User:Jillgeib/sandbox
Societal Influences
[edit]Contents of "thin-ideal media" include the portrayal of thinness as a desirable trait, and protagonists in media are thin, exceptionally beautiful, desirable, and successful.[1] According to the sociocultural model of bulimia, eating disorders are a product of the increasing pressures for women in our society to achieve an ultra-slender body.[2] There are two components to the social comparison theory: Downward social comparison, comparison to others perceived to be less fortunate than ourselves, and usually serves to enhance mood or self-worth; upward social comparison, comparison to others we perceive as socially better than ourselves, which usually leads to negative moods and self-evaluation.[3] Women in the media are presented as having different roles in society depending on context and demographics. Television, magazines, and newspapers along with advertisements have a powerful and influential role in society, and women in the media are often role models for young, impressionable girls. Mass media affect dominant societal values
Stereotypical Female Roles
[edit]Women are commonly portrayed in traditional female roles including stay-at-home-mom and homemaker. There are few portrayals of women in positions of power, authority, or responsibility. Media stereotypes of women as housewives may impede the employment of women.
Thin-Ideal Impact on Women
[edit]Correlational studies have linked exposure to media that contain ultra-thin ideals to increased body-dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, self-discrepancies, and eating pathology in young women. Sociocultural theory maintains that current societal standards for beauty emphasize the desirability of thinness, and thinness at a level impossible for many women to achieve by healthy means. [4]
Women in Magazines
[edit]Women’s magazines focus mainly on “domestic” aspects of life, including marriage, child-rearing, beauty, etc. (Gaye Tuchman. The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media). More than 75% of women’s magazines include at least one ad or article about how to change their physical appearance by diet, exercise, or cosmetic surgery[5]
Women in Television
[edit]Women on TV shows rarely appear in the same professions as men; for example, men are doctors, women are nurses; men are lawyers, women are secretaries; men work in corporations, women tend boutiques (Gaye Tuchman. The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media).
References
[edit]- ^ Harrison, Kristen (2006). "The Body Electric: Thin-Ideal Media and Eating Disorders in Adolescents". Journal of Communication. 50 (3).
- ^ Stice, Eric; Shaw, Heather E. (1994). "Adverse effects of the media portrayed thin-ideal on women and linkages to bulimic symptomatology". Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 13 (3): 288–308. doi:10.1521/jscp.1994.13.3.288.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Bessennoff, Gayle R. (September 2006). "Can the Media Affect Us? Social Comparison, Self-Discrepancy, and the Thin-Ideal". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 30 (3): 239–251. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00292.x.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Brown, Amy (2005). "Think "Thin" and Feel Bad: The Role of Schema Activation, Attention Level, and Thin-Ideal Internalization for Young Women's Response to Ultra-Thin Media Ideals". Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 24 (8): 1088–1113. doi:10.1521/jscp.2005.24.8.1088.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Beauty and Body Image in the Media". Media Awareness Network. Retrieved 30 March 2012.