The purpose of this project was to analyze the effects of modern day advertising on the feminist movement, the creation of beauty standards, and how these impact individual issues with self-image. Throughout my paper I highlighted articles that dealt with advertising campaigns, marketing strategies, and studies dealing with emotional responses to these images. Through the dissection of these articles, I seek to explain how images of women in the media have detrimental effects on the feminist movement, create unattainable beauty standards for women, and cause women to question their self-worth. For my creative component, I hosted a sort of Vagina Monologues presentation in front of the theatre building. For this, I asked for volunteers in my friend group to write a story about their struggles to find confidence in response to media advertising. We presented our stories in public and held signs demonstrating our thoughts on what beauty is, or what it means to be a woman. Through this presentation, I sought to show the multitude of opinions on what beauty is, and to ultimately demonstrate that all women are beautiful and should not be forced to feel bad about themselves based on what they see on television or in magazines.
