My definition (Mass Media)

When I think about what the term “Mass Media” is I immediately envision all of the technological devices and how we receive our information. This term is hard to define because our diverse culture has a great role in the media. The media consists of several ways to acquire information, the most popular forms are the television, radio, internet and newspaper. To understand the term “Mass Media” one should reflect upon the idea that we all have a role in the media, we as individuals are all participating in the news daily and our thoughts and opinions make the news much more interesting.

The mass media is more than the information that is delivered to large audiences, it is the new reality that we are continuously comparing ourselves with. In Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, author Chuck Klosterman compares Pamela Anderson and Marilyn Monroe as two different generations sex symbols. These two women are portrayed as women who would be desired by a man. Without the mass media and the connections it can make, these women would not be considered such role models.

John Berger author of Ways of Seeing, reflects on how women would compare themselves to painted canvasses years ago. Men would paint women in nude poses and the women of that time would see these pictures and compare their bodies to the bodies in which a man painted. The photographs presented in the media today are closely related to the early paintings of women because now we see women and men with unreal bodies that make us want to compare and attain the unimaginable. Media is presenting our society with an unrealistic perception of reality. It is up to us to overcome it.

Works Cited:


Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation., 2008.

Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. New York: Scribner., 2003.