The Media and the Degrading Effect it has on Womens Body Image 1

RUNNING TITLE: The Media and the Degrading Effect it has on Womens Body Image

The Media and the Degrading Effect it has on Womens Body Image
Emily Fessler
Kutztown University

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The Media and the Degrading Effect it has on Womens Body Image
Newsflash, cellulite isnt sexy. Neither is a flabby tummy. Oh while were at it you arent
pretty unless your legs are unnaturally long, you have no skin blemishes, the whites of your eyes
are bleached, and that you have a few ribs less than the average person.
My mother used to read Vogue Magazine. She loved reading articles and stories but
would always skip past the fashion models. One day I was observing her and questioned why she
was reading the magazine in such an odd fashion. She told me there was two reasons she read
that way. The first was that she simply didnt like the latest fashion trends. The second, more
interesting reason, was that the models made her feel depressed about the way she looks. She
then told me that in her past she went through a period that she would compare herself to the
models and it made her depressed. This caused her to eat sweet foods, which temporarily raised
her dopamine (happy hormone) levels. But because these were only temporary happy feelings it
caused her to eat more to maintain a positive mood which caused her to gain a lot of weight. One
of her friends even asked if she was pregnant! Now since shes started skipping over the models
in magazines she has started eating much healthier and even exercising.
The media has been influencing how women view themselves since it was invented.
Think of all the fashion trends there have been and how ridiculously impossible to achieve some
of these trends are. This became especially prominent in the 1940s when the trend was large
busts and hips with a teeny tiny waist.
Do people understand how corsets rearranged the internal organs of the wearers?
Take a look at ancient Chinese tradition, women would wrap their feet to look beautiful.
In her book Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China, Wang Ping describes what it was like for

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these women. When a girl was young, her mother or grandmother would fracture her feet and
fold their toes under the arch of their foot. After years of tending to wrapped feet, they would
hopefully be the key size of 3 inches (Ping 2000).
They went through this torturous process because it was the accepted standard of beauty.
Now take a look at the 1990s when skin and bones, stick thin, was the latest fad. So
many women turned to anorexia and died in response to this. Women need to make healthy
decisions about their bodies in response to how the media makes them feel.
Its not that bad right? How can looking at a couple pictures be so harmful? Thats the
problem though. For the average consumer its not only a couple of pictures. Its billboards,
magazine ads, TV commercials, etc. The media bombards people with pictures of thin models
and its taking a toll on the nations mental health.
The concept of a thin standard is being portrayed by the media. Women who are subject
to viewing these standards are more likely to feel negatively about their own bodies, no matter
how healthy they are.
In a study done by Amanda B. Bower in the Journal of Advertising in 2001, she studied
how women reacted to the thin ideals portrayed in magazine ads. According to her findings
Women had two reactions to viewing HAMs (Highly Attractive Models) in magazine ads. One
reaction would be that the women familiarized with the model and felt that if she were to buy the
product then she could look just like the model. But this positive feeling would be short lived
once the consumer realized that the product would not make them look like the model. The other
reaction was instantly negative. The subject couldnt familiarize with the model and felt as

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though they could never look like them (Bower 30.3). This proves that there is no good that
comes out of using thin models.
Why do women subject themselves to depression time and time again?
Why are magazine companies not using other models? Ideally these companies would
use any size model to promote the beauty in all sizes. But consumers are fickle. In a study done
by Naomi Mandel, marketing associate professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at
Arizona State University; she learned that using moderately heavy models is harmful to
businesses. In her study she had subjects categorized into thin, average, and heavy BMIs (Body
Mass Indexes). Then she had the subjects view moderately thin and moderately heavy models.
The subjects with the thin BMIs resulted with the most positive feedback, knowing they are
smaller than the heavy models and can familiarize with the thin models. But the average-heavy
BMIs had more negative results. The heavy BMIs familiarized with the heavier models and knew
they were nowhere close to the size of the thin models. The average BMIs couldnt familiarize
with the thin models and feared they were more like the heavy models (Mandel).
The only problem with Mandels research is that she only included models from
the ends of the spectrum. If she used average sized models she might have come up with much
different results. By using average sized models she couldve appealed more to the other BMIs.
If women are presented with a picture of a thin woman and a heavy woman and asked to choose
which she would rather look like, they would most likely choose the thin model. But put in a
third picture of an average sized model and most women will associate with that picture.
Therefor causing them be more comfortable with themselves.

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By using an average model the average BMIs wouldve associated with that image and
felt better of not having to choose between the images that they didnt familiarize with. This
could even help the women with heavier BMIs be more comfortable with accepting their weight
and encourage them to be healthy instead of unrealistically thin. Consumers who are more than
moderately thin may realize that being an average size is healthier for them.
Businesses should be using average models to promote their items. That would be
healthier for their businesses and for the consumers. In an article by Alissa Falcone in Drexel
News Blog, she reports on the findings of Hoori Rafieian, a doctoral student in the LeBow
College of Business. According to Falcone using average sized models is a Win-Win for
businesses and consumers. The consumers will look at the ads with less of a wary eye which
promotes business. Also consumers will be more comfortable with their own body image, which
is much healthier for them. She gives example of Dove and H&Ms campaigns to use real
women in their ads (Falcone). She states that this has been a success for their businesses.
If there was a magazine that used real, un-edited women, would women go out of their
way to read it? Many women would. Make women aware of what the advertisements are doing
to their emotions and they will look for an alternative. But right now only a very select group of
companies are changing, which means that only a very select group of ads show real models.
Most of what women are still reading are edited HAMs.
Why do women put up with this silent abuse time and time again? Reading magazines
almost become an obsession for women. They look at these models and compare themselves.
This is so normal that women who love their bodies and dont constantly judge them are seen as
unusual.

