Maya

Mass Media and Health Written by Maya Hunter As much as the mass media has formed America's culture and how the people dress, eat and live, it has controlled what the proper way of living is for the people. Instead of letting the country make its own decision. The mass media has ultimate power over many minds, from the commercials that are all over television, to the billboards that are plastered all over the roads. This may seem like an intense way to come out and label the mass media, but as many people know these advertisements do sway many strong willed minds take away freedom of expression. People live their lives day in and day out striving for certain things. The mass media is such a wonderful tool, but I fear is being used for all the wrong reasons, reasons that generally only include one thing, making money. The whole world is in money hungry, starving economic frenzy. The reason I chose this topic is because I truly want all of the media to be exposed one day. I find it very sad that people around the world become brain washed and make choices that they themselves are unaware have been made by someone higher up. Ever since I started this class I started to observe a lot more when it came to people and the conversations about the media and news reports and so on. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people do not even know what they are putting in their body scares me. The food that is commercialized and made so American its hard not to pick up the box is disgusting. The fact that the media monster has no good intention for the people makes me wonder why we listen to it so intently? Right down to how we eat, what we wear, our body image and how we are supposed to act is all predisposed. It hurts me to see so many people so unhappy because of poor education on the most rudimentary of things in life. So with all that said the main reason I wrote this blog is because I have to express how important it is to know what is important in life and to become happy with what has been gifted to each individual. I see many people who look unhappy, unhealthy and well quite frankly angry at the world. I can’t help but feel like it is some how the faults of the big guys on top spending big cash on the best advertisements that advertise the most unhealthy things. In all aspects food, mind state and desires that may or may not be possible to attain. When I walk grocery stores I can’t help but feel a sense of doom and gloom myself. It pains me to see grocery baskets full of lucky charms and sugar filled food with absolutely no nutritional value. If the world eats nutrition less food and never has even taken a walk, how is anyone healthy or fit? It’s impossible to eat a diet full of carbohydrates, sugar, protein and fat and be the healthiest being. It is imperative that a well balances diet of vegetables, fruit and protein is taken in along with moderate exercise everyday. When this happens people are fit and happy, when this doesn’t happen people become fat and a vessel for disease. Diabetes is one of the leading diseases in America due to the ridiculous diets of millions of people. Then the media feeds off of the people running around looking for diet pills and quick fixes to an on going problem. This is perhaps where the equation becomes the most depressing. Every magazine is packed full with amazing fit and skinny bodies. This starts the mold in the minds of every person man, woman and even child that is the most important thing to have a hot body, but downloads absolutely no important nutrition facts to help. So with every person freaking out about needing the hottest body, they are feeding themselves the Mcdonalds and Burger kind. Sound familiar, on a Friday night a family watches a movie on television and the movie comes to a Commercial with a huge burger covering the entire screen, yet the movie is filled with hot actors and actresses who do have the perfect body. What a backwards message! The world is filled with amazing clothes, as a girl I love fashion, it is as big an industry as food itself. Maybe even bigger, the runways the fashion shows, the three thousand dollar shoes and a car that could buy four house. This only completes the images we constantly see in magazines. This creates another frenzy perhaps an even more dangerous one. People getting money and expensive things at any cost. Robbing banks and car theft are some of the things people have to worry about all to often. Also having a home be broken in to and have all of the most beautiful antique jewelry gone. Money, Money!! If anyone could hear people’s thoughts for a day the two thoughts that are probably on repeat are, I need money and sex. Is this because we are constantly downloaded with the desire for money and sex relentlessly? Learning Outcome 5 The most effective way to start to change the brain washing would have to be to educate the people about the proper way to take care of the body that has been given to them with no instruction manual. To start to help healthy choices be made through the mass media. If a major corporation just paid for a proper commercial of a huge salad with lean protein and sensible dressing or a big plate of steamed vegetable and some brown rice, maybe people would know what is truly good for them instead of what has been shown to the world for years to come. Another way is that is should be required of every school to make a nutrition and physical education class mandatory. This would help the proper information get to children before the media monster can. Learning Outcome 6 When it come to the media monster it is almost impossible to stay away from it. It truly is everywhere, newspapers, billboards, and television commercials. Even when a seeing a movie you are not safe, everything is an advertisement right down to the shows that are on the actor’s feet and the packet of cigarettes and bottles of booze in their hand. So I do not watch television and I try to stay away from trashy magazines, although as much as a contradiction as it may sound sometimes it way to fun to check out what is going on in a celebrities life and what hand bag they might have paid to much money for. I think that it is the materialism of this country that drives me bonkers. Wanting all the finer things in life and not being willing to lift a finger. Work hard, be happy and healthy and work the bliss job that would fill your soul. What more could make anyone happy than to work a dream job every day? This is what I strive for and I let everything else roll of my back. Blog 2 Oh the wonderful American dream, beautiful straight, white teeth. The wonderful advertisements about fluoride toothpaste being the best of the market are all lies. The fact is that millions and millions of people are using fluoride toothpaste, every night and every morning. Little do they know, that fluoride is actually poisonous! Yes we have all read the side warning on tube, but I do not think anybody truly knows just how poisonous it truly is. Many people do not know that there are quite a few horror stories of children swallowing toothpaste and becoming terribly ill. It really is frustrating to me that this is allowed, but what is even worse it that there is fluoride in our water and there have not been any studies done to see how much is in our tap water. My guess is that they have no idea if we are slowly being poisoned. This might seem a little intense, but I believe we should educate ourselves and be healthy and strong-minded. So I believe that this whole American dream we see day to day with the ads for using toothpaste that keeps our teeth white is extremely harmful to us. We can have clean, nice, white teeth with out fluoride. Don't get me wrong white teeth are amazing and I want my smile to reflect the sunlight, believe me, but please find a different way!!! This was the second blog I wrote in this class and it is all about being healthy and knowing what is being put in to the body. The most important things that I would like to see anyone take away from this paper would definitely be these five things: (1). Before believing anything that is said on television or on any advertisement do your research until you are satisfied with the correct information. (2). Feed your body only the best foods, foods that the body needs and educate yourself on the correct amounts of each vitamin the body needs. (3). Read ingredients like a crazy person. It is so important to know what is entering your body. As well as research all of the strange long words like monosodium Glutamate and find out what those nasty ingredients are all about. (4). Try not to let the mass media change your image of a perfect body from something healthy to a stick figure. We all have different bone types and different needs. (5). Exercise the body and exercise free will.