The Impact of Media on SelfImage and Appearance

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The Impact of Media on Self-Image and Appearance
Taylor Hustad Chad Senescall Amanda Statz Rebecca
Werner Jon Zylka
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The Point

• Perfect appearance has become one of the most
  important traits for people to have
• Children, parents and friends are told that
  having the right body type and right clothes will
  make them successful, intelligent, and accepted
  by members of the opposite sex
• Advertisement companies have made appearances an
  all-important part tool in their propaganda

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History

• It is unknown when the media started using women
  as a sex symbols
• Men have also become sex symbols
• Pepsi product commercials are an example of media
  using sex symbols
• The use of gender stereotypes to sell products
  has long been an element of our way of life

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Women In The Media

• Women are used much more than men
• Media teaches women to measure themselves in
  terms of physical appearance
• Standards of beauty are unattainable for most
  women
• Media uses young females who are on strict diets
  or starving to portray the images of beauty
• Young women see models in the media and feel the
  need to look like them to be attractive

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The Manifest Function

• Can be applied to the desired intent of the
  advertiser
• They use the human image and its sexuality to
  create interest in a product by appealing to the
  desires of the person
• Pictures of beautiful models are shown in hopes
  that the viewer will see it and think that they
  need the product to obtain that level of human
  perfection
• Has proven itself over time to be effective

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The Latent Function

• Unrecognized by the media
• Consumers can view any fashion magazine and see
  multiple adds with subliminal, if not direct,
  messages
• In 1992, the ten most popular magazines most
  commonly read by men and women were reviewed for
  ads and articles related to weight loss. The
  womens magazines contained 10.5 times more
  articles related to dieting and weight loss than
  did the mans magazines.

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Margaret Meeds Research

• Went to 3 societies of New Guinea
• Location 1 both sexes were cooperative and
  sensitive to others labeled as feminine
• Location 2 both sexes were typically selfish and
  aggressive labeled as masculine
• Location 3 like our culture, but reversed
  females were dominant and rational, males were
  submissive, emotional, and nurturing toward
  children

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George Murdocks Research

• Broad study of more than 200 pre-industrialized
  societies
• Found global agreement about defining certain
  tasks as masculine and feminine
• Hunting and warfare were for the men and
  home-centered responsibilities were for the
  females
• Found that societies of the world were as likely
  to turn to one sex as the other

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Our Research

• Surveyed 40 college students
• Topic Sex and sex appeal in the media
• 30 looked at the body as the biggest attraction
  point (10 were female and 20 were male)
• 100 said media uses human beauty as a marketing
  tool

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Our Research
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Our Research
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Our Research
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Our Research
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Our Research
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Our Research
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Other Studies

• Study 1 2,379 9/10 yr old girls were surveyed
• 40 said they were trying to lose weight
• Study 2 36,000 students were surveyed
• Girls with negative body image were 3 times more
  likely than boys to say that they feel badly
  about themselves and were more likely to believe
  that others see them in a negative light
• Study 3 Average size of an idealized woman has
  stabilized at 13-19 below physically expected
  weight

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Solutions

• Write to advertising companies
• Boycotting is absurd as most products would be
  affected
• To stop buying would be impossible
• If society tells companies they do not appreciate
  it, they would be likely to stop

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Discussion What do you think can be done to solve
this problem? How severe do you think this
problem is? Questions? Comments?