Morales 1

Jennifer Morales

Professor Spitler-Lawson

English 113B

26 April 2017

Project Text Rough Draft

Word Count: 1755

Looks: Filter vs No Filter

Have you ever been able to get a job or a position to do something you wanted because of

your body or pretty face? Have you ever been shamed for not being sexy enough? Has your

intelligence ever been completely ignored due to someone thinking your looks were the only

thing you needed to worry about? Most American women have. Everyone in America has been

exposed to women degradation, either through a movie, commercial, billboard, music video, etc.,

yet no one makes a proclamation about this issue because women exploitation is viewed as a

normal thing in American society today. As people see the media portraying an ideal female as

a thin, big breasted, big butt type of figure, ordinary women then feel the need to look the same

way, leading many to change their appearance and personality. This issue has become so big it

has began developing the way women are treated in this country and the way they are looked at.

Due to the issue of women objectification, it has also caused many detrimental effects to women.

Americans are aware of what is happening, along with many saying they are concerned and want

to make a change to this issue, although nobody really has; it is necessary for women to stop

trying to be perfect and comparing themselves to others, if not the only ones who are going to

end up hurting is themselves. This is easily disregarded due to the fact that many do not see

women objectification as a serious issue; some may think women should feel good about
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themselves for getting so much attention when seen on media, no matter if their fame is started

through nudity or not. Women should not be perceived as beautiful only if they are glammed up

and half-naked with curvaceous body figures; beauty needs to be seen in many different ways,

especially naturally. As well as not needing to feel the need to as if they are in competition with

other women because everyone is different from each other.

Ever since women exploitation began in the mid 1900s, females have become viewed

and treated completely different than before, as they used to be seen in a loving and tender

manner, being much admired for their intellect (Onyejekwe). Today females are looked at as

objects to the world, only being useful for their looks and curves, because of the media

continuously exploiting their bodies for more buyers and viewers time after time. People think

all women need are their looks to be successful because they can not make it in a mans world

either way. American society is so comfortable with thinking that way nowadays due to all the

years women have been mistreated in the media industry, as they are convincing their viewers

that this is what real life is actually like or should be like. Women degradation has led women to

be payed less than men even if having the exact same job, as well as it being weird or uncommon

for women to be independent and/or successful; for example, whenever there is a successful

career woman role being played in a movie, filmmakers and writers almost always include her

needing to find a man to truly be happy. Although in many cases people do not expect women to

be successful at all. Countless of people feel a woman needs to stay at home cooking and

cleaning, and having babies while men are the ones making money, becoming successful and

being the brains and strong one in the household. This way of living has become so ideal in

American society it has caused many domestic violence relationships, usually occurring when a

woman tries to pursue success in her life or being more successful than her significant other. As a
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great deal of the media industry is owned and ran by men, media has given influence that a

womans role is to be an object for men, as if they are in charge of what women should be like

and are mens property, only using women for their needs and having little or no respect for

them. Media has had such a great influence on their viewers, especially younger ones, as

American teenagers spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes absorbing media in just one

day; this includes the amount of time spent watching TV, listening to music, watching movies,

reading magazines and using the internet.; they have been able to influence opinions and

perspectives on the way relationships and respect for women should be like (Azad).

As American media has continued to exploit and have no self-respect for females, many

women have become so self-conscious and unhappy with themselves it has led them to act on

their physical issues, causing serious detrimental effects. The media has caused people to feel

like a thin waist and curvy body is what a perfect woman is, and many women have done

nothing but make sure that is the type of body they achieve. Most women do this to impress men

and to make them feel good about themselves, and especially to have that sense of relief to

finally feel perfect. To succeed at this goal, women start to change their appearances, becoming

obsessed with weight [and] calorie counting, sometimes even dangerously getting to the point

where women become anorexic or bulimic (Anderson). This is true especially when it come to

younger girls because they are not fully developed yet but still see the women on the media with

curvy bodies, so they cannot help but want the same features. Also, many boys make young girls

feel as if they are not good enough for not having the body of a fully developed women, causing

the girls to become self-conscious about their looks and figures. Some change their hair color, try

to get perfect and silky hair and skin and get cosmetic surgery to gain the breasts, butt, lips and

other features they do not naturally have. In fact, the number of cosmetic surgery procedures
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performed on youth 18 or younger has more than tripled from 1997-2007 (Newsom). Women

spend thousands of dollars and a great deal of their time trying to become perfect and better than

any other girl just to act and make themselves be something they are not. Females change so

much of themselves to be and look like the women who are advertised by the media, although

the women on the media do not actually look the way they do when presented to the world, in

real life. Technology has become so advanced, corporations can completely change a persons

appearance by editing almost every feature. Hair, makeup, lights, smooth skin editing and

photoshop is what makes women viewers believe in the unrealistic factors the media tries to sell.

