The Influence Of Mass Media

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Mass media is a combination of technological advances with the intended purpose of communicating to vast audiences. The influence of mass media is everywhere covering society’s everyday life. However one effect that can be attributed to media is how it affects our ways of perception and thinking (McLuhan, 1964; McQuail, 2010). George Gerbner (1976) states that modern mass media’s capability can form new ways to rapidly, constantly and pervasively unify thoughts and actions. Mediums of mass media covers a wide variety like newspapers, television, books, films, fashion trends even politics. With that in mind, mass media can become an aid in constructing our perceptions of reality both as a mirror and a driving force and society trends. While popular culture or pop culture for short, is the connection and consumption of mass media to gain knowledge such as information, entertainment and news the culture also looks into trends in society as well as ideas and opinions of others. This then forms one’s own perspective and their identity.

One sphere of influence can be attributed to the political influence caused by entertainers in the Japanese mass media scene. With their displays of alternative masculinity, they are changing the interpretation of the once traditional view by creating new ways to represent Japan’s cultural constructions of gender (Darling-Wolf, 2004). With the influence of media, the perception of a man’s body image and beauty ideals have evolved over time and