The effect(s) of the visual media upon female body image.

The visual media\u27s impact upon body image has only recently become an area of study. Research in this area has focused mainly on sports and its emphasis on the female body ideal, and the impact of female body image upon the development of eating disorders. The main purpose of this study was to explore women\u27s attitudes and opinions concerning the effects of the visual media\u27s presentations of the ideal female body size. The study was designed using a social constructionist perspective focused on how four of the theoretical assumptions of symbolic interactionism, and central to social constructionism, can help in understanding women\u27s interpretation of the ideal image presented in the media, and what they do or do not do to emulate this image. Focus groups were used to explore women\u27s opinions and ideas concerning the visual media\u27s presentation of the ideal female body. Forty fourth-year female students, from the was University of Guelph, participated in seven focus groups. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0416. Adviser: Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998