BODY IMAGE RESEARCH SUMMARY
Relationship between Female’s Body Image and
the Mass Media
Sarah Durkin
Sociocultural pressures are thought to play a very influential role in the prevalence of
body dissatisfaction in contemporary Western society1-4. An increasing incidence of
body dissatisfaction and eating disorders has coincided with changes in sociocultural
norms for females over the last few decades. In contemporary society the ideal female
body is thin, tall and long legged, and there is a pervasive belief among women that you
need to fit this “ideal” to be successful4-6. These messages about the ideal female form
are transmitted by a variety of means, including the family, peers and by the mass
media2,7-9. The ubiquitous nature of the mass media makes it a particularly powerful
force for influencing social attitudes. With a moderate level of body dissatisfaction now
believed to be normal among females10, many researchers have looked toward this far
reaching medium as a driving force for the dissemination of notions that a slender body
is desirable3,7,11-15.
The Changing Representation of the Female Body in the Media
Media content analyses have indicated that the mass media tend to portray the female
form as much thinner than the average body size in the population, particularly in the
last twenty years16,17. This shift toward a thinner ideal was first documented by Garner
and associates (1980) where they found a significant decrease in the body measurements
and weights of Playboy centrefolds and Miss America Pageant contestants from 1959 to
1978. This decrease was combined with a significant increase in the number of diet
articles in popular women’s magazines over the same period16. In an update of this
study, Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, and Ahrens (1992) reported a continuance of the
slide downward in the weight of models in popular women's magazines from 1979 to
198817. In a more recent analysis, 21 popular women’s magazines throughout 1996
were examined, and on 78% of the covers there was a message regarding bodily
appearance18. In 1985, Gonzalez-Lavin and Smolak found that 94% of the female
characters on television shows favoured by young females were below average in
weight19. This trend toward an increasingly slimmer ideal in the media over the last few
decades has coincided with larger average body weight in women in Western
societies20. Thus, this depiction of the female body shape in magazines and on
television is hugely distorted and fails to represent the real diversity of female body
shapes. The ideal female body that is represented in the media is unattainable for most
women without resorting to extreme dieting or exercise behaviours.
Exposure to Media and Self Comparisons
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Most females in Western society are regularly exposed to idealised images of the female
body and often negative comparisons are made. In the U.S. researchers have found that
over the course of a typical year, children and adolescents spend more time watching
television than any other activity except sleeping21. In an Australian study, female
adolescents were found to watch an average of 22.72 hours of television in one week,
with an average of 5.43 hours of soaps or serials, and an average of 1.62 hours of music
videos in the week under study15. Studies also indicate that many college women
frequently read fashion magazines as a leisure activity22,23. A recent study found that
the number of hours spent watching music videos was related to adolescent girl’s weight
concerns24.
Some studies have indicated that females often compare themselves with idealised
images presented in media22,25. This tendency to self-compare is another possible
factor that makes women vulnerable to the negative impact of media exposure. Fifty
percent of the women in one study reported comparing themselves with the models in
advertisements ‘about half the time’ or more, and that these advertisements made them
feel dissatisfied with the way they look22. The majority of females in another study
thought about comparing oneself to the models when reading magazines and they
associated negative self-evaluations with the process of reading magazines23. However,
studies that indicate that negative comparisons are made do not demonstrate that the
media causes negative body image in females. Therefore, researchers have utilised
more controlled experimental techniques to examine the relationship between media
exposure and body dissatisfaction.
Effects of Media Exposure
It has often been assumed that the frequent exposure to images of slenderness portrayed
in the media have a universally negative impact on the body satisfaction of young girls
and women26-29. However, experimental studies which have examined whether
exposure to slender images of females in the media cause body dissatisfaction, have
produced often contradictory and confusing results. Some studies found that media
exposure had no direct effect on body image satisfaction25,30, while others found that
‘ideal’ compared to ‘neutral’ or ‘non-ideal’ image exposure predicted body
dissatisfaction and negative self-evaluations 31-35. Another study found that university
aged women exposed to thin models had greater body dissatisfaction compared to those
exposed to average weight models, but not compared to those exposed to pictures
without any models36. One study even found that young women who viewed ideal body
images in television commercials overestimated their body size to a lesser degree than
those who were exposed to commercials not containing the “thin-ideal”13. Clearer
insight into the effects of “thin-ideal” media exposure have come from experimental
studies that have investigated differential impact. These studies suggest that the media’s
effect on body satisfaction is not uniform across all women.
