University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis examined the body images of Black and White women at an urban university. Self perception of body image may be positive or negative, healthy or unhealthy, and may be influenced by various factors. Qualitative interviews were completed with eight Black and eight White non-Hispanic female college students. A common theme emerged regarding images of beautiful and ideal bodies. The women held similar standards of beauty for White and Black women with one exception: White women were expected to be thinner whereas Black women were expected to be heavier. In addition, the women were of a common mind with regard to the influence of men, fashion, and relationships with female family members on their body images. Racial differences emerged when the women discussed male perceptions of female bodies. Women of both races believed that racial and ethnic minority men were more accepting of women with diverse body types than were White men. Familial influences on body image included the mother-daughter relationship and a new finding of the sister-sister relationship. Finally, an emergent and unexpected finding centered on a woman's history of sexual and physical abuse. Each of the six women who experienced sexual or physical abuse reported some level of negative body imagery. These findings are discussed in the context of the existing body image literature and recommendations are made regarding directions for future research.

Feminists have always taken an interest in the manner in which the media represents women. This is due to the fact that the media is always accused of representing women in an unfavourable manner. If not under-represented, women are objectified or used to perpetuate negative stereotypes about women in general. Research demonstrates that the media has moved from under-representation of women. However, equal representation to men or overrepresentation of women does not necessarily mean correct representation. This dissertation is based on the soapi opera Generations, a soapie where female characters outnumber male characters. The purpose of this dissertation is to look at the manner in which black African women characters' bodies are represented. The women characters' bodies have been studied as social constructions with an underlying message. Foucault's ideas of subjectivity were employed to look at the unlimited possibilities as well as limitations of the body. Subjectivity when looking at bodies have been analysed through the flexibility of bodies to be changed through discipline, body gestures as well as adornment with jewellery and other accessories. Moreover, the underlying culture behind the various constructions was studied. The findings were that in the soapi opera Generations, the representation of women characters' bodies was highly influenced by western culture. The choice of a character's body size, hair texture and complexion is mainly that which is defined as beautiful in western culture. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Physical activity plays a crucial role in contributing to psychological stability regarding physical concept. However, the evidence for showing the association between levels of physical activity and the psychological state has not been closed to focus on college students. This study was to examine the importance of physical activity by investigating the effects of different levels of physical activity on physical self-concept and social physique anxiety among college students. This study used a secondary data set approved by Institutional Review Board, and obtained a written permission and approval for data use. The data set used for this study was not previously analyzed and published. A total of 238 participants (99 males and 139 females) were 4-year comprehensive university students in Southern California. Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Scale (GLTES), Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Social Physique Anxiety Scale- 7(SPA-7) were used to analyze levels of physical activity, physical self-concept, and social physique anxiety, respectively. The SPSS version 19 was used to analyze the data for the purpose of this study. Results showed that there were statistically significant differences in physical self-concept and social physique anxiety among the levels of physical activity. There were statistically negative correlations between social physique anxiety and physical self-concept.

This thesis features a qualitative analysis of eight Korean media products — both fiction and nonfiction. For many years, South Korea (hereafter also called Korea) has been called the "world's plastic surgery capital" by many publications, such as Business Insider and The New Yorker. Although Business Insider considers the United States the "vainest country in the world," the numbers of cosmetic surgeries, percentage wise, per person in Korea still outnumber those in the United States, with 20 procedures per 1,000 persons. In this thesis, I argue by using the cultivation theory that Korean television, such as K-Dramas, talk shows and films, which celebrate transformations and feature makeovers and thus normalize cosmetic surgery, create a fantastic space for viewers where the viewers are compelled to act on a media-generated desire to undergo cosmetic surgery in the belief that doing so will also transform or better their lives in the same way it does for the characters in these Korean television productions.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study uses a rhetorical visual analysis to investigate supplement advertisements within the top three fitness magazines, according to circulation, to provide a richer understanding of the message construction within the visual images the advertisements contain. The advertisements were selected at random over a time span of a year and a half within each of the magazines, totaling nine separate advertisements for analysis. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent, if any, the construction of advertisements in men's fitness magazines operates as ideographic images establishing legitimacy as determined through application of Sonja Foss' rhetorical visual analysis methodology. Previous research has identified various analyses of visual images within the fitness culture, however, rhetorical visual analysis of supplement advertisement does not appear to have been investigated prior to this project which is the primary concern for the initiation of the current research. Employing rhetorical analysis in order to understand visual images provides a perspective that is imperative to identification of elements and functions of visual images. The current findings indicate that images in advertisements in men's fitness magazines do not establish rhetorical legitimacy, as understood from a rhetorical perspective. However, when examined through a traditional aesthetic intentionalist perspective, the construction of the advertisements operates as ideographic images, establishing legitimacy through the image. This information provides us with the understanding that advertisements within current muscle magazines are operating under a traditional viewpoint, and as such, produce traditional perspectives. The advertisement industry within this genre is reliant upon the consumer first knowing what the product is and then realizing how the image fits into that function. The limitation within this perspective of the advertisement industry is the consumer's knowledge base concerning the product, the product being explained through text and the time the consumer is willing to spend on correlating the intent or function with the images presented.