Miss-ing The Mark

Hark, what is that on the horizon? Lo! It is an assigned post!

For those of you that actually remember, this is blog is really for school. As such, I must occasionally make posts regarding assigned subjects. Currently, we are watching a documentary in class concerning how woman are portrayed in the media, and more specifically the effect it has on children. Therefore, I am to make a post concerning this topic. Now, a lot of you are probably thinking right now: “Oh yeah! That’s a really big issue! It has such a harmful effect on self-esteem and the morals of our culture!” The idea being that, since many children are very much plugged into the media, the influence it has on them is very strong and dangerous. But, why don’t we stop and think about this?

How much influence does the media actually have? The media is not some all-powerful being that bends children, of any age, to its will. In reality, parents have a much bigger influence on moral development than a TV show or a song. Places like this website, lay out how important parental influence is. Children look to family, and especially parents, as guidelines. They watch how they behave and imitate them. You are not born knowing how to behave or what is important. You do not understand perfectly the concepts of right and wrong. To learn these things, there must be some standard to draw from. Some base to act as a point of reference. If the parent is absent in the child’s life, the child must seek another model. Many TV shows center around people in different situations. They follow the exploits, whether from fantasy or reality, of those characters. A child, who is young, would only see this as behavior they can learn from. If X happens, and most people on TV react with Y, it is only logical that the child would conclude this is how society works. Without a parent there to explain what is put on the TV for ratings and what is actually relevant, they will not differentiate. In this situation of course the media will influence them. Whether it is for good or bad, is dependent on what they watch.

Some might ask, “Well what about self-esteem? What about my daughter feeling depressed about her body? Surely the media is responsible for all of this depression and turmoil?” Well, no. quite frankly, the media is only partly responsible. This site, for instance, can explain why. Parents are the big players when it comes to self-esteem. Children model our behaviors. They watch what we do and accept it as their own standard. If the parent continuously disparages themselves, or exhibits what we consider to be low self-esteem, then the child will grow up in suite. If mom worries about her weight and looks, so will her daughter. Now, some people might say that they do not suffer from low self-esteem, so it therefore comes from the media. And to them, I want to point something out. Say a woman is very invested in her little daughter Suzy. But, she is also very invested in the debate over how women are perceived by society. Suzy grows up and hears continuously how the world is going to judge her worth by her appearance. She hears continuously that woman are subject to these standards. Suzy may develop the angered attitude of her mother, or she may begin to feel like she is not good enough to compete in this world. That this world is going to reject her because she is not pretty enough, and no amount of her own merit is going to matter. She may even develop both. Children watch and learn from everything they see, and the affect it has may not be so conventional or obvious as we think. Remember also, that contact and time with a parent is essential. You can not develop a relationship with someone who is not there. You can not form a rock or base of support on a moving target. If your peers are the only place you can find that is always there for you, you will logically go there. And if the only place you can go for refuge or support puts so much value on appearance, then you must conform with these values. Otherwise you have no where to go.

Remember also, that the media had to get these ideas from somewhere. They did not simply make up these concepts and ideals. They began to use them because it was profitable for them. They used them because they worked, because our culture accepted them and demanded them. This is not only true of standards for women, but men as well. We need to remember that not everything can be blamed on the media or other like sources. That these problems we see in the media, are merely reflections of our own values as a whole.

-BlackFox

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