Certain groups of females may be more vulnerable than others. A study which
compared women with eating disorders to those without eating disorders found that the
eating disordered group were more susceptible to the negative effects of media
exposure37. Females have also been shown to be more vulnerable to exposure to
idealised images at different ages. Shaw (1995) found that adolescents showed greater
body dissatisfaction after viewing fashion images than did adult females38. The
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adolescents who were most vulnerable to the negative effect of this media exposure
tended to be older, heavier and display greater bulimic tendencies. However these
factors didn’t increase the adults’ vulnerability. Another study has indicated that
“white” girls were more affected by idealised images than African American or Latino
girls, as these girls did not identify with the predominantly “white” images, nor did they
believe that males their age or their peers were influenced by them, unlike the “white”
girls39.
Recent research has also suggested that women with certain ‘vulnerability’
characteristics may be more susceptible to the impact of thin-ideal media. In one of the
most sophisticated studies into the association between reported media exposure and
body dissatisfaction, Stice, and associates (1994) investigated the influence of individual
characteristics in mediating the effects of “thin-ideal” media exposure on body
satisfaction7. They found that greater exposure was associated with increased
acceptance of traditional female gender roles, which in turn lead to increased acceptance
of the thin ideal, which was in turn associated with greater body dissatisfaction. This
study indicates an indirect route from exposure to negative body image, where the
characteristics of the person viewing the idealised images influence the extent of the
impact. Supporting this, Cusumano & Thompson (1997), found that the level of
internalisation of societal standards of appearance predicted the level of body
dissatisfaction after viewing fashion magazines30.
A number of studies have investigated the role of individual characteristics by
measuring body satisfaction prior to and after exposing females to images of thin
models, and examining which types of women are most affected by the exposure.
Heinberg & Thompson (1995) found that those high on measures of body image
disturbance and internalisation of sociocultural attitudes of thinness and attractiveness,
became significantly more depressed and dissatisfied with their appearance following
the exposure11. In a similar study Posovac, Posovac and Posovac (1998) observed that
college women with initially low compared to high body satisfaction were significantly
more concerned about their weight following exposure to slides of fashion models
compared to neutral images14. Henderson-King and Henderson-King (1997), however,
found only a trend towards a greater impact of idealised image exposure in heavier
women suggesting that the level of body satisfaction may be a more important predictor
than actual size12. One study found that feminists held more negative attitudes toward
stereotypical media images of women. However, both the nonfeminist and feminist
groups showed similar actual increases in body dissatisfaction after exposure34. This
suggests that attitudinal change alone may not protect against the effects that these
images have.
Other potential vulnerability factors that have been suggested by theorists and
researchers are low self-esteem, identity confusion, and high comparison tendency4,40.
Overall the evidence from these experimental studies indicates that the negative effects
of viewing and comparing with the unrealistically thin women exhibited in the media
are revealed when the differences between females are considered.
In conclusion, this research indicates the common depiction of the female body in the
mass media is unrealistically thin, and that females are frequently exposed to these
images and often make negative comparisons with themselves. The evidence is unclear
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whether media exposure causes body dissatisfaction in all women. However, there is
compelling evidence to suggest that exposure to idealised images of slender women is
more likely to harm the body satisfaction of certain groups of females and those who
have certain individual vulnerabilities. Further research is needed to explore all of the
possible vulnerability characteristics so that efforts at reducing body dissatisfaction in
young females and women can be targeted appropriately.
Relationship between Male’s Body Image and the Mass Media
Very little research has examined how boy’s and men’s body image may be affected by
magazine and television images of the ideal male body. Studies have shown that the
ideal male body shown in the media and endorsed by men is a muscular toned body
shape 41,42. A very recent analysis of Playgirl magazines found that over the past forty
years there has been a significant increase in the body sizes of their male models, which
has corresponded with increases in body sizes of the average young male (aged 18-24
years) in the US and Canada 42. However, the increase in Playgirl models was linked to
an increase in muscularity, whereas the increase in the average young male body size
was related to an increase in body fat. One study that examined media consumption in
males found that overall magazine reading predicted men’s endorsement of thinness and
dieting for themselves43. One very recent study found that one third of the men they
examined felt that the media influenced their body image concerns44. There have been
very few studies which have examined the impact of viewing idealised male media
images on male body satisfaction. In two recent studies men felt less satisfaction with
their own bodies after being exposed to idealised male media images32,34. These
studies give a preliminary indication that men may also be affected by the media,
however there needs to be much more research to clarify the nature of this relationship.
Further research is needed to assess whether, like females, males with certain
vulnerability characteristics may be more vulnerable to the impact of the media than
those without these characteristics.
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