stereotypical behavior as reflected by advertising especially the portrayal of women, but I discovered that there were other stereotypes being perpetuated as well that were just as institutionalized if not just simply less noticed or studied. Therefore, although this argument will focus on the depiction of females and the female role in advertising. It will also mention the general use of American values, norms, and institutions to influence consumer. An institution is defined as "a stable cluster of values, norms, status, roles, and groups that develop around a basic social need" with a status being a person's position in society and a role being the behavior expected from that, and a value being a socially shared idea of what is good, right, and desirable and a norm being the behavior expected from those ideas. When people begin to form certain expectations in life there begin to be formed stereotypes. People recognize them universally and use them to form opinions and act or not act in a certain way when they are confronted with a situation or person. It is "human nature" to fear the unknown and cling to the familiar, and desire to fit in but want to stand out at the same time. It is from here that advertising finds its most potent weapons. By focusing on these culturally formed stereotypes they can explicitly affect people, and by feeding on these implicitly realized characteristics of people they can also affect behavior . This seems relatively harmless to the advertiser who simply wants to sell his product, but it becomes harmful when it begins to perpetuate certain undesirable stereotypes to the point of cementing them in impressionable minds. Thus I will further differentiate the discussion presented here into the use of institutions that I do not find as harmful as others. Understanding that the perpetuation of any stereotype is bad in that it robs people of the chance to form original opinions without the hindrance of preconceived notions, but I strongly feel that specific depiction's like that of "the myth of women" need to be eradicated first and foremost because of its direct halt of progress. That's not to say that advertising has not changed somewhat with the changing of women's roles and opportunities in the 1990's. Society ,and specifically men, can accept the need and desire for women to work outside the home, but they still expect them to be mothers who keep everything together in the home. The portrayal of women can be broken down into several categories. First is the idea of beauty. Generally about 85% of all advertisements are devoted to the beautification of women's hair, face, and body. Women are bombarded with airbrushed, perfectly lit, constantly happy shots of gorgeous models that portray every ideal of our society. The content of ads that I have obsereved over and over again were makeup, perfume, breast centered, and skin. Women are not expected to be presentable without the help of the latest chemical technique to remove blemishes, darken eyes, lengthen lashes, coat the lips, clean their hair, and remove shine. Regardless of one's natural features, they will never be good enough without these alterations. The company that promotes this attitude the best was Maybelline: "maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline" is their prime slogan. Some women have LIPS as SMOOTH as they talk. So SUPPLE so luscious they make anything sound fascinating. Gift of nature? Get real" The quotes could go on, but I think the message is clear; one could never be naturally attractive to society without the help of makeup and their advertisements lead to this sub conscious understanding.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Obsession Poison, Homo Sapiens, Smoking Marlboro, Oil Olay, Betty Crocker, LIPS SMOOTH, Females Advertising, values norms, etc , roles status, unable accurately, models women, formed stereotypes, modern day, portrayal women, desirable behavior, fear unknown,
Approximate Word count = 2443
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)