Sex Appeal in the Media

         As you explore in the wonderful world of Media, I hope you understand that there are so many different forms of literacy around. The topic I choose to talk about the Media with and how I understand Media Literacy is Sex Appeal. There is just so much of it now-a-days and its so public. There are many arguments why it should be allowed because sometimes its all and all not bad, but sometimes it is really bad. It can relate to many things like anorexia, bulimia, and just weight in general. This paper can relate to you because your a person and you can just turn on the television and see that some of these commercials are so personal to the point they should not be on t.v. I am one of those people that always say, "I wish I looked like that Victoria Secret model." Basically the way that the media advertises sex appeal, mostly in the female form is excessively.     

           In our current society advertising is a lot more published then it used to be. The advertisements that we see and the way the media portrays are different, and share many similar positive and negative qualities. By looking at commercials with models like Victoria Secret, or the David Beckham underwear commercial we see the way sex appeal is brought about in the media. We also see how the media uses celebrities as an attention grabber to buy things like their products, which again is associated with look. How the show Jersey Shore generalizes that certain appeal that the cast looks, "The guido italian."The way billboards are advertised, and how they try to really catch your eye because of the look on them. Whether it is either the boy or girl perfect models, the body type, the show, or movie, every particular circumstance or individual has to have the proper appeal. Because of the need for such sex appeal in our media today, there are many pros and cons associated with it. A con for example is it sets a bad example out in the world for people, especially if they do not have one of these specific appealing features. A pro for example can set things like trends, and the appeal to sell more products.
            Have you ever seen a Victoria Secret commercial and ever say, " I wish I could look like that?" Victoria Secret is known for their "Angels Models." The models that all look the same.
They are all super thin, built with an unbelievable figure and of course beautiful. I decided to

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use this example as one of my annotated bibs, because it is well determined in the media. Most of their commercials determine sex appeal. Advertising sex appeal in the media tries to get people's attention, and causes the common person to fantasize about what they can look like, or for someone maybe wanting to be with one of these girls that look like this. They show these girls half naked showing off their new bras, underwear, bathing suits. In my perspective I think it sets a really bad example on girls. Every girl wants to have their perfect flaws and its impossible for everybody to look like these girls. If a girl is the total opposite maybe fatter, and not built down to the way these models look their self esteem level goes down. It one of my articles that I read for my annotated bib, it actually talks about weight, and how being skinny sets a really bad example on younger girls because not every girl can be skinny, and look like that. It also mentioned how it makes girls depressed because they want to look just like these girls and when they do not have the ability to do so, it puts them in a state of mind that is not good. Seeing for example the video that I used of the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. Not one girl is built differently. They all have to walk the same, and have a figure of perfection.
             Being advertised as a model does have its pros and cons. Pros being able to have the certain "status." When a women becomes a supermodel they are in the category of becoming one of the rich and famous, being able to be an actual celebrity and well known. You are also able to experience wonderful locations. Most shoots for commercials or billboards for example are filmed in places that are only beautiful. Also you could get to model for some of the biggest companies in the world. This can lead you to many connections, with bigger and better deals and contracts as well as being able to wear clothes, shoes, and accessories from some of the worlds biggest designers out there. The cons of being a model, there are many. You are
pressured, if you do not look the way you are told you are done. This leads to Anorexia,

