Forum 10
According to Jhally, the media has miserably failed in articulating societal importance; rather, they have focused on imparting a culture of self-objectification within the society. In this manner, mass media has instead promoted social constructions about beauty and femininity through advertisements. These advertisements have resorted to using celebrities to promote consumerism, not by preaching the real benefits of the products, but by mentioning their association with specific body attributes. I have had an experience with one of my friends obsessed with consuming foods promoted by Kayla Itsines on their Instagram pages. My friend goes all out for these products with the idea that ultimately, the consumption of the same will get her the same body shape as Kayla Itsines. On the other hand, the companies manufacturing this foodstuff, such as Sculpted Kitchen, know the crazy desire for specific body shapes by young women, and would readily use Kayla as the face of their product line to sell the image of ideal beauty rather than the product. However, it has been a year of her consuming these foods without any shift in her body form, similar to Kayla.
Reply
Unfortunately, your friend is a victim of the market culture promoted by media. As Jhally discusses the role of the press in selling the image-based culture to consumers, I feel that as a society, mass media has played a significant role in sinking us more profoundly in a quagmire, we would have otherwise walked through alive. For instance, the ideal beauty ideas and construction are just a trend and lifestyle chosen by a few people who are not self-contented, and it was not meant to be the mainstream culture until the media gave meaning to it.