Two Annotated Bibliographies

Chicago Manual of Style

Yamamiya, Yuko, Thomas F. Cash, Susan E. Melnyk, Heidi D. Posavac, Steven S. Posavac. Body Image: Women's exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions. Elsevier, 2005.

Abstract:

From research, it has been found that exposure to media images of idealized women has negatively affected the body image and emotional stability of younger women. This excerpt goes through the difference in effects depending on the individual and investigates 123 women in college that were measured after exposure to media content. The findings concluded that when participants were exposed to perfect media images they had lower body image viewpoints than those who were not exposed to the same images. Body image itself not being stagnant and the media is linked to happiness, being desired, and achieving success. In this way, the introduction affirms that a more idealized version is promoted with 94% of female characters in TV shows being thinner than the average American woman. Another stressed topic from the media is buying products and trying new trends to become the most beautiful and to fit the media's standard. This article has been updated and further research has been done adding to the modernity of the research.

Annotation:

The book excerpt develops the critical point that idealized images from the media can affect women and goes further to explain the psychology in how this is done. By laying a groundwork about the inner workings of the media process gives important information to my final project as I'll be looking at just how these images can impact viewers on a deeper level. Different studies are conducted with control groups and other controlled variables that allow for well-thought-out experiments and analysis. One very important point that was discussed was the idea that "thinness being idealized has a positive correlation with body image dissatisfaction which is often accompanied by social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem." (Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994) This point goes to demonstrate some of the specific impacts that can take hold after a perfect ideal is set for the average woman. The authors range from a variety of academic University backgrounds and are a mix of both men and women with different ethnicities which allows for a wide variety of viewpoints to be heard. Yuko Yamamiya for instance has many different publications and focuses on topics of ethnicity, multiculturalism, gender studies, and eating disorders. She has put a lot of attention toward these topics of idealized beauty and specifically how they can affect eating tendencies.

Perloff, Richard M. "Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research." Feminist Forum Review Article. May, 2014: 363-365.

Abstract:

This article focuses on the effects of social media use on young women's self-image and self-worth and lays out guidelines for different ideals that are pushed in the media. The study found that the use of social media can negatively impact the user's image of self-identity from negative comparisons. Specifically, certain ways in which to measure and track these effects are discussed and the psychological interactions with social media and their weight on the individual are studied as well. With the use of social media skyrocketing over 72% of 18-29-year-olds use social media sites and also it was found that more females use these sites than males do. (p. 364) The article overall discusses media influences on young females and their self-image using methods like tracking social comparisons and the pervasive nature of social media. An important discussion similar to the previous article is the emphasis on how these idealized images become internalized and remembered by viewers.

Annotation:

This study could prove to be extremely important to my exploration of body ideals impacting women especially being that in 2019 78% of U.S. women are on social networking sites. These idealized messages are being shared on a monumental scale and the psychological, social, and personal effects need to be noted. This article will be of good use to also consider the cultural contexts that come into play with the research that has been done. Thus far more Western countries have been subject to study than some other areas which is also an important factor when thinking about accessibility to social media. Other areas are included in the study which concludes that Western thinness and beauty ideals have been carried through to other countries like Argentina and China. (p. 365) The author of this article Richard M. Perloff is a professor and scholar who has written about the psychological perceptions of social media effects and has spent much time studying the long-term effects that social media can have on women.