The effect magazine advertisements have on women Essay

The effect magazine advertisements have on women - Essay Example In today’s world, Magazines are considered to be trendy, cool and fashionably sensitive.Magazines come in all shapes, sizes and colours addressing and covering a variety of topics and issues. Men and women often tend to carry a magazine with them to pass their time. Today, we have magazines covering the latest fashion, Hollywood scandal, the glitz and the glamour of celebrity lifestyles, sports and fitness, just to name a few! The ‘magazine business’ is a multi million dollar business simply because it is affordable and also produced on a monthly basis in general. Although men and women buy and read magazines, it is indeed safe to say that most if not all magazines covet the â€Å"perfect woman† to adorn its pages, sell its products and lure customers to take the bait.In this paper we will look at how popular magazines focus on spreading the image that in order for a woman to look beautiful, she must look a certain way and follow a particular style. We will examine the consequences and effects that this has had on women, look at why there is such a great demand for scantily clad women and why does sex sell so quick!We will also look at why Caucasian women are more in demand to pose for magazines and be their glamour girls more than any other race in the world.I will conclude this paper by examining the cause and effects that magazines have on women and how can one be wise enough not to be snared or captured by the glitz and the glamour that these magazines so readily display! display! Magazines: Their Powers of Persuasion One of the strongest forces that magazines use is 'The power of persuasion'. The power of persuasion goes to work on the reader as soon they pick up the magazine. It was Gloria Steinem who said "Most women's magazines simply try to mold women into bigger and better consumers". And that's the reason why we see magazines such as 'Cosmopolitan', 'Vogue' 'Glamour' etc having celebrities and models adorn their pages and promote their products. Through them they convey to the world, that in order to be like them and look like them you must follow them. Most magazines encourage its readers to go on diets to make them look thinner, try plastic surgery so that they can fix any 'flaws' that they have and urge you to try their beauty secrets and vitamin pills so that you can not only look good but also feel good! These magazines make sure they feature a list of their products that will help you achieve your goal! The power of persuasion works through the medium of suggestion and this is one of the biggest reasons why Magazines have such a tremendous impact on the world at large! Magazines: The Pictures they Paint The front covers of most magazines have pictures of celebrities and models that are scantily clad and in a pose that is both suggestive as well as provocative. On the front pages are alluring captions which act as powerful tools of persuasion and immediately go to work on the readers mind. The November issue of Cosmopolitan has the words "Get a sexy Bod" in bold letters on its front page, Vogue has Jennifer Aniston on its front cover with a bold lettered caption "The Shape Issue" and Muscle Mag has wwe diva Candice Michelle on its cover to promote fitness and subtly suggest how one can and should have a body like Candice. The message that is being sent across to every woman through these magazines is very subtle but yet perfectly clear. They suggest that if you want to look glamorous, be in sync with the latest style and be the center of attention, you must do whatever it takes, buy whatever it