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Bulimia, and all health problems as follows. Having to look a certain way pressures the models to not eat, which is a result of them being very unhealthy, and sometimes can lead to being hospitalized or even worse in some cases. You are no longer really considered a person, you are more of a product. When somebody is paying you to model for their company, they will tell you how they want you. They are talking at you literally, not to you personally.
            As illustrated by the Victoria Secret commercials and how sex appeal is determined through them, the same thing follows in the H&M David Beckham commercial. For those of you who have not seen this commercial, its David Beckham stripped down to his underwear, trying to advertise his new line. The camera just goes around his body showing all his sexy features his stomach, all his tattoos, the way his butt looks in this underwear. The sex appeal in this commercial gets all the girls to drool, and as well fantasize of having their man look just like that, or even better having David. H&M was smart for using someone to open their line like David Beckham not only because he is a huge well known celebrity, who has tons of fans that people look up to and backup anything they do but because many women adore him and go crazy over him. Also it gets people to think since David looks so good in these new tight underwear, why can't any man with a six pack, tattoos, and nice features like him?
            When you look at the Quick Trim Commercial with Kim Kardashian, its not so much a sex appeal commercial, but one that when they put a good looking celebrity that is well known they try to use her to sell their product. I think they actually put her for the part, because she is a good example of a reality star who is in the media for a lot for things like sex appeal or because she is a Kardashian. A lot of younger girls like her, and I think seeing her on this commercial will get a lot of people to watch it, and buy the product. She is a very pretty celebrity who people do look up to, and if she
is advertising weight loss, people love her that much to just try it. So personally I think the way

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the media gets celebrities involved to sell one of their products, is silly because they just do it
because they know they can grab your attention.
            The show Jersey Shore has become one of the biggest in reality T.V. In this show having that appeal the cast has the guido italian look, being crazy, partying and getting drunk every single night, bringing home a girl/boy and having them spend the night, going tanning, doing laundry, and going to the gym. In other words, "GTL." It is very relevant with look appeal. If one cast member did not do any of these things, or look like the general italian guido for example and we threw in a random man with a different nationality who did not drink he would not fit in with the show. The show is characterized by look. With these type of people who are Italians that like to have a good time. Sometimes the way the media advertises shows like this, it sets a bad example because it shows that you could be this stupid to become famous. This shows make T.V. more popular. The cast of this show gets paid thousands of dollars to do nothing but party, and people love it. It makes our society look bad, that almost anybody who watches this show not only is addicted to it, and has to watch every episode but feels the need to copy and look just like them.
             In the media, there is nothing bigger and better then a billboard to try and catch somebody's eye. Having it on a highway, or throughout the city nice and big, up high, where everyone can see is a bright idea. When you go to Times Square there are billboards everywhere, and a lot of them have to deal with the female form of sexuality. Every billboard is developed differently among the different product you are trying to sell, or if its a company you are trying to get awareness about, or maybe even something else. Each different
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company has a different meaning they are trying to get across. For example, Abercrombie and Fitch advertises young teens that are beautiful and have there belly showing. Companies like these want to put this kind of picture because it attracts people, they want people to turn around  make sure they literally visualize and see their billboard.
            As I mentioned earlier, the way that the certain qualities are advertised in the media could be bad for models and sometimes could make girls feel depressed because they can not look like that, all leads to weight in the media. Magazine articles publish false information. They follow around celebrities and make up stories about them how they gained this much weight, and lost this much weight. They are always reporting about their personal features. Sometimes its good for people because they can see that its normal to fluctuate with weight and just because they look up to people like celebrities they can see things like this are normal and not everybody is perfect. In young kids weight seems to be popular and looking like something your not seems to be even more popular. Weight also was associated with another article that I read about how women strive to look like other women and sometimes feel like there bodies are not good enough. To prevent any of these weight loss problems with the media people need to realize the other side that life is not so glamorous. These people that look so skinny and you want to be just like, half the time are unhealthy and very unhappy.
            As you may conclude, the way advertising is advertised in todays society through media literacy especially through the female form has to do with many different scenerios. Each share many similar positive and negative qualities. The media with commercials through sex appeal, look appeal through a show, the way billboards are brought about, having a celebrity on a commercial to sell a product, or striving to look like
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somebody your not with weight are some examples of how advertising is brought about through media. Each way that is brought about in media has its own way of doing it differently, which is a good understanding on why the media is so big. There are so many things that are introduced out here today in the media, and from here on out they are just expanding.