accepted appearances and pleasing a man. As in Peirce’s 1990 study, Low and Sherrard 1999 measured data based
on feminist or traditional messages. They used a total of six categories, three providing traditional messages appearance and sex, male-female relations, home
and mother and three holding feminist messages self-development, career development, and political and world views.
2.7. Gender Role Socialization, Body Image, and the Media
Women’s desires to have a perfect body, white skin, obtain thin, can be directly linked to images portrayed in media. Mass media, magazines included, have been
and will continue influence the reader about the standard beauty as portrayed in media. This idea sends messages to women that they must desire the ultra-thin,
“glamorous” body in order to be accepted, respected, and successful. Adolescent girls and women desire a fantasy of White Western beauty, while the actuality is
that the images they desire to look like are, in fact, fake. Botta captures the irony of Western ideals in stating:
“[Our] culture’s obsession with thin ideals is played out in the media via models and actresses who may have eating disorders themselves, who may
have personal trainers to help them maintain a thin body, and whose bodies, as portrayed through airbrushing and camera-angle techniques, may not
even be their own.”
Botta indicated that adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to the ultra-thin messages promoted in media. She concludes that adolescent girls seek outside
information to help form their self-identity. Conflicting message between their changing body and the media’s representation of a thin, non-curvaceous woman can
result in feelings of low self-worth and body dissatisfaction Botta, 1999. Furthermore, Pipher 1994 also found a negative correlation between
exposure to images of thin women and self-esteem, body image, and confidence in adolescent girls. When an adolescent girl believes her body does not meet societies
acceptable ideal, her self-assurance become devalued. Similarly, Turner, Hamilton, Jacobs, Angood, and Dwyer 1997 critically analyze the influence of adolescent
magazines have on adolescent girls’ body image. Supporting their hypothesis, results showed that:
“…women who viewed fashion magazines preferred to weigh less, were less satisfied with their bodies, were more frustrated about their weight,
were more preoccupied with the desire to be thin, and were more afraid of
getting fat than their peers who viewed news magazines”. Turner et al., 1997
Additional studies have been conducted to assess the influence of magazines and other forms of mass media on girls’ weight concerns and this result demonstrate
the dangers associated with exposure to images of underweight models and it is vital to continue research on adolescent girls’ body-image in order to create social
change within the institution of mass media.
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