By women deciding to change so many features of themselves, they feel as if once that is done

they are going to finally be happy with themselves. That may be true in certain aspects, but

desired looks will not give someone true self-happiness, especially if it is not natural. This is true

towards anyone, even famous singer and songwriter Beyonce Knowles-Carter agrees with this

statement when writing song lyrics stating ..Aint no doctor or therapeutic that can take the pain

away the pains inside And nobody frees you from your body Its the soul that needs surgery

Plastic smiles and denial can only take you so far.. (Knowles-Carter).

On the other hand there are many people who feel the problem of women objectification

and exploitation is not a serious issue at all. Many corporations and a lot of the male gender may

feel this way; they think this because they are not the ones personally damaging women, when in

fact they really are. The media is basically showing our society that women need to have a

certain look if they want to be considered as beautiful, and of course every girl wants to feel as if

she is beautiful. Others also have the mindset that women degradation on media is not serious

because they do not see what so many women do to themselves to become perfect. All

corporations care about is for their businesses to succeed and that they continue to make a lot of
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money. The media continues to include sexuality in their advertisements because they know that

is what American society like and know that sex sells, and truthfully, it really does

(Anderson). The media industry even supports what women do themselves and say it is not a bad

thing because they are just enhancing their beauty. Many corporations think women should

feel proud about themselves for getting so much attention and fans when seen on media, whether

it is through nudity or not.

The only way females are going to break the continuous chain of being exploited is by

starting with themselves and loved ones. Instead of females feeling like they are in competition

with one another, they should be building each other up and making each other feel good about

their natural characteristics. So many women in this country are struggling far more than is

necessary not only to have that ephemeral all, but to do it all alone by trying to be athletic,

strong, sexually versatile, and wholly independent all at once, all day, everyday (Spar). No one

is able to be perfect at everything all the time and because women try to accomplish that, they

only set themselves up for failure. As well as changing unrealistic goals, women also need to

change their mindset towards other woman. A majority feel like they are in competition to be the

most attractive woman as we tear each other apart mentally to become self-conscious, although

that is a major factor to the issue and why it is still increasing. We must instead forge

partnership with those around us, and begin to dismantle the myth of solitary perfection (Spar).

Instead, showing each other that beauty is in everyone, in their own unique way.

As society sees the media portraying females as a thin, big breasted a big butt figure,

women then feel the need to look that way, leading many to change who they are. Although, by

doing this you are only trying to make something out of yourself that you are not and that is only

hurting yourself. Self-happiness will only truly be gained when women stop comparing
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themselves to others and realize that nobody is them same, that beauty comes in all different

colors, shapes, and sizes.

Works Cited

Knowles-Carter, Beyonce. Pretty Hurts. By Beyonce, Sia, Ammo. Beyonce. Google Play

Music. Columbia. 2013.

https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tmbocratvk3a7ebvudajavh4eky?

lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaign

id=kp-lyrics
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Onyejekwe, Chineze J. Degrading Women in the Media: Female Exploitation. Advertising

and the Exploitation of Female Sexuality. by Dr .. N.p., 2005. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.

http://degradingwomeninthemedia.blogspot.com/?m=0

Anderson, Sabrina. Role of Women in Mass Media, How Mass Media is Changing Their

Lives. wordpress.com N.p., 21 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

https://sabrinaandersonxo.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/role-of-women-in-mass-media-

how-mass-media-is-changing-their-lives/

Azad, Sifat. Are Women in the Media Only Portrayed as Sex Icons? Statistics Show a Massive

Gender Imbalance Across Industries. Mic. Mic Network Inc., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 16

Apr. 2017. https://mic.com/articles/4439/are-women-in-the-media-only-portrayed-as-

sex-icons-statistics-show-a-massive-gender-imbalance-across-industries#.efBn9g0eW

Spar, Debora. Why Women Should Stop Trying to be Perfect. Newsweek. 9 Sept. 2016. Web.

15 Apr. 2017. http://www.newsweek.com/why-women-should-stop-trying-be-perfect-

64709

Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Perf. Christina Aguilera, Michele Bachmann,

Chris Baker, etc. Virgil Films & Entertainment, 2011. Documentary.