EXPOSURE TO MEDIA

Exposure to Mass Media and Ideal Body Image

Exposure to Mass Media and Ideal Body Image

Introduction

During the last ten or fifteen years it has become fashionable in the intellectual world in the general population and critical theory about the influence of mass media in their ability to interfere with, seduce, construct and reformulate ideas, values and worldview. Consequently, patterns of behaviors that are normal people. It is from them that were built new social myths, along which collapsed rooted collective traditions and cultural habits were transformed. But this is not an original phenomenon: prior to the existence of mass media such episodes also occurred, in any case, what should surprise is the speed with which such mutations occurred axiological. This is not surprising mostly because the contemporary world is immersed in the era of acceleration, and means only facilitate the changes that a century earlier delayed for years or even decades to occur, now occurring in months, weeks or days.

This paper will address only a particular aspect of the role of mass media in particular subjects and social groups: the terms of manipulating the body in its aesthetic aspect, and the attempt to ensure the full health and recovery of lost youth, or the possibility of living in an eternal youth but the body no longer has the capacity of old. Undoubtedly, the media offer daily thousands of examples of claims, from themselves or from their advertisers, so that people change their appearance depending on demand means they intend presenting graceful figures for this purpose and slim as the models of physical culture.

Discussion

Worth mentioning that at present this mechanism of manipulation aimed at women and men, young and old, healthy and sick, all are potential buyers of the image of beauty that is sold by the media from the huge economic interests brought into play from companies trading in such instruments, clothing, exercise, medications and more (Bell & Dittmar, 2011). The cult of the body, in its outward manifestation from the point of view of health or aesthetics, is one of the most powerful human expressions today. Similarly, such worship is accompanied by an absolute misinformation, or disinterest in what happens with the black box operations that commands the body, that is, what happens behind closed doors of the cranial cavity, well maintained to its As foreign hairiness and dyes (Schick, Rima & Calabrese, 2011) (Knobloch-Westerwick & Romero, 2011).

And this attention paid only to the outer, the physical, somehow recognized a kinship with the biologicism, which served as foundation to the philosophy of Nazism (if one can speak of philosophy in such a short wealth of ideas) as to what Levinas called the restoration of natural existence of what comes disavowal and self-renewal of the spirit (Grabe, Hyde & Ward, 2008) (Duncan & Robinson, 2004). The philosophy of Nazism is, for this author, the most elementary form of bond between humans and their biological structure, which is determined in such a way that ends up guiding their ...