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Zoe Sohenick

Dr. Minich

JRN 1111

November 27, 2020

Manipulation of Reality: Television is not Alone

Societies have been telling stories ever since they could communicate. But how have

these “stories” affected us and our perceptions of the world? Different forms of media entered

our societies and affected us in many different ways. If our lives have been built on stories from

multiple forms of media, how can we truly know what is ‘real’, and what is not? In his essay

“Cultivation Analysis: an Overview”, George Gerbner argues how television is changing our

perception of the reality of the world and analyzes the effects that television, specifically, has on

our society. He claims that as television develops more channels of communication (satellite and

cable television, and the internet), the contents and information that are given become

broadcasted; production companies are targeting the largest audience to learn specific lessons of

the elite in order to keep us viewing. His analysis explains how watching television in our

society is a ritualistic-like pattern that alters our perception of reality which provides evidence of

para-social relationships. Furthermore, Gerbner analyzes how Cultivation Analysis shows proof

of how ‘heavy’ viewers learn the ‘lessons’ of television better than ‘light’ viewers. He explains

that these ‘lessons’ are orchestrated by elite media companies to further their production value

and bring more revenue based on what types of stories and lessons are proven to sell more.

According to Gerbner, two of the most prominent ideologies that are being manipulated through

television are the idea of unrealistic career goals and gender roles.
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Upon digesting his material, I have made connections of my own that coincide with

Gerbner’s arguments. One example of false reality he provides is the depiction of life and work

to young adults in television. As an adolescent, I remember watching television shows such as

Pretty Little Liars, Victorious, and most of all, Gossip Girl. Being one of the most popular

television shows aired, Gossip Girl is also one of the most unrealistic shows to be broadcasted.

Gossip Girl is a show about a group of elite high school friends that live in the Upper-East Side

in New York City. In this show, these teenagers are shown traveling overseas in private planes,

drinking alcohol at clubs, and spending enormous amounts of money on a daily basis.

Throughout this entire television show, this group of teens is given unrealistic opportunities and

high-status jobs that yield large sums of money. Furthermore, they do not have to work for it;

these opportunities are just handed to them. For example, in the episode “Bad News Blair”

(S1:E4), the main characters, Blair Waldorf and Serena Van Der Woodsen, land modeling gigs

through Blair’s mother because she is a fashion designer. These girls do not even have to work

for the opportunities they get. According to Steven McIntosh of BBC News, becoming a model

does in fact take some work because “while getting signed by an agency is evidently a challenge,

the really hard work doesn’t start until you’re actually on the books” (McIntosh). McIntosh

explains that not only is it difficult to land a gig, but it is even more hard work to keep earning

gigs and establishing a name for oneself. Due to their high-society profile status, these girls have

no problem landing shoot after shoot as proven in later seasons. The main focus of this television

series is to show how extravagant the upper class’s lives are and the events that transpire but its

viewers do not have a realistic grasp on their actual lives. How can they when the viewers have

an unrealistic depiction of upper-class lives when televised weekly? While Gerbner argues that
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heavy viewing of television has a significant influence on adolescents and their selections of

careers, this does not mean that the media directly affects student’s choices in their careers.

According to a study conducted by Natasha Cooper, adolescents base their career choices

on people they idolize in the media, but “students responded with an average answer for

television being somewhat helpful to a little helpful only two students reporting it to be very

helpful” (Cooper p. 22). While this quote gives the media a smidge of credit in students choosing

their careers, Cooper comes to find that “students were more likely to report personal factors

(family, friends, people they know in the industry, academic research, and academic success) of

influencing knowledge and esteem in regards to their career” (Cooper p. 22). Cooper’s extensive

research proves that there is no distinctive correlation between the media intake of college

students and the career paths they choose. For some, the media can be a helpful source of

information on their interests, but as a whole, there is not enough evidence to support Gerbner’s

claim that “heavy viewing adolescents were more likely to want high-status jobs that would give

them a chance to earn a lot of money” (Gerbner p. 8). Furthermore, Gerbner claims that there is

an underrepresentation of women on television. He further analyzes that this underrepresentation

puts an emphasis on outdated gender roles, thus leading to no further development to move

toward a de-stigmatized society.

Looking at his overall analysis, I agree with his argument, but he should have been more

attentive to other forms of media. Gerbner tends to blame television for the collective

misconception of reality when realistically, television is not the only media source to blame.

Radio (more so music), advertising, and social media are three key players in the manipulation of

their audience’s reality. Did you know that there were multiple women composers in the 17th and

18th centuries that never got credit for their works? Female composer, Fanny Mendelssohn
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(1805-1847), wrote more than 460 musical works for piano. Unfortunately, some of her works

were published under her brother, Felix Mendelssohn, instead (Weinberg). This past example of

music is one of the multiple forms of underrepresentation of women in media and the next we

will discuss is advertising.

