Conformity as Coercion

In discussing the purpose if the ideal it is apparent that the basic dilemmas involved have been surrounding the issues of conformity and the role of the individual within the media. There is a contradiction of conformity as a social need, in order to form social relations and the necessity to be part of a group, against conformity as coercion in the forms of peer pressure and consumer pressure. Conformity as coercion is expressed in the media and magazines, through shopping and ‘must have’ style articles, as well as through the various advertisements. The media can also be seen to influence social relations, putting adolescents who buy into these ideals into a certain group where there are social needs to be better than or equal their peers. This need for conformity and these affecting factors all lead to a hampered ability for the individual to make decisions and choices, as well as forming their own opinions. The ability of the individual ‘girl’ to think for ‘herself’ is clouded by the media and the ideals which are created through the media.



Where does the responsibility lie within the media and what constitutes acceptable practice in terms of the aspirations presented to the vulnerable teenagers?

Confroming to the 'Ideal'

Magazines and the media are all a fantasy. Whilst creating new realities they help construct myths. Buying into these myths can be damaging for adolescents. It can be argued that it is up to us whether we choose to buy into these myths and let them become ‘our reality’. This may be easy to say, however we do need to consider the fact that adolescents are trying to fit in as the pressure not to be different means that buying into these fantasies becomes necessary to fit in with their peers. It leads to brainwashing; ads show ideological views of the perfect body, perfect life, perfect hair etc. and adolescents (although this not only affects adolescents) are brainwashed into believing that this ideal needs to be achieved in order to be accepted, and the easiest way is through consuming. Ads tell us who we should be and consumerism lets us buy into this ideal, we are not allowed to think for ourselves.

Even adolescents who seemingly rebel from this social ideal are conforming to another constructed ideal, for example the ideal of the 'goth'- far from individual.

In order for an adolescent to create an identity they will draw upon the world around them, or in particular their cultural world around them in the form of mass media, specifically advertising and magazines. Magazines and advertising can be seen as important components in the manipulation of conformity, they are seen to project ideal images which an adolescent can relate to, therefore conform to.

Do adolescents interpret these commodities as they wish? There still exists a set of ideals determining how they interpret these commodities, and the rare few that break these boundaries may be seen as outcasts. Again this brings me back to considering whether we are all victims of the media and all ‘suckers’ for advertising?

Consumer Identities

So magazines influence our realities. It can also been seen they contribute to the creation of our identities, in particular the identities of adolescents. On way magazines will influence an adolescent’s identity is through the ‘stuff’ they tell them to buy. It is this stuff that depicts the latest trends, and in turn creates new and ideal identities for the girl’s reading. The fashion and shopping pages only create objects that they desire, but do not need (although they feel they need them in order to fit in), which is also backed up by allure of the glossy advertisements; this is seen as the ‘consumer culture’. Goods which are consumed only for leisure are seen as commodities, and it is the adolescent’s consumption of these which can be seen to be trying to create their identity according to our culture’s representation of the ideal. It is not only by clothes that these identities are constructed, but also by the make-up they wear, the music they listen to, the films and television they watch and the places they go.

The activity of consuming is perceived as a way of defining your social status and cementing your identity within a range of culturally prescribed and acceptable ways. The products we consume develop their own meanings through advertising and branding, which serves to make us believe we need them.

The media is seen to be a ‘vehicle for consumer culture’. It also sees the magazine as a way to ‘reduce the complexity of individual choice and ironically has become necessary to make appropriate, identity making purchases’. The implication is that the identity of readers is like an object, a commodity, within a market.

The Reality of Magazines

Reality is far from what is projected in the magazine. The average article in a teenage magazine revolves around shopping, body image, boys and celebrities and whilst for some teenagers these are the only things to worry about in growing up, for others there are more important issues such as teenage pregnancy, bullying, or the more extreme, coping with money and family issues. These problematic issues of teenage development are less likely to be addressed. Entertainment and glamour are projected at the expense of reality.

