Relationship Between Mass
Media’s Portrayal of the Female
Body and Eating Disorders: How
Girls are Affected A Multicultural Approach
Presented by:
Zaha Alsuwailan
Donna Carnduff
Delanna Reed
Ai-Lun Wu
Body Image is Shaped by Many Factors
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Judgments or comments from others
Sexual and racial harassment
Stigmatization
Prevailing social values
Physical changes in the body during puberty, menopause &
pregnancy
Socialization
How the individual feels about him/herself
Violence – verbal, physical or sexual abuse
Actual conditions of the body – illness or disabilities
• Eating Disorders are used to overcome traumas such as
sexual abuse, heterosexism, poverty, racism and class injuries.
Social Influences/Causes
1. Females are valued for their attractiveness
• Whatever their race, class or ethnicity, most women
growing up in North America learn to dislike their
appearance and place a high premium on the cultural
ideals of beauty.
2. Parental influences produce gender stereotypes
• Parents describe infant daughters as beautiful, soft,
and cute and rate their sons as stronger and hardier.
• Research shows strong correlation between parental
dieting efforts and encouraging a child to diet.
Social Influences/Causes
3. Fat is stigmatized
• Western society promotes widespread hatred and fear of fat.
• Studies show that children as young as 4 - 5 yrs. Old have
developed extremely negative stereotypes about fat.
• Fat people have lower rates of acceptance to college, reduced
likelihood of being hired for jobs and lower rates of pay
4. Media Image
• By high school, children have watched 15,000 hours of TV &
spent 11,000 hours in school.
• They have seen 350,000 advertisements, half of which are selling
food. Over half of these commercials stress the importance of
being thin and beautiful.
• A study of three women's magazines reported that the percentage
of thin female models rose from 3% in the 1950's to 46% in the
1980's.
Social Influences/Causes
5. Medical Profession
• In spite of the evidence to the contrary, many health professionals
and most people believe that body fat causes medical problems,
and interpret "overweight" as a physical and psychological
disease. In reality, many large women, pregnant or not, are quite
healthy.
6. Negative Self-Image and Low Self-Esteem
• The wide gap between the ideal of beauty for women and the
reality that each woman must contend with leads many to think
they have failed.
• Feelings of failure lead to body image problems and periodic
dieting and weight preoccupation that, in turn, lead to greater
feelings of failure.
• Twice as many young women as men do not feel good about
themselves and young women's sense of self-esteem and selfconfidence diminish as they grow older.
Poor Body Image Affects All Women
• A study of young Native American women (Chippewa) found that 74%
were trying to lose weight (Rosen et al., 1988).
• In a recent study conducted through Essence Magazine, researchers
found that black women engage in weight reduction behaviors as
frequently or more frequently than white women.
• A study on the influence of sexual orientation on body dissatisfaction
showed that both lesbian and heterosexual women had comparable
levels of body dissatisfaction.
 A 10-year study of eating disorders in more than 2,000 girls (grades 4
through 12) found amongst 7th graders, more Hispanic girls reported
frequent weight loss attempts over the previous year than did black or
white girls.
The Power of Advertising
• Advertising is the most influential media in
our culture
• It reflects our daydreams, affects what we
eat, what we wear, how we look and play.
Perfection
Women in Advertising
• Media portrays women in debilitating,
demeaning and inaccurate ways
• It presents women as flawless, decorative
objects, dependent on men and it ignores
the complexity of women’s lives.
Women Dependent on Men
Women’s Place is at Home
Stereotypes
• Women’s place is at home
• Women need to depend upon men
• Women do not make independent decision
• Women view themselves and are viewed as
sex objects.
Women are Decorative/Sex Objects
Women are Shown…
• Women are shown as less authoritative, active,
powerful, rational, decisive, and more concerned
with youth and with their attractiveness.
• Women are depicted as less intelligent than men
and tend to have subservient occupations.
Beauty Myth
• Models present a new “ melting pot” of
beauty ( all colors, all creeds, all ethnicity
-and all still young, thin, and flawless).
• Advertising portray women as white with
white standards of beauty derived from
myths of whiteness.
Women are Flawless
Cultivating Images of Thinness
In advertising, women receive more
messages about slimness and staying in
shape than men do, because thinness is
associated with good health and
attractiveness. In fact, images of thinness
are a cause of the eating disorders of
bulimia and anorexia.
Thin is Beautiful
Thinness is Associated with Health
Ads and Articles in 48 Women’s Vs.
48 Men’s Magazines
1200
1000
800
Female: Green
600
Male: Blue
400
200
0
Diet Foods Body Ads Foods Ads
Food
articles
Alcoholic
Alocholic
Bev
Bev
Magazine Models
•http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/2
8/48hours/main551362.shtml
Factoids
• 32% of female TV network characters are
underweight; 3% overweight
• 5% of females in U.S. are underweight; 25%
overweight
• 90% of people with eating disorders are women
According to Health magazine, Apr 2002
Factoids
• Depression & low self-esteem pervasive problem
for American women
• Lower income women more likely to have low
self-esteem
• Younger women more depressed than older
• 43% of women ages 18-44 report severe
depression in a given week
National Survey of Women’s Health
Magazine Images on Perfection
Factoids
• 80% of American women dissatisfied with body
• 42% 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
• 81% 10 year olds are afraid of being fat
• 5-10 million girls and women struggling with
eating disorders
According to National Eating Disorders Association
Factoids
• MTV is the favorite TV show for girls age 11-19
• 90% of the top 100 music videos shown on MTV were
directed by men
• Individuals who immigrate to the U.S. under the age of 17
are more predisposed to develop an eating disorder.
