Advertising Has Targeted Women for Decades
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Research Proposal From television commercials to radio to print ads, advertising has defined the meaning of perfection. Most notably, advertising dictates what to eat, what to wear, where to go and who to be seen with. At the same time that childhood obesity is at an all time high, women in our society are facing advertising 's idealized portrayal of unrealistic bodies. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia and a multitude of other self inflicted diseases are running rampant in societies nationwide. Our group was intrigued by the relationship between women and advertising. College aged women often find themselves as the target of many advertisements. At a time when women are told to define themselves and mature, advertisers recognize their vulnerability and use this to their advantage. Through thorough research of a variety of investigative journals, we plan to illustrate the relationship between advertisements and women 's body image. Advertising has changed the way people consume goods and services. Since the boom of the 1920s, the advertising industry has tried to convince people why they need to purchase the newest product on the market. Even more astounding, the advertising industry has succeeded in changing the way they people feel about themselves. In magazines and newspapers, women often seek out images of thin models, even when they anticipate that the images will make them feel badly (Milkie, 1999). Oddly enough, those who have internalized the media ideal, exposure to images featuring this ideal are likely to activate the comparison process. Because few women can meet the beauty standards created by this ideal, dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance is a likely outcome of this comparison process (Engeln-Maddox, 2005). Through our research we plan on investigating the thought process of women with different advertisements and
2 their perceptions about themselves. Knowing that some women actively seek out these unrealistic images, we plan on investigating
Research Proposal From television commercials to radio to print ads, advertising has defined the meaning of perfection. Most notably, advertising dictates what to eat, what to wear, where to go and who to be seen with. At the same time that childhood obesity is at an all time high, women in our society are facing advertising 's idealized portrayal of unrealistic bodies. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia and a multitude of other self inflicted diseases are running rampant in societies nationwide. Our group was intrigued by the relationship between women and advertising. College aged women often find themselves as the target of many advertisements. At a time when women are told to define themselves and mature, advertisers recognize their vulnerability and use this to their advantage. Through thorough research of a variety of investigative journals, we plan to illustrate the relationship between advertisements and women 's body image. Advertising has changed the way people consume goods and services. Since the boom of the 1920s, the advertising industry has tried to convince people why they need to purchase the newest product on the market. Even more astounding, the advertising industry has succeeded in changing the way they people feel about themselves. In magazines and newspapers, women often seek out images of thin models, even when they anticipate that the images will make them feel badly (Milkie, 1999). Oddly enough, those who have internalized the media ideal, exposure to images featuring this ideal are likely to activate the comparison process. Because few women can meet the beauty standards created by this ideal, dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance is a likely outcome of this comparison process (Engeln-Maddox, 2005). Through our research we plan on investigating the thought process of women with different advertisements and
2 their perceptions about themselves. Knowing that some women actively seek out these unrealistic images, we plan on investigating
Cited: 7 Bessenoff, Gayle R. “Can the Media Affect Us? Social Comparison, Self-Discrepancy, and the Thin Ideal.” Psychology of Women Quarterly. Vol. 30. pp. 239-251. Blackwell Publishing, Inc. Brown, Amy and Helga Dittmar. Think “Thin” and Feel Bad: The Role of Appearance Schema Activation, Attention Level, and Thin-Ideal Internalization for Young Women’s Responses to Ultra-Thin Media Ideals. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 24, No. 8, 2005, pp. 1088-1113. Engeln-Maddox, Renee. Cognitive Responses to idealized Media Images of Women: The Relationship of Social Comparison and Critical Processing to Body Image Disturbance in College Women. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 24, November 8, 2005, pp. 1114-1138. Huon, Gail, PhD and Fiona Monro. “Media-Portrayed Idealized Images , Body Shame, and Appearance Anxiety.” International Journal of Eating Disorders 38 (2005): 85-90. Martin, Mary C. And James W. Gentry. “Stuck in the Model Trap: The effects of beautiful models in ads on female pre adolescents and adolescents.” Journal of Advertising . Spring 1997. V26 N2, p 19-33