in front of the media, it’s game over
for them since the society and the media does not accept women as the
superior. Men are way more advantageous in this field of media. The
portrayals of media especially for women is not always intended to make them
look good.

Since then, women have more strongly fought for their furthering rights
to be acknowledged and appreciated, no matter which shape, color, and size.
Women who are diverse in body shapes, looks and sizes also need to be
included in commercial films, magazines, newspapers, and other sort of media
that could give them their well-deserved recognition as models. Women
should not feel the embarrassment of going to auditions and not being chosen
because of their physical appearances. Media should start being fair to
everyone and stop the bias and discrimination, especially for the women.