The beauty in our lives

This blog does not talk about what we have seen in class. Instead, it aims at demonstrating the effects of marketing and advertising. Somebody showed me this video (which is unfortunately in French) that reveals shocking statistics on the importance of beauty in our lives. Given that marketing and advertising often use appearance, they emphasize the ideals of beauty and contribute to reinforce the stereotypes of society.

So, this is what the video reports:

“-In the world, 4 women over 10 say they are beautiful

-43% of men are unsatisfied with their overall appearance

-In the province of Quebec, 73% of women want to lose weight

-While in USA, 45% of men think they are not muscular enough

-1 young woman over 4 prefers to win a modeling contest rather than receiving the Nobel Prize

Beauty influences us more than we think:

-Children with less beautiful appearance suffer more of intimidation

-Good-looking political candidates have 56% of chance to win an election

-Good-looking people earn on average $ 230 000 more during their working life

Before the arrival of photography and mass media, our ideal of beauty was shaped upon our direct community. Most of people did not even have a mirror. Today, we are exposed to over 3,000 advertising messages per day. The models of beauty presented in the media are far from reality.

-Generally, the Canadian woman measures 5'4 and weighs 148 pounds

-While the female model measures 5'11 and weighs 117 pounds

Beauty sells:

-In North America, we spend $ 50 billion on diets and diet products

-In the world, sales of cosmetics and personal care products raise more than U.S. $ 425 billion

-14.6 million plastic surgery procedures were practiced in the U.S. in 2012

-The anti-aging injections have jumped by 137% since 2000

The cult of beauty is learned earlier

-92% of girls aged between 15 and 17 years do not like their body

-40% of boys have taken supplements to gain weight and muscle

-1 / 3 of the 9 years old girls in Quebec have tried to lose weight

- All gender-confused, the dissatisfaction with the body starts at 6 years old

-From the age of 3, children are already aware of the ideal thinness”

Because there are some data out of context, we may have to take some of them with moderation. However, the statistics are still shocking. They prove the power and the effects of advertising and marketing on us and how they influence our behaviors and our mentality.

Don’t you find it worrying?

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JB69t9kafc&feature=youtu.be

Stéphanie VILLENEUVE