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?