• Only 15 min of exposure to beauty advertisements cause
girls to perceive that beauty is even more important to their
popularity with boys.
Real or Not?
Real
Not
Factoids
• Adolescents Trying to Lose Weight
• 32.7% Asian-American
• 31.9% African-American
• 36.1% Hispanic/Latino-Americans
• 34.9% White-Americans
Ethnicity and Eating Disorders:
A Multicultural Approach
• Factors considered:
• Socioeconomic Levels
• Cultural Beliefs (vs. culture change)
• Oppression
• Immigration
White Adolescents and
Eating Disorders
• Historically upper-class, suburban, ‘whites only’ diseases
• Depression brought on by low self-esteem directly linked
to binge eating
• White teens relate to “whiteness” culture more than ‘girls
of color’
• More opportunities in the workplace creates more
pressure
Black Adolescents and
Eating Disorders
• Socioeconomic level can determine type of eating disorder
• Acculturation to mainstream culture increases risk
• Struggle with self-identity & self-esteem
• Increasing trend of Black boys dating white girls
• Limited studies exist for Black teens and eating disorders
• Unrealistic ‘media’ models (Halle Berry, Naomi Campbell)
Asian Adolescents and
Eating Disorders
• Patriarchal culture attributes to loss of control
• Family harmony is often at the expense of women
• Traditional family support deeply ingrained
• Emotional control considered a mature trait
• Expectations to be petite and small
Hispanic/Latino Adolescents
and Eating Disorders
• Clash of cultures may precipitate the development of an
eating disorder.
• Strive to mirror unrealistic ‘media’ models (J Lo, Penelope
Cruz
• Depression caused by low self-esteem directly related to
bulimia
• Increase in family and peer pressure to be thin
• Believe that large women not taken as serious in workplace.
Native Indian Adolescents and
Eating Disorders
• Acculturation to mainstream culture is possible
reason for increase of disease
• Teens who move from reservations are more
susceptible
• High prevalence of obesity caused by unrealistic
expectations
A Theoretical Background in
Media & Culture
• The concept of ideology reproduces relations of the
domination of media
• The hegemony theory emphasizes a wide array of cultural
institution’s function within social reproduction in the
entertainment media.
• The critical theory suggest we study mass media in relation
to the dominant social structure.
A Theoretical Background in
Media & Culture
• Patriarchal Culture: Men form the dominant
social group.
• Gender arrangement with respect to media
• Social representation of the female body
A Theoretical Background in
Media & Culture
• Feminist Theories
• Humanist Feminists’ focus on the role the body plays as
part of feminine nature
• Structuralist Feminists’ focus on how the body reflects
the creation of her desires and attitudes towards herself
Synthesis of the Theories
• Power and hegemony
• Objectification as a form of oppression
• Women as media objects
Body Myths
Myth #1: Overeating Causes Overweight
Animal research suggests at least 51 causes of overweight, including
genetic, metabolic and other environmental factors.
Myth # 2: Dieting is Effective
Clinical studies show that up to 95% of dieters regain the weight lost,
usually within the first year.
Myth #3: Dieting is Healthy
In addition to inadequate nutrition, dieting has been implicated in the
development of weakness, fatigue, binge eating, bulimia, weight gain
and obesity.
Myth # 4: Everyone Can Be Slim
Many researchers are suggesting that the body has a "set point" or
biological control for the amount fat in the body; weight is determined
predominately by genetics and early nutrition.
What Teachers Can Do
• Encourage girls to take healthy, adventurous risks
• Create welcoming space for girls in the classroom
• Take sexual harassment seriously
• Encourage self-reliance
• Bring girls into classroom discussions
• Develop awareness of your own gender biases
Institute “Beyond Dieting” Programs
• Target pre-adolescent girls because they are not yet as
concerned about body image and weight concerns as
adolescents.
• Target young men to shift men's attitudes about female
beauty
• Teachers and parents also need education in order to
reinforce and support the in-school curriculum
• Wage a campaign to get your school’s administration
involved.
Resources
• http://coloursofana.com
• Kilpatrick, Ohannessian, Bartholomew, 1999
• Body Image by Sara Grogan
• Health Magazine, Apr 2002
• Culture and Eating Disorders: A Historial and Cross-Cultural Review,
Miller and Pumariega, Psychiatry 64(2) Summer 2001
• Perry, T and Fraser J (1993) Freedom’s Plow., Routledge, Chapter 12
• Kincheloe,J and Steinberg,S (1997) Changing Multiculturalism,
Philadelphia, Open University Press.
Resources
• Media Education Foundation, 1995
• Durham M and Kellner,D (2001)Media and Cultural Studies,
Massachusetts, Blackwell Publishers Inc.
http://www.und.ac.za/und/ccms/publications/criticalarts/v5n2a3.htm
• “A Way Outta No Way” Eating Problems Among African-American
Women, Latinas and White Women by Becky Wangsgaard Thompson
Using the Media To Fight Media?
Real Women Have Curves
• http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/realwomenhavecurves.html