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Introduction
It is no doubt that mass media influence the way people think and behave. They form and reflect public opinion. It is stated that mass media may even influence a person’s ability to think and to act autonomously. Lots of informational and cultural influences operate through them. Nowadays cultural boundaries shift, every person has an access to lots of information. But in their turn moral and behavioral norms become vaguer; especially it is true with young people. And here mass media come into action; television and the internet reinforce their audiences’ behavior by presenting definite roles and values. Very often people are even unconscious of the influence of mass media on their way of thinking (Aucoin, 1996, p.73). According to semiotic studies, signs and symbols have a very strong influence on people’s minds, and very often the audience is not aware of this fact.
Gender/Sexuality
Mass media are a powerful tool for imposing a definite ideology on the audience. Ideology is usually denoted as a set of beliefs and values about the way society works. Mass media involve people in the relations of interpellation when the audience is invited into a subject position.
Numerous researches prove traditional notions of sex roles and mass media are closely related. Portrayals in television and other media of highly attractive persons may encourage dissatisfaction or lowered evaluations of the attractiveness of those of the pertinent sex in real life (Galician, 2004, 89).
Mass media is an accessible way for the audience to learn about sexual behavior. It is especially true for young people because their behavioral patterns and sexual beliefs are just forming. A great part of modern films and music videos contain erotic implications. The most of advertising content of modern magazines for women is focused on the idea of how girls should act in order to attract men. In this picture which advertises a bag from Francesco Biasia, we see a naked woman with her back turned to the audience. We cannot see her face; to present the myth needed the face is not important. This picture is full of eroticism. The message is that the products from Francesco Biasia make women attractive to such an extent that nothing else is needed. The stereotype is that fashionable things guarantee beauty.
The next picture is an advertisement too. This time underwear from Calvin Klein is being advertised. The viewer can see two young attractive people. The target audience is both masculine and feminine. The man is presented as strong and confident. As for the girl she is very attractive too. Everything she has on is just underwear from this company. This advertisement stresses relationships between men and women, the message is based upon binary opposition of masculine and feminine. I think the message is that everybody who wears the underwear produced by Calvin Klein is a very attractive and successful person.
Race/Ethnicity
In the struggle for ethnic representation, the number of Afro-Americans who are shown in mass media is increasing. This picture portrays a mother with a child. The informal clothes of the people, the furniture, and all the surroundings create an atmosphere of work-life and strong, affluent home. This picture can serve as a good example to demonstrate the recent tendency of presenting a positive portrayal of Afro-Americans. It can be considered an attempt to overcome the still existing inequality between Afro-Americans and Americans. Pictures like this demonstrate again the ideology politics of representation. It appeals to the idea that the root of success is individualism. In its turn, this approach contradicts the systemic nature of ethnic and racial discrimination in USA society.
In the next picture, we see a happy Afro-American family consisting of two parents and two children. The Blue and white palette is prevailing in this photo; the use of these colors adds to the atmosphere of love and harmony.
The growing popularity of photos like this serves to show a ritualistic representation of people’s ethnicity. The wide popularity of African-American models connects the ideology of consumerism and individualism with ethnicity. In such a way advertising serves a discourse about ethnicity.
As for the Afro-American audience, they traditionally prefer films presenting Black characters and are apt to buy products advertised by them.
Conclusion
Usually, people are not aware of the fact that they are involved in power relations of hegemony and that they are becoming dominated by a certain idea, and their reactions and thoughts when they see a definite picture are provoked and controlled by many people.
When people see photos like these they do not take into account that usually magazines select only the most attractive girls from thousands of applicants, and after the photo is taken the photographers digitally enhance them.
Advertising, graphic design, and art directing are used not only for esthetic purposes. Advertisements are always filled with signs and symbols, and their function is to transfer definite values to the products advertised.
There is a wide variety of patterns used by mass media depending on the age, wealth, gender, race, and ethnicity of the target audience. So in our age of information, it is important to preserve the independence of thinking and not allow mass media to impose ideas on you.
Works Cited
Galician, Mary-Lou, 2004. Sex, Love & Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis & Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals & Their Influence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Aucoin, James.”Implications of Audience Ethics for the Mass Communicator.” Journal of Mass Media Ethics 11.2 (1996): 69-81.
www.images.inmagine.com
www.bc.fotosearch.com
www.virginmedia.com
www.instablogsimages.com
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