Traditional retouching, where you make the body of a female model in a magazine thinner, has been common for a long time and is well known. Several studies indicates that showing ultra-thin images of female bodies in media can lower the body satisfaction of “ordinary” women which in some cases can lead to dangerous eating disorders. But in 2010 Swedish female magazine VeckoRevyn introduced a new type of retouching: Making some catwalk models bodies bigger instead, which we decided to call opposite retouching. This kind of retouching is aiming to widen the ideal picture that is sent out of how the female body should look like, and therefore having the readers reach a higher body satisfaction and becoming more at peace with the own body. This according to the magazine’s editor in chief, Linda Öhrn Lernstrom. In this attitude study we are looking to widen the knowledge about opposite retouching as a phenomenon by doing qualitative interviews with a number of young women in age 15 – 25 about their outlook on this new retouching. We later present as extensively as we can all these different outlooks, as well as by using Festinger’s social comparison theory, the social responsibility theory presented by Peterson and finally Hall’s representation theory, analyse these outlooks at a deeper level. Opposite retouching showed to be a controversial phenomenon among our respondents: Some of the women meant that the magazine takes their social responsibility and that this initiative is admirable, while some thought that it just makes some women’s body dissatisfaction even worse since even the thin catwalk models bodies weren’t “good enough”. The women in this study belong to the same age group and live in the same culture, which accordning to Hall is crucial for how one perceives media content, and had still such great differences of opinion when it came to the subject of opposite retouching. This indicates that this new retouching needs further investigation, and this attitude study strives to be a contribution to the research field.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology - Public Relations Management in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / This dissertation is a qualitative analysis of the print media in South Africa. The print media as a form of mass communication, functions in various ways. One of the main functions is to supply news, information and entertainment through magazine content on worldwide aspects. Through various attention grabbing tactics magazine content is able to alter our ideology and thinking. However, through attractive and entertaining topics the public can be affected negatively by the content utilised in magazines, which affects the ideologies and thinking of readers. This effect is mainly evident in younger women and can in turn result in readers unwarily turning to the media to shape their identities. This study examines numerous South African women’s magazines with the main objective of determining the role of magazine content in the creation of young women’s identities in South Africa. These magazines were selected on the basis of their content, structure, target markets and their editor’s willingness to participate in the study. The ten magazines researched for the study are ‘O Magazine’, ‘Marie Claire’, ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘True Love’, ‘Move’, ‘Glamour’, ‘Grazia’, ‘Fairlady’, ‘Seventeen’ and ‘You’ magazine. The study provides a literature review on various normative theories of the press and also discusses the psychological effects of numerous persuasion theories. Some of these theories are the Feminist Media theory, Identity theory, Agenda Setting theory and the Uses and Gratifications theory. The study also analyses selected magazine covers with the aim of determining the ways in which readers are influenced by magazine content. The methodology for the study used content analysis and surveys in the form of telephonic interviews and questionnaires which were conducted with the magazine editors. The main results of the study indicated that magazine content is primarily aimed at uplifting women and creating awareness within readers to embrace their personalities and attributes. Consequently readers are encouraged not to conform to the current trends in society thereby supporting the theoretical underpinning of the normative theories of the press.

Das 19. Jahrhundert wird in den westlichen Ländern Zeuge tiefer Veränderungen auf dem Bereich des Buchdruckes, der dank der Fortentwicklung der Technik ihre handwerklichen Herstellungsverfahren in eine industrialisierte Produktion umwandelt. Es erlebt den Ausbruch und die Entfaltung des Pressewesens und die rasante Steigerung der Konsumentenzahl von Druckerzeugnissen. Diese Entwicklung, die als Revolution – die zweite Revolution des Buchdruckes – bezeichnet wird, resultiert aus den parallel laufenden soziokulturellen Veränderungen – wie die Demokratisierung der Bildung –, die sich schon im 18. Jahrhundert ihren Weg anbahnten und die sich kraft des Vorantreibens und der Verbreitung einer schriftlichen Kultur fortwährend entwickeln konnten. Die Etablierung liberalen Gedankengutes treiben auch in Spanien eine neue Konzeption des Individuums voran, das Bildung, Information, öffentliche Meinungsäußerung, die eine schriftliche, gedruckte Kommunikationsform implizieren, als seine elementaren Rechte betrachtet. Infolge dieses Hergangs wird der Leserkreis stetig größer und differenzierter; nicht nur neue gesellschaftliche Schichten erringen für sich den Zugang zur Schrift, sondern auch die geschlechtsspezifischen, aus der traditionellen, patriarchalischen, spanischen Mentalität resultierenden Defizite hinsichtlich der Bildung der Frau nehmen, ihren Eintritt in die Lesergemeinschaft ebnend, konstant ab. Die Wandlung der Frau zur Teilhaberin und sogar zur Mitgestalterin der schriftlichen Kultur in Spanien erfolgt abhängig von den historischen und politischen Gegebenheiten und nicht konstant und in gleichem Maße im ganzen Land. Der schwierige Weg zur Bildung, der Einfluss der katholischen Kirche, die sozialen Unterschiede, sind entscheidende Faktoren für die Geschwindigkeit, mit der sich diese Veränderung vollzieht. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist eine geschichtliche Veranschaulichung der Entstehung und Konsolidierung einer weiblichen Leserschaft und der begleitenden Umstände auf den Bereichen des Buch-, Bibliotheks-, und Bildungswesens. / In the course of the 19th century deep changes take place in the world of printing, mostly due to the improvements of the techniques and the industrialisation of the production. But this revolutionary development, known as the second revolution of the printing, results itself from the cultural, political and social transformations which happen contemporaneously. The advance of liberal ideologies with their new conception of the individual, who regards education, information and freedom of speech - which imply a written, a printed communication form - as his elementary rights, strengthens the spreading of a written culture, so that many countries experience a rapid increase of the number of consumers of printed products. These innovations will also reach Spain and deeply influence its society and culture. The alphabetised population increases, the number of readers becomes constantly larger and the readership more differentiated. New social groups achieve the right of education and become in this way potential readers, the women being the most important of them. The traditional, patriarchal, catholic Spanish mentality changes slowly allowing them to be alphabetised and educated. Women begin in the 19th century to take actively part on the cultural live of the country and not only as readers but also as authors. This transformation does not take place continually and in the same measure all along the country, due to the influence of the historical and political conditions. The difficult way to education, the power of the Catholic Church and the social differences become for instance crucial factors which define the rapidity and the significance of the development. This thesis presents the process of the emergence and consolidation of a female readership during the 19th century, illustrated with a description of the evolution on the ranges of the book production, of the library and education system and many examples of reading materials and publications for and of women.