The media is believed to have a power over those who consume it. Since the media is relied on for entertainment, information and other things there is no surprise that people look to the media for what they should do to their bodies. This paper will examine how the media has influenced its consumers to get tattoos through two popular theories of the media; Agenda setting theory and Cognitive Social Learning Theory.
Agenda Setting Theory
"Agenda Setting Theories propose that the media tell people both what is important in the world around them, and how to think about the events and people who inhabit that world" (Brown, 2002). When one looks at the very basic concept of Agenda Setting Theory one should understand that the media does not tell their audience something is cool or important, but it does tell them to think about that something. There are two places within the popular culture where tattoos have become extremely accepted and where the media plays on that acceptance; sports and music.
MTV has been around since 1981 and has provided music fans a visual representation of their favorite musicians, mostly of popular rock and roll music. Young people look to MTV for the visual images of their favorite bands and with that the way their favorite band acts, dresses and looks. This has a direct affect on the music fan. This new visual image of the band makes their viewer think about how cool or dumb the band acts, dresses and looks. The medium of MTV has now placed an importance of the visual elements of the musicians and how they appear just by playing their particular video, and if that video is a popular one there is logical thinking that those images will become important to the viewer.
“With in the videos themselves, one is confronted by a relentless onslaught of fashion statements and consumer goods ranging from ruby nose rings to million dollar yachts” (Christenson, 1998).
Tattoos are heavily shown on MTV. According to MTV.com for the week ending on April 28th, 2003, 13 of the top 20 videos requested by viewers through telephone and e-mail are videos by artists who have tattoos. All of these artists show their tattoo's many times in these videos as well. Also 17 of the 33 most played videos of the year, as of April 28th, 2003, are by bands or musicians that have tattoos. Since MTV portrays what is cool in music, and since there is visual elements involved, MTV is now delivering signs of what is cool in dress, hair style and body modification; tattoos.
Agenda Setting Theory
"Agenda Setting Theories propose that the media tell people both what is important in the world around them, and how to think about the events and people who inhabit that world" (Brown, 2002). When one looks at the very basic concept of Agenda Setting Theory one should understand that the media does not tell their audience something is cool or important, but it does tell them to think about that something. There are two places within the popular culture where tattoos have become extremely accepted and where the media plays on that acceptance; sports and music.
MTV has been around since 1981 and has provided music fans a visual representation of their favorite musicians, mostly of popular rock and roll music. Young people look to MTV for the visual images of their favorite bands and with that the way their favorite band acts, dresses and looks. This has a direct affect on the music fan. This new visual image of the band makes their viewer think about how cool or dumb the band acts, dresses and looks. The medium of MTV has now placed an importance of the visual elements of the musicians and how they appear just by playing their particular video, and if that video is a popular one there is logical thinking that those images will become important to the viewer.
“With in the videos themselves, one is confronted by a relentless onslaught of fashion statements and consumer goods ranging from ruby nose rings to million dollar yachts” (Christenson, 1998).
Tattoos are heavily shown on MTV. According to MTV.com for the week ending on April 28th, 2003, 13 of the top 20 videos requested by viewers through telephone and e-mail are videos by artists who have tattoos. All of these artists show their tattoo's many times in these videos as well. Also 17 of the 33 most played videos of the year, as of April 28th, 2003, are by bands or musicians that have tattoos. Since MTV portrays what is cool in music, and since there is visual elements involved, MTV is now delivering signs of what is cool in dress, hair style and body modification; tattoos.
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