BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Image Portrayal of women in magazines

Hi guys, i was having a debate with my friends about this the other day and was wondering what you guys all thought.
How do you think women are portayed in magazines?
Are women celebrated or objectified?
Do you think women are expected to take on multiple roles and how do you feel about this?
Do you think there is unfair pressure put on women in this day and age?
Would be great if you could contribute your views to help solve our debate! Thanks!

I think women are portrayed in a manner that the common woman cannot begin to achieve. I think they are both celebrated and objectified. Ultimately, women in magazines represent a small portion of the "real" women out there and set unrealistic standards for beauty. I think that magazines should celebrate all types of women thus instilling better self esteem for women by creating more attainable goals. But then what would happen to the modeling world if they did that? lol

Hi, This is no way to introduce myself but I saw this and had to respond. They have done studies of the effect womens magazines on self-esttem. It only takes 3 minutes for the girl looking at one to start feeling inadequate. It depends on where in the media you are looking to see women being objectified or celebrated. Sadly alot of the magazines people are reading aren't the ones who care about lifetime acheievements in medicene or science,etc Women are expected to take on multiple roles. Theres that old saying I want Madonna in the kitchen and a ...... in the bedroom. ( Thats not too risque is it? I didn't actually say it but I apologize in advance.) It's unfair to put pressure on anyone at any time but then again thats life. We create or help to create by buying those magazines and movies, this mess we are in when it comes to women being respected as women and not as a plaything.

Hi, I agree - magazines, tv, advertisements all tend to portray 'perfect' women. Impossibly beautiful, well dresssed, impeccably groomed. No wonder us 'normal' girls tend to feel inadequate! But what you've got to remember is every single one of us is a unique and special person because of who we are. And if we don't look like the perfect specimens in the magazines it doesn't matter. So hold your head high and be proud of who you are. To get back to the question... I feel that women are often objectified in magazines. And they're certainly expected to take on multiple roles - I think part of that is because we can cope with multiple roles far better than most men. We can be cooking, helping with homework and having a conversation with DH while he can't manage to do anything other than cope with the other side of the conversation! Penny

Women are definitely objectified in most magazines, definitely in most tv shows and movies, and then there's pornography. The fact that it's simply programmed now into every little boy and little girl what the "perfect" specimen of a man or woman "should" look like is absolutely mind boggling. They show you these images and videos of perfect 23 year olds using wrinkle cream, or airbrushed "hotties" advertising swim suits that you'd never walk out of that dressing room to be seen in. They talk about how "ugly" stretch marks are and sell you cream that doesn't get rid of them. Then they turn around in the same breath and tell you that every woman is beautiful. Such a load of bull! We, as women, ARE expected to take on multiple roles every day. In MY case, I have to be Mommy, Cook, Maid, and when my husband gets home, "The dirty girl in the bedroom." I can't even sit there and watch tv with my 5 yr old son without seeing at least a dozen commercials with airbrushed to perfection women in swim suits who's bodies have been surgically altered. I can't even TELL you the questions he's asked already. He's 5 years old! I don't even know where to begin when my daughter is old enough to look in the mirror and realize she doesn't measure up in beauty (in her OWN eyes, of course) of what she will see in magazines and movies. The worst part of all of this is that women objectify each other. Have you ever called another woman a less than pleasant name because of what she was wearing and how great she looked in it? We have all been guilty of it. Its because we are all trying to please the eyes of men, even if we dont know them, and we are always always ALWAYS trying to one up each other as women. I would love to be able to say "That woman is drop dead gorgeous!" without feeling jealous of her beauty because I'm aware that I measure up as well. We are ALL common women, but some of us have jobs that give us the advantage of being painted from head to toe to look as if there are no flaws. Women need to start understanding this instead of feeling inadequate because they don't look like that. NOBODY looks like that, not even HER! Lol.

Have you seen the dove ad on you tube? Women are definitely portrayed in exaggerated ways. --------------- RetailTherapy.com

The women who pose for magazines do so because it is their choice so none of them are objectified. Seeing all these magazines covers have never even for just one second made me feel bad about myself and it also has never gave me any pressure to be perfect or anything else like that.

I never let models influence me. It's a job. I talked my sister out of being a model when she was young. I told her that was just being 'a paid clothes hanger with a face'.