We all know that advertisements can be the devil sometimes but when it comes to

exploiting women, there is no better devil than this. Advertising agencies have created false

beliefs and impossible standards in order to sell more product. According to Dr. Minich,

advertisers use a dark strategy called demand creation which creates fears in people’s minds in

order to get them to buy something they never knew they needed (Mindich). A new form of

advertisement called femvertising counter-argues Gerbner’s argument that television portrays a

more stereotyped woman. Femvertising is “advertising that is empowering and non-objectifying

of women” (Mindich). This concept is finally emerging to diminish the stereotype that women

are flawless goddesses that “are happiest at home raising children” (Gerbner p. 8). On the other

hand, according to Alexandra Rae Hunt, we cannot understand the concept of femvertising and

whether it is doing any harm or good unless we understand where the ideas of masculinity and

femininity come from. Hunt describes femininity as “defined first and foremost by its position in

the peripheral and its subordinate position to the masculine...Femininity is also largely restricted

by what men find attractive” (Hunt p. 13). Deceptive advertising will never cease until the

patriarchal societies ‘let’ women become equals with them, this ideology shows us how

advertising attempts to showcase empowerment among women. One of my personal favorite

femvertising campaigns is Aerie’s #AerieREAL. Their campaign focuses on stopping the use of

Photoshop on their models and emphasizing diversity and realness. #AerieREAL Life also has a

blog where they host events, post articles on healthy lifestyles, and actively engage in
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philanthropy work called “Better World”. This is the type of femvertising that actually works

because they give resources and proof that their campaign is truly rooted in the betterment of the

world and not just the empowerment of women. Finally, social media is probably the most

common form of exploitation and misrepresentation of women in society.

Social media creates many different perspectives of women in society today. Most of us

want to believe that social media has been empowering women in the past few years but I

believe it has gotten worse. While social media has made some great advancements such as

#MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and LGBTQ rights (Jamil), there is a certain toxicity that comes

with a power such as social media. With resources such as Photoshop and filters on Instagram

and Snapchat, women are still falsely portrayed in social media as ‘real’ now more than ever.

Let’s not even talk about the filters and the Photoshop; instead, let’s talk about the concept of

social media itself. Social media is meant to share your life, work, or anything you want with

friends, family, and the rest of the world. According to Grace Edu’s “How Does Social Media

Alter Our Perception of Reality?”, our perception of reality is altered when we see others

accomplishing or doing more than ourselves. This leads to “how we stack up against our own

expectations. The number of likes our posts receive serve to define our self-worth” (“How

Does”). According to The Mediated World by Dr. David Mindich, a study shown in 2017 shows

the average adult spends about four hours a day on the internet or social media (p. 6). When the

average adult spends this much time absorbing this much social media, it is hard to claim that it

does not affect our perception of reality.

Although Gerbner forgets to include the effects of other types of media influence, he does

an adequate job explaining the pervasive effects of television in our society. While television was

the biggest influential type of media for decades, that is not the case anymore. As radio was once
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the most popular form of entertainment in the 1920s, it soon diminished once the television was

invented; the same happened for television once the internet was invented. Television did in fact

make a significant impact on how people view the world, such as violence-ridden or lavish

lifestyles but in our current society, the internet and advertisements hidden within social media

prevail. Furthermore, the generations that are exposed to digital media increasingly get younger

as we develop into the future. Not only are they exposed to television, but also biased music

ideologies, social media, and even advertising. Today, children are born on the internet; before

they can even open their eyes, they already have a life established online. Thus making social

media more influential on a child’s life rather than television, yielding the internet to have a

larger impact once these children grow into their own.

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Works Cited

“#AerieREAL Life Home Page.” #AerieREAL Life, www.ae.com/aerie-real-life/.

Cooper, Natasha, "The Media's Impact on College Students' Career Aspirations With a Focus on

Minority Students" (2013). Communication. 15.

https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_communication/15

Gerbner, George. “Cultivation Analysis: An Overview.” Refining Milestone Mass

Communications Theories for the 21st Century, 2017, pp. 16–35.,

doi:10.4324/9781315679402-3.

“How Does Social Media Alter Our Perception of Reality? - Grace College.” Grace College &

Seminary, 27 July 2020, www.grace.edu/social-media-vs-reality/.

Hunt, Alexandra Rae. “Selling Empowerment: A Critical Analysis of Femvertising.” Boston

College, Boston College University Libraries., 2017, p. 13.

Jamil, Jameela. “Jameela Jamil: Does the Internet Objectify or Empower Women?” The

Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 1 Apr. 2019,

www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/information-age/online-female-empowerment/.

McIntosh, Steven. “What Does It Actually Take to Be a Model?” BBC News, BBC, 28 May

2018, www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43920290.

Schwartz, Josh, and Stephanie Savage. “Gossip Girl.” Netflix, 8 Oct. 2018,

www.netflix.com/watch/70212579?trackId=14170289.
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The Mediated World: a New Approach to Mass Communication and Culture, by David T. Z.

Mindich, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, pp. 316–317.

Weinberg, Rob. “Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847).” Classic FM, 6 Mar. 2020,

www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/great-women-composers/fanny-mendelssohn/.