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David Gomez
John Kubler
English 114B
8 May 2014
The Effects of Media, Materialism, and Sexualization
In todays society there are many factors that can affect ones expressions and behaviors and how
they come off to other people. Certain media and advertisements have major impacts on society
because they portray an image to people on how they should look and act. Famous men and women
also have major impacts of the youth and younger adults of society because people who are famous
interpret a way that the younger minority should act and dress. Consumption and Materialism impacts
our identities in a major way, because everyone wants to have nice possessions. Materialism or having
nice possessions is a way of showing how powerful and wealthy a person is. People believe that
owning many expensive items automatically makes them better than everyone else. Sexualization
impacts our identities by determining who is more powerful; men or women. No matter what way you
look at it there are definitely many factors that control peoples expressions and behaviors. Everything
that happens in society impacts the way we act whether we notice it or not. The clothes we wear,
things we buy, ways we act, and even the way we dress are impacted by the effects of Media,
Materialism, and Sexualization, because what we see and hear impacts the way we live our lives.
Media is the number one way people get their information in the world. Everywhere we look
media is somehow influencing our decisions. We may not even notice it but everywhere we look there
are advertisements directed to us staring us in the face. Advertisements impacting our lives are
everywhere including billboards, cellphones, computers, televisions, etc. Advertising is the art of
arresting the human intelligence just long enough to get money from it(Shah 2). We are all affected


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when it comes to media and advertising because we are the targets. They want us to buy their product
and they convince us thorough posters and commercials to purchase their product. Media not only
affects the things we buy but also our image. The fact is that young people girls in particular
are often bombarded with imagery of the perfect bodies(Shah 2). The most important thing to keep
in mind is that there is no such thing as perfect. Some girls see certain females in magazines or on
television and they will want to look just like them, but the truth is that those women are not what they
appear to be. Most people that we think are perfect in the sense of looks are photo shopped on a
computer. People need to consider the fact that not everyone is going to have the good looking
features, but rather they should be happy with what they are born with.
Many people want expensive material possessions so they can show it off to other people.
Possessions should not be the reason why you are happy, it should be the fact that you are living life.
Three students from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst did an interesting study about how
consumers high in materialism believe that acquisition and consumption are necessary to their
satisfaction in life and that expanded levels of consumption will make them happier(Richins,
McKeage, and Najjar 1). One of the studies that the students performed involved them giving out
questionnaires where they asked the surveyors to put down what items they recently have purchased.
Next they asked them to put how happy these possessions made them. Society buys into the idea that
our personal possessions are the reason for our happiness in life. People think that the reason they are
not happy is because they do not have as many possessions as someone who does. When someone has
many nice possessions it provokes other people to try and purchase the same things so they can be on
the same level as them. People think that to be happy they have to have nice things, but you cannot
buy happiness. After the study the three students discovered that consumption leads to no more
positive feelings among materialists than it does among consumers low in materialism(Richins,


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McKeage, and Najjar 1). People are different which means they are going to have different views on
what happiness is. Some people need material possessions to be happy but others can live without and
there is nothing wrong with not letting possessions control your feelings. It is always enjoyable to have
expensive material possessions, but happiness cannot be bought. The results showed that people high
in materialism had about the same feelings as people who were low in materialism, which means that
objects do not control our happiness in life.
Men and women both want to feel like they are more powerful than the other. But who has more
power men or women? Societys image has always been that men are always more powerful than
women, because men are meant to take care of their women. Overtime that vision has been doubted
because today women show how powerful they can be opposed to men. An article called Feminism
and Psychology talks about the empowerment of women and how women can use sex to show that
they are more powerful then men. The article states, that women who are empowered in the bedroom
will feel empowered in all aspects of their lives(Gupta and Thea 3). Some women say that if they are
feeling powerful in the bedroom than they feel like they are powerful in their overall lives. Women
believe that all men just think about sex, and that they will do anything to get with a woman. Does this
show that women have more power then men or does it exploit women in a negative way? I feel that
when it comes to sexual intercourse nobody should feel like they are more powerful than the other.
Women should not think that they could use themselves to take control over men and vice versa.
Although in the same sense men are not more powerful than women. We are all equal no matter who
or what we are. The Bro code documentary talks about how men are more powerful then women and
how women are often shown colluding in their own objectification, a message that shows men that it
is okay to use and abuse women(Thomas 5). Nobody should be viewed as an object, rather everyone
should be viewed with respect and care. We are all human beings and we should all be viewed that


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way. No man is more powerful than any woman and no woman is more powerful than any man.
Everyone deserves the same amount of power because we are all the same. As clich as it sounds we
are all equal to one another no matter what race, gender, shape, or size.
People would label drugs and prostitution as taboo or unacceptable to society. I believe that both of
these things are a harm to our selves and the people around us. There was a scene in Persepolis 2
where Marjane was offered a joint until she realized that her parents told her it would do nothing for
her. She remembered the conversation her parents had about her cousin Kamran(Satrapi 38).
Marjanes parents told her that her cousin smoked so much that he eventually turned into a vegetable.
Marjane did not want that to happen to her, so when she smoked she never inhaled. I am completely
against anyone who uses drugs, because I feel that drugs do nothing but ruin your life. I never saw
how people can just do drugs everyday and still am able to function in life. In the article Female
Chauvinist Pigs a seventeen-year-old girl who started to get into prostitution said her mother was
really involved in the womens movement, so she thought whatever you do to feel secure and
confidant is fine(Levy 4). I was so surprised to hear of a mom who encourages her daughter to be a
prostitute. Why would you encourage your daughter to have sexual intercourse with random men? Sex
should saved for two people who care for each other, rather than just doing it for financial gains. There
are many other ways for person to earn money, but prostitution should not be an option.
Our behavior and expressions are definitely impacted by media, materialism, and sexualization.
Whether we like it or media, possessions, and even our love partner shape not our personal lives.
People in this society feel like they have to live up to other peoples expectations, when the only
expectations you should care about are your own. Do not let someone tell you what to buy or do,
rather live life to your full potential. Stop listening to other peoples voices and just listen to your own.



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Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2. Princeton, NJ: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 2008.
Print.
Marsha L. Richins, Kim K. R. McKeage, and Debbie Najjar (1992) ,"An Exploration of Materialism
and Consumption-Related Affect", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 19,
eds. John F. Sherry, Jr. and Brian Sternthal, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer
Research, Pages: 229-236.
Amnup, Shah. Media and Advertising. Global advertising. 4 March 2012. Web. 25 April 2014
Gupta, Kristina, and Thea Cacchioni. "Feminism and Psychology. 21 August 2013. Web. 25 Feb
2014
Levy, Ariel. "Female Chauvinist Pigs." Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Web. 25 Feb 2014.
Thomas , Keith, dir. The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men. Media Education
Foundation , 2011. Film. 25 Feb 2014.