Literature Review-
In my literature review about the objectification of women in media, I have found that women depicted by the media, especially TV and advertisements are always beautiful, sexy, attractive, have the slender figure and reflect the ‘Barbie look,’ (Slayen, 2011). They build measures of unrealistic ideal beauty for societies to imitate and compare themselves with. Consequently, this measure has a negative effect on the majority of woman in our culture; they are skewing towards passivity, were their self-value lies on what they see on the mirror, instead of their inner beauty. This is due to the unrealistic images that TV presents to its viewers, making them obsessed with the plastic appearance, and the idea of perfection, and leading to unhealthy social and physical habits (Berberick, 2010).
Moreover, due to the fact that people are buying into the media content and are absorbing the messages they are being fed, the sexual representations of women are making media profitable and thus the trend will continue. Consequently, this prolongation is detrimental to society and can have both long-term, and immediate short-term effects. “Viewing television programs may change a person’s immediate state by persuading arousal, leading to self-consciousness, or activating thoughts or associations. It may also contribute to enduring learned patterns of behavior about attitudes, beliefs and the real world,” (Huston, 2011). Besides, the recurring messages that are sticking over time, have created stereotypes that we as a society focus on permissive sexual attitudes, that men are primarily sex-driven, that women are objects of men desires, that appearance is all that matters and women’s beauty lies in their perfection and slim figure.
Furthermore, entertainment media such as TV provide a vast array of messages that shape and reinforce many of our societal values, and practices. This content can be dangerous, for all demographics, but especially for the youth, since they are enduring it throughout important stages in their development. For example, young girls are becoming aware of body weight and figure as early as 8 years old now. This is turn has caused eating disorders, the use of laxatives and diet pills and many diseases at an early age or negative the side effects can result later, as they grow older. Those habits are the result of their blurred perception of beauty, because of what they are exposed to on TV, to have the perfect body, to be skinny, to look young, attractive and perfect (Fades, 2011)(Johnson, 2005).
However, this is not only the case in Western media and western societies, but it is also evident in many of our Arabic programs, ads and TV stations. In modern Beirut, Lebanon the crucial importance of beauty has “materialized in the self-fashioning of the body through elective forms of cosmetic surgery and the marketing of the self as a commodity for visual consumption for a wide range of actors across the city,” (Robinson, 2012).
About the video-
Thus, my video focuses on MTV Lebanon, the leading independent media station, since it is renowned for its portrayal of eye bowling, attractive and sexy presenters. It shows Maya Diab for example the presenter of ‘Heik minghani’ the entertainment program, who was considered to be one of the most desired women in the Arab world, according to statistics done by an Arab Magazine. She is an example of beauty for many women and teenagers in Lebanon and the Arab word, and her ‘fake Barbie look,’ which tends to be very western, is being imitated by many. Furthermore, Other than her unrealistic beauty, she dances and poses in a seducing way, to grab the viewer’s attention, making it okay for girls and older women to act accordingly. Additionally, MTV Lebanon talk show presenters, are also known for their perfect beauty and ‘plastic features’ such as Muna Abu Hamza the presenter of ‘talk of the town,’ and many others. My video also shows pictures of MTV’s news anchors like Diana Fakhoury, and Muna Saliba, which also reflect the image of exquisitely and unrealistically beautiful woman and the ‘slender figure’.
Purpose-
The purpose of the video is to show how all these women are undoubtedly pretty, but are not real examples of what ‘real beauty is’. It tells the viewers that we, as a society are being affected negatively by those depictions and are striving for outer perfection. They are changing our values on what is acceptable and what is not, they are pressuring its audience to engage in unhealthy habits of aesthetic surgery and weight control, they are creating unrealistic ideas about Lebanese beauty and reinforcing stereotypes. Therefore, we, as viewers, need to be critical and filter the messages we receive, allowing them not to shape our values and images of who we are. Thus women should be active and know that life is al about the choices we make, therefore we shouldn’t be passive and allow those views to shape who we are. We should be ourselves, and not everybody else.
References,
Huston, Aletha. (2011, 25,02). MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF SEXUAL CONTENT IN THE MEDIA. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=14624
Fades, M. (2012,01,13).”MISS REPRESENTATION:” HOW MEDIA HARM BOTH MEN AND WOMAN. Retrieved form http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2012/january/miss-representation-how-media-harms-both-women-and-men.html
Johnson. (2005,04,26). More girls use steroids for weight loss. Boston globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/26/more_girls_using_steroids_studies_say/?camp=pm
Slayen, G. (2011,04,08). The scary reality of real life Barbie doll. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galia-slayen/the-scary-reality-of-a-re_b_845239.html
N, n. (2011, 27, 12). Are Lebanese women afraid of being natural? Retrieved from https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/are_lebanese_women_afraid_of_being_natural
Berberick, Stephanie. (2010). The Objectification of Women in Mass Media: Female Self-Image in Misogynist Culture. Retrieved form http://newyorksociologist.org/11/Berberick2011.pdf
Aubrey, Jennifer. (2006). Effects of Sexually Objectifying Media on Self-Objectification and Body Surveillance in Undergraduates: Results of a 2-Year Panel Study. Retrieved from http://www.yorku.ca/rajagopa/documents/Aubrey-06-sexObjectif.pdf
Greening, Kacey. (n.d). The objectification and dismemberment of woman in media. Retrieved form http://www.kon.org/urc/v5/greening.html
N, n. (2009, 17, 08). In Lebanon thin is in. Retrieved from https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/in_lebanon_thin_is_in
Robinson, Caitlin. (2012). City of Spectacle: Ideal Forms of Beauty and Body Modification in Beirut. Retrieved from http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/robinsonbeapaper.pdf
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