The media uses the image system that forms the core of modern media to influence consumers' emotions and behavior. The contemporary world operates in the realm of popular mainstream media, where the portrayal of products and services is pervasive, manipulative and intended to influence the emotions and feelings of the end consumer. In doing so, the mainstream media has ignored all ethical and moral constructs of society. The advert I chose is French Vogue, this advert highlights the way the mainstream media exploits the insecurities of their target audience, in this case young girls, and exploits young girls, fetishising and romanticising the link between sexuality and youth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In this essay I will argue that the media has the undisputed power to construct, normalize and commodify young girls' identities through the representation of images, a major commodification of identity (sex and gender) is adultification and sexualization of young girls in the media. As I reflect on my thesis, I will shed light on the works of scholars such as Sut Jhally, Jessica Valenti, and Valerie-Barnes Lipscomb. Girls' innocence and youth are sexualized to sell advertising and invoke an emotional response from a tech-savvy generation, easily influenced by popular culture representations. Modern media uses images and commodification of identities, including sex and gender, to create persuasive and manipulative advertisements that prey on the emotions and feelings of vulnerable consumers. The media has gone rogue and betrayed the traditional ethical and moral foundations of a responsible source of information. Contemporary media is driven by the single mission of profiting by altering all social structures and institutions. Jhally (2003) states that “the market (and its main ideological tool, advertising)” is the main structuring institution of contemporary consumer society. In this case, a young woman's body has been sexualized and standards of consent have been pushed to those of an adult. French Vogue has a clear purpose and objective for manipulative advertising. Young people constitute the largest population in most economies. Therefore, they are the largest group of consumers of various services and products, including fashion products. Secondly, children and young people are citizens of the “digital generation” with unprecedented visibility and access to all types of information, including advertising. Contemporary media and advertisers have found ways to use this information to visually engage the vulnerable generation. However, in the marketing system, underage girls are legally treated as adults. Legally, a minor must be protected from any form of manipulation until he or she reaches the legal age to give valid consent. In this case the informed consent of the minor is waved about, as in the adultification of a little girl's body by French Vogue and other advertisers. The media sells a “dream” or illusion to the target market using the gender and body of a lesser woman. In the image above, her gender (female) and attractive physical build being a young woman are treated as an “object” or tool to reach the audience. The sexualisation of the female body and in this case of underage girls is a prevalent issue in consumer society which has allowed the media to influence institutions, values, norms andaccepted standards. Jhally (2003) points out that representations involving a sexual figure are important. He also states that “images are chosen based on their ability.” To illustrate “Sex sells” and the media will spare no ethical concern to actualize products and services, even if it means treating a woman's body as an object. Here the girl's body is treated as a sexual object to sell a product or service to eager consumers who overlook the representational biases or fail to decode the manipulative psychology in the ad. The statement is true based on the above picture of a young girl in expensive designer clothes of golden color. The images are sexual, including the shoes, dress, gold chains, pose and exposed body parts. Even her makeup is artificial, giving her an impression that the average young woman cannot acquire naturally. The sexualized image attracts much-needed attention and evokes positive emotions and feelings aimed at advertisers and brands. The ethics of such advertisements, in this case, is a secondary and unimportant issue even though the sexualization and objectification of a woman's body is demeaning to women. In Jessica Valenti's essay "The Cult of Virginity," she discusses in depth societies definition of virginity. . She claims that the female body is continually exploited and that virginity has become a commodity. He says that society is not only idolizing virginity as a moral model, but is also converting this admiration into buying, selling and owning it. I think this statement of yours supports my thesis that this innocence and purity of the young girl has been exploited and now comes at a price, a business in the mainstream media through advertising. What the media doesn't realize is that it's making girls more insecure in their own skin, making them feel like they have to meet these social standards to be accepted. For this reason, more and more girls lose self-confidence and cause health problems such as anxiety and depression. Since the model in this French Vogue advertisement is not only selling the product but also selling her physical and moral innocence as the product due to social perspectives, an illusory image is reinforced and interpreted by the intended audience. In an interview titled "We need a theoretical basis" Valerie Lipscomb explains that once people are older and no longer look youthful, that's when they realize the privilege of youthful reflection as a social ideal parallel to success. He also discusses the idea that, as age sets in, it produces an internalized physical disgust similar to the hatred that many relegated identities have also experienced. He postulates that this disgust is imposed on marginalized people so that others are naturally physically disgusted by it. Lipscomb posits that revulsion for marginalized people parallels revulsion for the physical body (Lipscomb). In my opinion, this discussion by Lipscomb sheds a lot of light on my analysis of the media in the sense that the intended audience of the advertising discussed in this analysis is young girls and not older women. Therefore, older women feel insecure and feel that they have aged, which is why the sexuality found in young girls is no longer in them. These feelings of insecurity stem from stereotypes. However, they do not realize that these young girls in the media are portrayed as adults to give the illusion of maturity. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion,.