Essays --

Introduction From any corner in the world you will be surrounded by propaganda: in the streets, in your house, even when you’re driving. Propaganda appears in many forms but I personally believe it to be the shaping of public beliefs, in which communication is used with the intention of manipulating. In short, propaganda is the art of brainwash. This form of art has been going for many centuries and has played an important role in the history of art, especially during the 20th century in which propaganda was used to persuade people to join the military service or to stand for their countries during wartime. At that time the objective was only one, nowadays there is more than one objective; how does propaganda influence the way 21st century society pre-establishes ideas and makes contradictions within taboos such as tattoos, marijuana and sexuality? By focusing on marijuana it can be noticed that there are several public opinions to it. Some believe it should be legalized as a drug, others think it shouldn’t and others think it should only be consumed for medical benefit. Similarly, tattoos are said to be a â€Å"respectable form of artâ€Å" by some while others state that â€Å"they demonstrate a lack of education and classâ€Å" and that â€Å"once you get a tattoo you put yourself in a lower echelon of societyâ€Å". Media and propaganda encourage us to accept all types of sexuality. Propaganda portrays homosexuals and bisexuals as exhibitors of gender-atypical behaviors. Despite the fact that propaganda has become less stereotyped over time, researchers believe that it hasn’t changed that much over the last ten years. Taboo: Tattoos. Social definition. Tattoos are defined to be â€Å"a permanent mark or design made on the skin by a proc... ...d Elisava in Barcelona respectively, and who wish to remain anonymous, I can determine that my conclusion is valid, as all these factors play a role when pre-establishing ideas and making contradictions. I can also state that it is in fact, a form of manipulation, as it makes the audience pre-establish ideas about certain things and then judge others. However, the students stated that, apparently, this was decreasing with the passing of time, as these taboos are becoming more accepted by first world countries. To conclude, I believe this is a vicious cycle; similar to the story of the chicken and the egg. Which came first? Society has a pre-established idea. Media and mass communication want to sell what the audience wants, so they portray these ideologies, so in turn, society is subconsciously affected by the concepts conveyed, as they are stereotyped...But by who?