How were Russians influenced by American media regarding body image, Term Paper - 1

How were Russians influenced by American media regarding body image, beauty and the way they behaved - Term Paper Example On the other hand, it cant but be stated that Russian national values have drastically changed under the influence of America mainly through mass media, and especially television (Hentoff, 2002). The question remains to be open, whether Russians are too weak to resist to the influence that is determining their behavior, way of life and predicting their actions for the nearest future. Actually, it must be mentioned that the values, which they used to hold earlier, have not changed, but their attitude towards them is absolutely different in comparison to what it used to be a couple of decades ago. Thus, it is essential to discuss this issue and to prove that Russians are greatly influenced by America and this influence is more positive than negative. Before talking about how exactly the way of life of Russians were influenced by America, it is essential to trace the history and roots of such influence. We live in a world of contradictions, where there is a constant need to prove the strength and power. From time immemorial there exists a confrontation between superpowers. Russia and the United States of America are the brightest samples of such confrontation (Rios, 2006). It is hard to say definitely why the American-Russian relations are so specific: different mentalities, lifestyles, cultures and, of course, ideology and history. The situation was injected by the journalists, authorities and just people eager to create sensations. An iron curtain was hung over the former USSR. The USSR mass media made monsters even of ordinary Americans and vice versa. Such situation was suppressing and largely created artificially. It was a time of proxy wars that destroyed lives on both continents .People are still getting through the effect s of so-called â€Å"Cold War† which, according to The United States Department’s expression, was a global competition of two ideologies of The Free world and Communistic