Within the media gender plays a big part, especially when it comes to magazines. The females in magazines tend to be stereotypes of ‘perfect women’ when the reality is that the majority of women do not look like how these magazines perceive them too. This is a very controversial subject as many believe that it is unacceptable to encourage young girls to look like these women as the reality is, although they look perfect they are in fact very unhealthy. Some of these female models used are underweight and suffer from both the mental and physical effects caused by bulimia and anorexia. These images of women sell everything from food to cars. Many believe that the models and celebrity’s are role models to most teenage girls and should not be setting this example. The fact of the matter is that the majority of the magazines are based on fashion yet the whole persona seems to be on the models. Many would also argue that women are degraded when featured in ‘lad’s mags’. The idea of women in tasteless magazines, teaches young males that is ok to idolise women in this way. I personally believe that women should feature in magazines in a classy way. As a young adult myself I know that many young girls look up to the women in these magazines and aspire to one day look like them. These magazines seem to be influential but in a negative way, I would like to these magazine influence girls in a positive way. This could be done but using models that are of a healthier size and weight. Although there are also these problems in male magazines it is much more obvious within female magazines this could also be because on average women buy more magazines than males. The males in boys magazines such as ‘fitness’ are toned, tanned and trained. Whereas the average man does not have a six-pack. This encourages boys to train and work hard to look like these men. However there are many risks with this, some may lead to steroids and other substances just to look these picture perfect models. As far as gender is concerned women are known for fashion and looking like this thin gorgeous models and males are associated with being interested in cars, sports and fitness.