Another interesting way magazines try to situate themselves in reality- apart from the real life stories- is to use the readers as a voice within the magazine, for example through the problem pages, cringe pages, letter pages and the reader debates. It is often a complete fabrication of reality, as the majority of these so-called readers are in actual fact written by the employees. This is extremely shocking as it completely removes magazines from any sort of reality- what you think is the true voice of someone who reads the magazine in actual fact is someone pretending to be a teenager and pretending that they are someone in which to relate to. How can the magazines actually get away with this? And how, up until now, have I remained completely oblivious to this fact. All throughout my teens I have read and believed from various magazines that there are girls with the same problems and views as myself but in reality it was possibly all fantasy. How is this affecting the teens of today, is this fabrication of problems and embarrassing moments only serving to give teenagers new insecurities, making them think that every teen has them when in fact they are created by someone possibly twice their age?

It leads me to question whose voice and opinion it is that we are reading in these different magazines, and how is it possible to for a thirty year old woman (this image may be generalised but is also roughly the age of typical teenage magazine editor) to know what a 10, 14 or 19 year old girl wants to read. Are we all being persuaded by a group of people that they know what we want, and as long as they deliver it in friendly, readable information that makes it seem like someone of the same age has written it, we will believe it? Again it is the contradiction of fantasy v. reality. Magazines have to get the balance of this right in order for the readers to buy into the fantasies within the industry; realistically young girls do not have the disposable income to create the life that is constructed for them within magazines- but if we buy into this fantasy enough, will it become reality?

In my local newsagents I have noticed that the porn magazines are sold alongside the teenage/kids magazines. This is wrong! It is an example of the extreme ways magazines are represented and sold. The idea that a child’s magazine is sold and marketed alongside a pornographic magazine featuring a naked, clearly suggestive woman on the front is clearly inappropriate and is sending a worrying message to the consumer. As an impressionable adolescent, the idea of being confronted with these images is daunting and confusing, but also gives the idea that these kinds of texts are acceptable, which leads to the danger of the area becoming ‘normalised’ and the female body becoming a commodity. This does not necessarily mean that every adolescent girl that walks into this shop to buy a magazine will come out wanting to look like ‘the woman on the cover’, and it does not necessarily mean that she will grow up striving to get a slender figure and a boob job, this image just serves to highlight the sorts of imagery the adolescent girl is exposed to in a normal, everyday environment. It is interesting to think about the difference in the way the magazines and images are viewed, whereby men view the women on the cover of adult magazine in a different way that a teenage girl would. This notion of how imagery is viewed; it can be seen as ideologically problematic and can be related to teen magazines in terms of the creation of fantasy and ideology within the images and texts in the magazines.

Anorexia V Obesity?

'What I designed was fashion for slender and slim people'- Karl Lagerfeld 2004

Last week the designer Karl Lagerfeld opened his mouth once again and I really wish he wouldn't have. Surely this guy would have the sense to shut up after 'those' comments made regarding his H&M line. If you were asked to design for a high street shop surely it would enter your head once in a while that you are designing for the masses and making fashion accessible, i.e. for girl's size 12+. Why Lagerfeld thought he would only be designing for size 6-10's confuses me.
There is also the fact that he was once overweight, so if he has experienced that, what right does he have to judge? He has even stated that he doesn't regret the way he looked.

So this time he has been fighting back against the notion that anorexia is linked to fashion. Personally I wouldn't even think that this idea was worth commenting on. You just have to think about how many models have died from anorexia to realise Lagerfeld comment is unjustified.
Fashion may not be the cause, but there will always be a link. Unfortunately he does make a point about the lack of attention towards girls who are obese- so maybe he thinks by excluding size 12+ from his collections he is encouraging girls to loose weight, and his eyes become 'beautiful'.

In 2006 around 24% of adults in England were classified as obese, compared to only 1% of the population that were seen to have an eating disorder. I don' think it is realistic that every time an issue comes up about anorexia, obesity is brought into it. They should be seen as separate issues and dealt with in different ways- one is not more important than the other.