OUGD601 - Body Image, Maggi Wykes and Barrie Gunter – The Media and Body Image

BODY IMAGE:

Maggi Wykes and Barrie Gunter – The Media and Body Image.

Could Looks Kill?

·      In the united states, a survey of over 2,500 schoolgirls aged between 13 and 18 found that more than three-quarters said they wanted to lose weight and two-thirds had dieted in the past year to lose weight (Whitaker et al. 1989).

·      Smoking, drug use, over-exercise, cosmetic surgery and self-harm may all be part of the profound subjective dissatisfaction with body image that is evident and prevalent among, young women in particular. (Wolf, 1992)

Body Shape Ideals:

·      Body image is a psychological structure.

·      Body image concerns and a pre-occupation with dieting among teenagers often emerge together (Byely et al. 2000).

·      The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability (Cash and Szymanski 1995; Thompson, 1990).

·      The magazine Psychology Today conducted a large-scale survey of body image among adult men and women aged 18 to 70 years (Berscheid et al., 1973; Cash et al., 1986) – survey indicated that both men’s and women’s body image perception have become more negative over time (Cash and Henry, 1995; Cash et al., 1986)

·      Women think about their bodies a lot. Whatever their size, over seven in ten reportedly think about their size and shape every day and eight in ten felt that their lives would be considerably enhanced if they felt totally happy with their body (Daily Mail, 9 August 2001).

Source of blame?

·      The core of body image dissatisfaction has been located within a discrepancy between the perceived self and ideal self.

·      Ideal self-image – an ‘internal ideal’ or a ‘societal ideal’ from dictates of the surrounding cultural and societal environment as to what constitutes the perfect body.

·      Perceived ideal – dissatisfaction in relation to aspects of the body that are regarded as malleable. E.g. weight and distribution of fat, try to overcome by dieting.

Gender and body image:

·      Henwood, Gill and McLean (2002: 183), ‘Patterns of consumption, lifestyle choices and media representation of men now often focus upon men’s appearance and the male body. Media advertising routinely depicts in positive ways youthful toned muscular male bodies or focuses on style in men's clothing and physical appearance’.

·      Men tend to perceive themselves as underweight and as thinner than they actually are and report a desire to be larger (Harmatz et al., 1985; Miller et al., 1980; Mintz and Betz, 1986).

·      Male magazines’ emphasis on masculine physiques for men is believed to have created a climate in which young men are encouraged to take drugs such as anabolic steroids to achieve the body they want. Abuse of such drugs can lead to serious health problems, including impotence, heart disease, cancer and violent mood swings (Chapman, 2000).

·      Eating disorders link to body self-esteem were prevalent across black, white and Asian women (Wassenaar et al., 2000).

·      For young women, media images are implicated in the phenomenon of the starved self.

·      Positive and negative stereotypes play a role in the cultural formation of the ideal body. This ideal body may be internalised by young women and become a goal in a program to transform their body shape to match their internalised ideal body (Banner, 1986; Spitzack, 1990).

·      Theories of Media influence:

Attractiveness of body types

Social comparison theory

Self-ideal discrepancy

Schema theory

Cultivation theory

Third-person effects