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Imagine two women trying on dresses. A typical interaction would involve each
complimenting each other and then complaining about their own bodies.
The cellulite on my butt is awful!
You think thats bad? Just look at the fat on my stomach!
I dont even want to hear it, youre perfect. You dont have to look at a huge nose in the
mirror every day.
What if a friend had said that they love the way they look. Naturally one would
automatically assume they were either arrogant or lying. Its been engrained into our society that
people shouldnt love themselves and that there are always parts that can be fixed. Complaining
about yourself is seen as knowing that there are ways you can improve upon your body.
Most women and men have started to chalk this up to, they must just be moody.
Just eat some chocolate and youll feel better.
Stop being bi-polar.
Or my personal favorite, Are you on your period?
No, all womrn arent bi-polar. That is an insult on those who actually suffer from it. No,
its not from the possibility of being on your periods. And no, ignoring the negative feelings
wont make it better.
In my mothers case, she realized the source of her unhealthy eating. It dawned on her
that she was eating because of the negative feeling caused by viewing women thinner and
prettier than her. She used this to better her mental and physical health.

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The problem with most women is that they arent realizing what is making them
depressed. And in some cases where they do realize, they still dont do anything about it. Not
much sympathy is to be had for for those in the latter case. Women need to help themselves and
others realize the emotional and physical harm these magazines are causing. Then people can
understand that the habits caused by viewing these ads isnt healthy
But knowing whats not healthy isnt enough. Women need to change.
Nobodys perfect. The models in those ads arent perfect. They are photo shopped and
edited to the point of almost being unrecognizable from the original model. These ads are
making women believe that they should look like these faked images of perfection.
Thinking anything not perfect is unacceptable, isnt healthy. Someone who is obese and
realizes that its a health risk to them is making a good decision in wanting to change. Someone
who is anorexic and realizes its a health risk is making a good decision in wanting to change.
But someone who is in a healthy BMI range and is at no health risk should not be as focused on
changing themselves as the other examples.
But they read magazines and see that they are vastly different than the women in the
advertisement. This constant comparison makes them believe that they wont be perfect until
they look like the photo shopped images. This attitude isnt healthy. M. Lee Manning, professor
at Old Dominion University, reported in his paper on; professor, physicist, educator, and aging
expert Robert Havighursts Developmental Tasks. According to Havighurt, a major
developmental task for people around the ages of 12 and 18 is accepting ones physique.
Havighurst states that unsuccessfulness in completing a developmental task results in
unhappiness and difficulty in completing other tasks (Manning 76.2).

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So this means that all the grown women are developmentally stuck in a stage that
shouldve been accomplished in their teenage years. Because of focusing on any flaws with their
bodies they cannot focus on more important tasks. How much more accomplished could women,
as a whole, be if they were able to focus on more important things than how they look?
Take all the absurd fashion trends in history, and look at the reoccurring theme. Every
trend is meant to inhibit women. Women starting to voice their opinion? Stick them in a corset to
cut off their air supply.
But hey, look at how beautiful she is with the tiniest waist!
Or if women fracture their feet and bind them, then they are dependent on men to survive.
But shes a symbol of perfection with her 3 inch feet!
Or women could focus on making their body cellulite free, slightly toned, bronzed skin,
perfect hair. That way men dont need to worry about competition from them in the business and
political world. Women are too busy trying to perfect themselves to put all their energy in being
equal to men.

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References
Bower, Amanda B. "Highly Attractive Models in Advertising and the Women Who Loathe
Them: The Implications of Negative Effect for Spokesperson Effectiveness." Journal of
Advertising 30.3 (2001): ProQuest Research Library. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Falcone, Alissa. "Why Clothing Advertisements Should Feature Average-Sized Models." Drexel
News Blog. N.p., 26 May 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2015
Mandel, Naomi. "Study: Ads with Plus-size Models Unlikely to Work." Arizona State University
News. N.p., 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
Manning, M. Lee. Havighurst's Developmental Tasks, Young Adolescents, and Diversity. The
Clearing House 76.2 (2002): 7578. Web...
Turner, Sherry L; Hamilton, Heather; Jacobs, Meija; Angood, Laurie M; Deanne Hovde Dwyer.
"The Influence of Fashion Magazines on the Body Image Satisfaction of College Women:
And Exploratory Analysis.", Adolescence; Fall 1997; 32, 127; ProQuest Research Library.
pg. 603
Wang, Ping. Aching for beauty: Footbinding in China. U of Minnesota Press, 2000.