People may not realize it, but advertising media is a big part of our everyday lives. In fact, it’s unavoidable. Every time you turn on your TV, go on the internet, drive down the freeway, turn on the radio, even walk down the street, you will see commercials, pop-up advertisements, billboards, and posters. Everyone in America is exposed to these advertisements. Yet, not every kind of person in America is represented in these advertisements. In fact only a few of a certain kind of people are shown on our televisions, computers, and billboards across the country. Believe it or not, but these images that we see, click, and walk by have a huge impact on our society’s values, as well as the self-image of countless people across the world. In my own experiences, I have personally seen the effects that advertisement media made me think about myself.
Role of Media Advertising on Gender
Let’s face it, at one time or another we have all felt the need to improve a physical aspect of our bodies. Where does this desire to improve your image come from? We are constantly being reminded how an ideal person looks by advertisement in commercials and magazines. The gender that is most affected by these images are women.
As females, we are constantly under pressure to maintain a certain type of body image that is repeatedly shown in advertising media. 
These feelings of inadequacy are present at an early age in life. For me, and countless other girls across the world, it started with Barbie dolls. Everyone who owns a TV has seen a Barbie doll commercial. On the screen, Barbie was (and continues to be) seen as an idol for young girls. Since her debut in 1959, over 1 billion 
Barbie dolls have been sold. Barbie is the first images girls see when it comes to being an “ideal” woman in society. She had it all: hip clothes, shiny car, and flashy accessories. Most importantly, she had the perfect figure. When girls look at Barbie doll, they see what they should look like.
This concept of the ideal body carries on into adolescence and adulthood. Keep this static in mind: the average American woman is 5′4” and 140 pounds. The average model is 5′11” and weighs 116. 
Even though it is impossible for most women to obtain this body figure, many never stop trying. A huge percentage of women in America are currently dieting. Cases of anorexia and bulimia rise each year, even I sometimes find myself skipping a meal or eating smaller portions. Why do we do this? Because of the images being fed into our brains by advertising companies. In my experiences all of the women in magazines and TV commercials that I see have all of the latest clothes, some handsome looking guy on their arm, and an aura of confidence that can’t be shaken. In their ads, the equation is simple, a smaller waistline and thinner body equals a better life. I personally do not believe this to be true. Yet, I cannot deny that the images sent through advertising media are permanently burned into the back of my brain, from staring at size -1 models in magazines, to watching my first Barbie doll commercial years ago.
Representation of Minorities in Media Advertising
One day while waiting for a show to come back from commercials, I noticed that in each commercial, for every ten or so white people, there would be one or two Hispanic or Black people. America is often nicknamed the “melting pot of the world”. This is apparent in our country’s population. There is so much diversity that makes up our society. Yet, whenever I turn on the TV, it is easy to forget all of the different kinds of people that make America what it is. As I browse through the commercials, I can count the number of ethnic minorities I see on one hand. This doesn’t stop at commercials. Flipping through a magazine and finding diversity in the ads is like playing “Where is Waldo?” 
Finding minorities in magazines is so rare; sometimes I catch myself thinking “Wow! A Latina!” or “Look, a black guy that’s not holding a basketball!” Advertising companies continue to portray an all white society with a sprinkling of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and other minorities. Of course this is not true once you put down your fashion magazine or step away from the TV screen, and into the world. In America, minorities make up over 1/3 of the US population, with Hispanics being the largest minority with over 15% of the US population. Apparently, having a country of diverse races does not heavily affect the content that advertising media displays day to day. Over 85% percent of people in main stream magazine ads are white. Less than 6% are black or African American. Hispanics and Asians make up less than 3% of people shown in ads.
In addition to these low numbers, people o
f different races are represented in limited roles on commercials and magazine ads. Blacks in advertisements are more commonly seen in sports or ads featuring music such as rap or hip-hop. Asians in ads are commonly seen in educational settings such as schools and offices, but rarely shown in commercials that depict family togetherness. Whenever I look at these advertisements, I can’t help but to feel that the real people who make up the America we live in today are missing.
