The Destruction of a People...starting with women

As a female in these modern times, I am constantly questioning my value and worth. The identity of women in our society is clear: women are sexual objects meant for the pleasure and appeal of men. Media makes this message very clear constantly. In movies, music, television, radio, magazines, newspaper, billboards, ect. women are exploited. Many people are aware of the feelings that are associated with these advertisements. Women may feel guilty, ugly, worthless, or uncomfortable. Men may judge the women around them more intensely and begin to pressure them. But most people say that they are unaffected or that the effects of the exploitation of women is minimal. This is not true...even in the least bit. According to "Killing Us Softly 4" only 8% of advertising messages are absorbed into our conscious. So that means 92% of the messages are absorbed in areas of our brain we are not even aware of!! We internalize these messages and these messages become our identities. While we may say we are unaffected and we may think we are blocking these messages out, we are not. According to "Killing Us Softly 4" we see about 3,000 advertising messages in one day! All of these messages are constantly being absorbed into our beings and our unconscious dialogues with ourselves. Even the most "beautiful" or "flawless" women are affected in detrimental ways. The models themselves that are shown in these advertisements do not even look as perfect as they are shown. The photos are retouched and manipulated to create a look that is not physically possible. It was humorous but also a slap in the face with truth when Cindy Crawford said of the years of retouching of her photos, "I wish  I looked like Cindy Crawford."
What is the reason for destroying women? Most obviously it is to create better consumers. A consumer in need is a sale. Convincing women that they are flawed (and moreover convincing men of this too) creates a fertile ground for sales. As they say "sex sells," but really at what cost? At the cost of the mental well-being of our young and old women alike?
We are destroying a people: ourselves.
What they seem to be selling is a lifestyle not a product. They are selling the glamorous sexualized "natural" way women should be. It would seem by advertisements that this is really a choice that women make. It is empowering for us to be sexual objects and we do it well....Indeed its not. Sexuality  becomes more of an obligation to feel accepted and worthy than a choice. And those women who are not "attractive" are left to feel worthless. According to "Killing Us Softly 4" only 5% of women can actually fit into the mold that advertisers call "attractive": its the rail thin, small bust, no hips and thighs look. Yet with the increase in the desire to have and promote even thinner models, this 5% may question themselves and are still capable of eating disorders and depression. Indeed, depression, eating disorders, and low self esteem are consequences of advertisements for everyone that run rampant in our culture.
There is also a dramatic amount of ageism seem in advertising. There typically is never anyone in an ad who is older than their mid 20's, unless the ad is for an aging product such as wrinkle cream or bone loss treatment. Our culture glorifies youth to the point that there is a huge lack of respect for the elderly. This is seen everywhere. Recently a song came out on the radio that stated, "We don't care about the old folks. talking about the young folks." This line was repeated several times in the chorus. The tune was rather catchy but the lyrics were very clear. Lyrics in other songs are no longer "suggestive" to sex but blatantly come out with it. Lyrics such as those saying, "I don't want to meet your daddy. Just want you in my caddy." More recently other lyrics I have heard say, "do you want to be my backseat whore?"
I am reminded of the movie "Stepford Wives." After watching this movie I had a very bad taste in my mouth. I think the movie ticked off some all too familiar feelings. Is our worth as women really as objects simply for male pleasure and appeal? While the women in this movie found a way out of Stepford and returned to their normal lives and gained their rights as successful women again with opinions and feelings. All of their husbands in the movie seemed to prefer the latter of them to the real them. In other words, the men brought their wives there so that they would be submissive, only concerned with their husband's happiness and keeping up with their beauty. The only reason that the men were forced to go back to their lives as it had been before is because the wives came out of their mechanical programming. The movie seemed to leave a subtle message that indeed men do just want women for sexual objects to make them happy. The last scene of the movie showed the men in the grocery store, on "punishment," all scrambling to shop for what the wife had asked. It seemed to imply that given the chance men would never choose a women with intellect, personality, and compassion.

Stepford Wives trailor

http://youtu.be/zst_sAGnu1Q

As I watched the movie "Killing Us Softly 4" there was a few resonating thoughts in my mind. I am reminded that the people of a culture can be no more than the culture they are developed in. We are products of our environment.  I am also reminded that we are all connected. From the worst of us to best of us, there is some of everyone in each of us. So what this means is that we cannot look away and hope it will get better. We can not simply think that we are unaffected...We must commit to take action against it and continue to do so until....forever, really. We have spent years defiling the body of women. We have spent years destructing the value of ourselves then. It makes no difference if we are a man or woman, our survival and health of our society depends on each one of us.What is affecting our least and our best is affecting us.