Abstract

What is your topic?

My topic will discuss the rapid growth in female body dissatisfaction due to negative and unrealistic images the media creates. The numerous effects this is having on young and old women today is becoming a huge issue. I have done research on diets, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety all related to women comparing themselves to the pictures the media use to represent “beauty.”

What do you think about your topic?

Being a woman myself, this topic is very important to me because I have felt the same way as many women in my research. Even if my audience is not all females, men have mothers, daughters, nieces, etc. and will still be able to relate to my paper. This topic is personal, and because of that I will be able to create a strong paper without being bias.

What do you know about it?

 

Sides-Moore, Lauren, and Karin Tochkov. "The Thinner The Better? Competitiveness, Depression And Body Image Among College Student Women." College Student Journal 45.2 (2011): 439-448. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

This peer reviewed article talked about an experiment that was conducted with female college students. The experiment had images of thin attractive models, and after the college students reviewed these images their reactions and comments about their own bodies were recorded. At the end of the day each women expressed dissatisfaction with their body and were continuously comparing themselves to the images of the thin models. I will use this information to make a strong point about the large number of women who are constantly degrading themselves because of images they see of other women.

 

Clay, Daniel, Vivian L. Vignoles, and Helga Dittmar. "Body Image And Self-Esteem Among Adolescent Girls: Testing The Influence Of Sociocultural Factors." Journal Of Research On Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell) 15.4 (2005): 451-477. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

This peer reviewed article focused more on adolescent girls, and how they viewed themselves after looking through modeling magazines. Most girls, just as the college students in my above article, compared themselves to the images. The article continues talking about low self esteem and the effects of the Medias idea of an “ideal body.” This source will be useful because it gives me adifferent age range and I can express how young girls and women suffer the same thing.

Bessenoff, Gayle R. "Can The Media Affect Us? Social Comparison, Self-Discrepancy, And The Thin Ideal." Psychology Of Women Quarterly 30.3 (2006): 239-251. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

This peer reviewed article discusses more about the side effects women suffer from the Medias representation of beauty. Women begin to show signs of depression and hate towards their body because they don’t look perfect. This article will give me good facts of the side effects women face and this will help me make a strong argument.