Whoever controls the media, controls the mind

CENTRAL UNION HIGH SCHOOL

J im Morrison of The Doors once famously said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind,” and I agree with him.

The media is a means of mass communication that is impactful and a reflection of our society.

The media is a powerful influence that affects opinions and attitudes, affects the lives of the individual and their perceptions, and affects society as a whole.

Yes, it’s true, whoever controls the media, controls the mind. Mass media such as television, radio, newspapers and the internet today are sending one very clear message: physical appearance and aesthetics are important.

Our mainstream media places too much importance into being the right weight, wearing the right clothes, being the right skin color, etc.

As a result of this, there are some who grow mad in trying to reach today’s societal definition of perfection/ beauty.

Beauty in itself does not come in a singular form, in a singular skin color, in perfect chromosomes or sex.

The word beautiful is not limited in definition, but is in fact open to other definitions.

It is my belief that only the eye of the beholder can determine beauty for itself.

Trying to attain today’s definition of beautiful is futile because only what we hold true about ourselves and others in our mind is what should matter.

In allowing the media to influence the way you perceive things, you’ve left open a door that will be hard to close shut later on.

Spend a day watching TV shows or watching videos online and you’ll be stunned at just how negatively women are portrayed in the media today.

Women in the media today and back then, in the advent of television, were and are still generally portrayed as Barbies.

This creates the illusion of them being perfect. One example of a perfect woman would be the mom from the late 1950’s show “Leave it to Beaver.”

Based on the one episode I saw in class, I noticed that back then women were expected to be welloiled machines.

The mom in the show, Mrs. June Cleaver, was always doing her duties.

She was the stereotypical perfect mom, she cooked and cleaned and baked without a single complaint, all while managing to keep looking perfect; she did not even break a sweat.

Another example would be the three women in the 1990’s T.V. show “Friends,” although the topics addressed are vastly different, one thing continues to be the same, the women.

The women are all skinny, tall, beautiful and fair-skinned.

Not only that, the characters behave in a number of stereotypical ways.

There are a lot of stereotypes when it comes to female representation in the media.

For example, when women are not being portrayed as perfect (as they typically are), they are portrayed as incredibly emotional beings.

As species that needs reassurance about their physical appearance and beauty, as sexual beings.

The false images of women the media puts out there and the way in which it is gobbled up by the general public only serves to further negatively impact the way women are viewed and will continue to be viewed for years to come.

We live in a world where it is already predetermined by your sex how you should act, what you should wear and how you should talk; this leaves little room for change.

And when change does come, the difference is generally not well-accepted.

These ideals are coming directly from the media, the same media that plays a part in molding society’s value system.

When the only portrayal of women in the media you see is either sexually objectifying or stereotypical, there tends to be an equally as negative response from the female population to the ideals that are expected of them, especially when these ideals cannot be met.

Continued exposure to these false images of perfection could lead to things like eating disorders, low self-esteem and self harm among many more.

So the effects of the media are most times detrimental to physical and mental health and to our identities alike.

Too much importance and time is being put into caring for whether or not one looks like the models they see plastered everywhere and whether or not they are wearing what is trending.

The media may bombard us with “ideals” but the extent to which the media and the environment shape one’s identity depend on the individual, on whether the individual’s ears and eyes have been trained to see and hear arguments.

Stereotypes and media pressure can all be fought and will not shape one’s identity if one learns to listen and becomes aware of the faults in each of them.

The most that they can do is affect you based on how you respond to them.