Narrowing It Down

When I received the feedback from my presentation, I noticed that a lot of people recommended that I needed to narrow down my topic.  I noticed this too as I started actually writing it, because 8-10 pages really is not long enough to cover everything that I was considering for this paper.  Anyways, there were many directions that I could have gone with my paper, so I have decided to make this post a little summary of what I actually covered.

My thesis is: The approach of using thin models in the media seems to have a negative psychological affect on female viewer's body satisfaction as well as their perception of what is deemed as attractive.
Also, I decided to focus my paper on women because a study that observed a number of women's and men's magazines found 63 advertisements for diet foods in the women's magazines, and only one in the men's magazines (Silverstein et al. 525).  Also, all of the research that I found about the media and body satisfaction were directed toward women.
The Weight Loss and Diet Management market has increased in competition.  This is statistical proof that people are becoming more serious about dieting and losing weight.  A major reason that people are concerned about dieting is that thinness is an important attribute in appearing attractive for women.  The media has a lot to do with this because magazines often praise people for losing weight and appearing attractive.  Also, most models are underweight, and yet they appear to be happy and healthy.  This could give people the misconception that the path to happiness is to be as thin as models, rather than just a healthy weight.
There are legitimate explanations for using thin models in fashion advertisements.  Their bodies are small, so more attention is focused on the clothing.  But, thin models are used in all types of advertisements that have nothing to do with body image.
Companies may use thin and attractive models to promote their products because it may make the product seem more desirable.  Since thin is the ideal, a person may feel positively toward the model, and could then possibly transfer those feelings towards the product.
The increased amount of thin models in the media seems to have a negative affect on viewers.  Women who expose themselves frequently to the media tend to have low body satisfaction, especially when looking at advertisements with thin models (Groesz, Levine, Murnen; Field et al.)
I then talk about diet advertisements in particular.  I had trouble with this section, because this is what I primarily wanted to talk about, but I did not find much research on the topic specifically.  I basically had to make inferences based on all of the research that I covered in the first part of my paper.  The general idea I made was that the increased desire to diet has lead to an increase in advertisements for diet products.  These advertisements are primarily directed at women, and most of them state increased attractiveness as one of the main reasons to lose weight (Guillen & Barr 496).  I think that this could have a negative affect on women.  A woman of an average (and healthy) size that constantly sees advertisements encouraging her to diet in order to become attractive may actually feel the need to do so, especially when the models in the advertisements are extremely thin.  She may believe that because she is not as thin as the models, that she should diet.  Because of this, I think that advertisements to diet should feature women of all healthy sizes, so that women who are healthy but not stick thin are ensured that they do not need to diet.
This is basically what my paper is about.  I provide a lot more analysis of the research that I covered.  I hope that it is enjoyed.

Field, Allison et al. “Exposure to the Mass Media and Weight Concerns Among Girls.” 

Pediatrics 103.36 (1999) : n. pag. Web. 6 July 2011.

Groesz, Lisa, Levine, Michael, and Murnen, Sarah. “The Effect of Experimental Presentation of

Thin Media Images on Body Satisfaction: A Meta-Analytic Review. International 

Journal of Eating Disorders 31.1 (2001) : n. pag. Web. 6 July 2011.

Guillen, Eileen O. and Barr, Susan I. “Nutrition, Dieting, and Fitness Messages in a Magazine 

for Adolescent Women, 1970-1999.” Journal of Adolescent Health 15 (1994) : 464-472.

Web. 20 July 2011.

Silverstein, Brett, Perdue, Lauren, Peterson, Barbara, Kelly, Eileen. “The Role of the Mass 

Media in Promoting a Thin Standard of Bodily Attractiveness for Women. Sex Roles 

14.9/10 (1986) : 519-532. Web. 20 July 2011.