The Price of “Beauty”
As a person of color, sometimes I found it difficult to come to terms with how I look. The road to accepting myself for the person I am was hard when I was constantly having images shoved into my face telling me, “THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD LOOK! THIS IS TRUE BEAUTY!” I know a countless number of people who altered their appearance to achieve a more desired look. Whether it be the application of make-up or a full on plastic surgery job, women and men will change how they look to fit into the narrowed sense of beauty society has imposed through the media and advertising. The ad’s jobs are to make people feel inadequate about their appearance by showing them what is “beauty.” Then they present people with products that will make them more attractive or desirable. The media is doing its job well. Incredibly well. People (women especially) spend bucket loads of money each day to “enhance their features”.
A common issue of image that affects women of color (myself included) is hair. At young ages, we as colored women were taught that our natural hair was not beautiful. We would go through a series of perms and chemical relaxers that burn our scalps, just to acquire that socially acceptable European straight hair. The statistics are just as staggering as what we do to our hair. Black women account for 80% of all hair product sales. Also, the black hair industry is a 9 million dollar industry. 
The advertisement media is to thank for that. In commercials and magazines everywhere, rarely will you see a woman of color who has not had her hair chemically straightened or is wearing a weave. Some fine examples are popular role models in the black community like Beyonce, Tyra Banks, and Queen Latifah. Today, women of color who wear their hair naturally are criticized for looking “unprofessional” or “not properly groomed.” “Cold Case” actress Tracy Thoms is a 
successful woman who wears her hair naturally. When she was being interviewed, she asked, “To keep my hair the same texture as it grows out of my head is looked at as revolutionary — why is that?” Many colored women believe that to be beautiful, get ahead, and be taken seriously in today’s society, they must have “nice” straight hair.
In many cases, the alteration of a person’s appearance can prove to be deadly. An extreme case of bodily alteration I know of is skin bleaching. 
Skin bleaching is a huge industry all over the world. The practice of skin bleaching is common in Africa, Latin countries, across Asia, and yes, the good ol’ USA. Skin bleach comes in a variety of different products such as creams, pills, and surgical procedures. For centuries, light colored skin has been favored over the darker shades, and ever today, not much has changed. The advertising media sends a message to people that it is the people with lighter skin tones that get ahead in life.
This message is so powerful and seemingly apparent, that people would alter (and even damage) their own pigmentation to acquire that lighter tone. In Jamaica, some women with dark complexions would make their own skin whitener using household bleach and other chemicals. Bleaching creams contain amounts of mercury, arsenics, and hydroquinone . These chemicals can potentially cause serious health risks and bodily damage. In fact, the FDA proposed a ban on hydroquinone in 2006 because it was deemed a cancer causing chemical after being tested on rodents. Despite the risks, people all over the world continue to purchase these creams and pills in the hopes of exchanging their undesirable natural skin, for a a more ideal fairtone.
How I am affected
Everywhere I go, I have encounters with the advertising media. I have seen all of the messages that advertising companies try to engrain in my head. They taunt me, saying, ”Your body should look like that”, “You don’t have the right kind of hair”, or “You can’t be happy the way that you look”. Despite these negative messages, the advertising media turned out to have a positive effect on me. It would be so easy for me to submit myself to the narrow minded image of beauty that they project. Instead, I see advertising corporations for what they really are. All they do is prey on our insecurities to get us to buy their products. They filter out anything that does not fit in to societies views on what is trendy or acceptable. I, for one, refuse to be a victim of society. Instead, I choose to celebrate my differences and uniqueness, along with everyone else’s. I will not subjugate my true self just because I don’t look like the girls in the commercials and the magazines. Thanks to the false messages of the advertising media, I now know that beauty is not one race, or the texture of your hair, or the shape of your body. We are all unique and beautiful, and no magazine or commercial can tell me or anyone otherwise.
