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the midriff ;)

Women in media have always been oversexualized. With sex icons changing from Marilyn Monroe, to Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, the role of women in media, and the way for women to reach high position in media is by being sexy and powerful, an idea that media has captured and sold to consumers in a neat package: the midriff. The midriff is more than a bared stomach, more than just an exposed sliver of skin, but is the embodiment of the ideal woman. A woman who is obsessed with her appearance, and uses her sexuality in order to gain power/ control others. She is not real, rather appeals to what women want to be. Or at least, what media wants them to think they want to be. Of course some of these traits exist in women: yes some women are obsessed with appearances, and some are obsessed with the approval of men, but is this due to media, or because that is the way things just are? Or more concisely, is media a mirror or a feedback loop? The answer to this is blurred because of the way media is constantly changing, seemingly to fit who we are- but that is far from true. Media is not a reflection of who we are, but is constantly changing to create a new model of what we want to be. If media was just a mirror, there would be no market- people would be content with what they were and what they had, and would not strive to buy new products or become someone different. Through archetypes like the midriff, media sells a new definition of what it means to be beautiful, causing many to sacrifice their health and their money in order to achieve that goal. If all people see in media are white or beautifully exotic girls with tan skin, lean stomachs, with something always exposed- then that becomes the accepted standards. It becomes what girls wish they were and what guys expect to be the reality. This is why media is so dangerous. As time goes on, it strays further and further away from being a feedback loop, and becomes our reality. It has gotten to a point where everything we consume is some form of advertising, some form of telling people that what we are itself is not good enough, and that we must constantly change to fit the new definition of perfect. A definition controlled by none other than the media.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2202/1940-1639.1341

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