Vietnam War

I have grown up with TV, magazines, movies, and other forms of controlled media. As a female, I find myself aware of the images of women presented in the media, drawn to some and repelled by others.

Like most little girls, my early education began with TV animations featuring fictional girls. I admired Madeline for her friendliness and helpfulness, and worshiped The Powerpuff Girls for their courage and abilities to beat up monsters and naughty boys. The Sailor Moon impressed great confusion on me with its inhumanly sexy characters (although I soon became a huge fan and enthusiastically imitated their lines and styles). Olive in Popeye never won my favor with her constant clumsiness and cowardly behaviors and, at an age of 7, I was clearly aware of my indignation aroused by the patronization of the character Dee Dee in Dexter’s Laboratory.

A woman’s appearance matters--this is perhaps one the biggest message sent out in media. Driven by commercial needs, companies use media to manipulate their female customers, telling them to treat their own body as an enemy: a woman’s weight must be controlled, she must be plump while remain skinny at the same time; her hair be colored and well-trimmed, her body hair be waxed or shaved; her skin be spotless; her attire be adequately revealing yet not obviously flirty; her stance and walk be elegant; her odor be pleasant… All these requirements are reflected in celebrities and models, people who are famous for their physical beauty. When female celebrities resort to surgeries like Botox injection, liposuction, or breast implantation to improve their appearance(like Madonna, Courtney Love and Pamela Anderson have done), common people are very likely to follow their steps in pursuit of beauty- this is the extreme case of media’s influence when it comes to judging their own appearances.

Sex sells. This is a widely employed method in sales. Sex selling is in most cases practiced in a women-to-men format, exploiting the physical attractiveness of women. This can be found in Hip hop MVs, alcohol commercials, the Hooters chain restaurants, PC games, etc. On the contrast, when selling products targeted at women, attractive men are seldom the center of the promotion.

Looking good is not always desirable. In fact, women who are physically attractive are often denied of their intelligent power. Blondes have long been