Media-literacy education provides a way for people to assess and critically evaluate media images. Traditional media literacy programs have mitigated the negative effects of idealized media imagery such as reduced self-esteem, eating-disordered attitudes, and low body-satisfaction among women. Although education is moving increasingly to online platforms, the potential of media literacy education delivered online has not been evaluated. Based on social comparison and objectification theories, the purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the comparative efficacy of online and face-to-face media literacy education programs. A quasi-experimental design using pre- and post-media literacy education program questionnaires was used. A mixed-method analysis of variance evaluated change in self-esteem, eating-disordered attitudes, and body satisfaction among college students. The study was conducted using a sample that included both male and female students from undergraduate classes. The study groups included traditional and online classes. Results for all three variables revealed that the media literacy education program did not have the predicted impact. Significant differences were not found between the online experimental (n = 65), face-to-face experimental (n = 50), and the online control group (n = 44) even though a significant main effect for time was found. The adverse effects of ubiquitous idealized media images remain well-documented; however, the swiftly evolving, increasingly balkanized, present-day media landscape may necessitate both an accommodating theoretical foundation and updated intervention instruments.

Thesis advisor: Lisa Cuklanz / There are strict rules and expectations that govern the world’s idea of femininity and beauty. What are the repercussions of selecting one type of beauty to be ideal on a global scale? After watching the pageant and reading previous scholars’ findings, I argue that the Miss America Pageant presents its participants as women to be admired while its practices objectify women’s bodies. Several myths dictate how contestants should behave and historically diversity has failed to break into the pageant. On a global scale, Miss America has inspired other international beauty pageants, causing countries to compete with one another for the most beautiful woman. Selecting one beauty often times is based purely on appearance, like body type or racial characteristics. The implications of one beauty means that all women, all over the world, feel compelled to meet the standards set by this one beauty, this winner. In turn, women who do not measure up feel inadequate and strive to change their appearances to meet the mold. This model also homogenizes the concept of beauty that previously was diverse and culturally based. Pageants, like Miss America, therefore encourage women to objectify themselves in order to meet an international beauty standard that is historically based on white or western appearances. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

The purpose of this study is to compare students (both male and female), from the Linnaeus University in Kalmar, about their perceptions with a particular focus on identity and self-esteem. In regards to the current societal problem concerning obesity and beauty ideals, this paper aimed to study the student’s opinions concerning health and diets in order to fully answer the purpose of the study. The theory used in this paper is in particular regards to identity and self-esteem. In order to answer the study questions, a qualitative approach was conducted in the form of various focus groups. The result depicts that beauty ideals have a large impact, hence the choice of people using diets, fashion and fitness as well the informants' perceptions regarding their identity and self-esteem when looking at their own daily lifestyles.

The ultimate objective of this study was to establish whether female celebrities portray the beauty ideal and have influence over young females today. The literature review presents an analysis of feminism, beauty ideals, self-­‐ objectification, and the influence of media and celebrities, in an attempt to establish whether celebrity images are of a ‘self-­‐made’ hypersexual nature and whether these images influence young females’ self-­‐concept and role in society. The literature was further triangulated with a combination of primary and secondary data. Images of females within the famous Kardashian/Jenner family were studied in an attempt to understand how female celebrities portray themselves today. Furthermore, a focus group was conducted in an attempt to understand whether female youths are to some extent influenced by female celebrities. Through the research conducted it was evident that female role stereotypes still prevail in contemporary media. Furthermore, two themes prevailed throughout the study, which was that women can use their bodies for profit and as a means of power, and the conflicting nature of femininity versus feminism today. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / zkgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Tidigare studier som gjorts inom området visade att kvinnor anser att kvinnors skönhet inte är värderad enligt rimliga normer i vårt samhälle. Hård retuschering motarbetas på många håll, bland annat genom att organisationer som ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) och politiska partier som Liberaldemokraterna i Storbritannien arbetar för att missledande retuschering ska försvinna. En studie har visat att det, för att öka annonsers attraktionskraft, är viktigt att den ökade skönheten hos en modell är relevant för produktens användningsområde, då betraktaren anstränger sig intellektuellt vid betraktandet av bilden. Det finns dock inga tidigare studier som bevisar om en retuscherad modell faktiskt ökar målgruppens köplust av skönhetsprodukter vid rådande samhällsattityder och skönhetsideal. Två enkätundersökningar gjordes därför med sammanlagt 1480 deltagare. Produkten i studien var en fiktiv hudkräm. Genom att i den ena undersökningen låta betraktaren möta modellbilden i en situation som efterliknade verkligheten, på så sätt att de inte fick veta om den var retuscherad, kunde studien svara på om retuschering ökade köplusten. Bilder med bortretuscherade skönhetsfläckar och utväxt prefererades. Att retuschera bort flyghår ökade inte köplusten. I den andra jämförande undersökningen kunde betraktaren jämföra den retuscherade med den oretuscherade modellbilden. Resultaten visade att skönhetsfläckar och flyghår tillåts och prefereras borttagna, men inte utväxt. I intervjuer med fem kvinnor hördes målgruppens attityder om vad som ansågs var tillåtet att retuschera. Svaren tydde på att en relevant och försiktig retuschering prefererades. Att lämna några födelsemärken ökade trovärdigheten. / This study aims to answer whether retouching of models in beauty ads increases the desire to buy in the target group and the attitudes held about what is allowed to retouch. Two surveys with 1,408 participants was made. In one the participant was shown a beauty ad in a situation imitating the reality where the participant did not know if the picture was retouched. The study showed that the participant preferred that the model's beauty spots and outgrowth were removed. To remove stray hair did not increase the desire to buy. A second study in which participants could compare the retouched picture to the unretouched showed that blemishes and stray hair was preferred and allowed to be removed. Removing outgrowth did not increase the desire to buy the skin cream. Interviews with five women revealed that a prudent and relevant retouching, such as removing blemishes, but to leave some birthmarks, increased the reliability in the ad.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur tjejer på gymnasiet upplever könsnormativa förväntningar gällande skönhetsideal samt utbildnings- och yrkesval. Vidare vill vi undersöka om och hur dessa upplevelser är förbundna och relaterar till varandra. För att besvara vårt syfte har vi genomfört en kvalitativ intervjumetodik där vi har intervjuat sex tjejer som går tredje året på gymnasiet i ett studieförberedande program. Vi har även valt att presentera relevant forskning och litteratur inom ämnet. I studien fann vi att tjejerna inte upplevde de könsnormativa förväntningarna gällande både skönhetsideal samt utbildnings- och yrkesval som ett krav utan tjejerna valde att följa dessa förväntningar på grund av de medföljande förmånerna. Tjejerna upplevde även att de könsnormativa förväntningarna skapade en samhörighetskänsla bland tjejer. Upplevelser gällande skönhetsideal samt utbildnings- och yrkesval är förbundna genom att det finns könsnormativa förväntningar för båda som tjejerna följer. Förväntningarna gällande båda relaterar till varandra på så sätt att de är förknippade med femininitet och den kvinnliga rollen. / The purpose with this studie is to examine how girls in high school perceive gender related expectations of beauty ideals and gender related expectations regarding choice of education and occupation. Furtheron we want to study if and how these expectations are connected and associated with each other. To answer the purpose of the study we have implemented a qualitative method of interviewing where we have interviewed six girls in their third year on a study preparatory program in high school. We have also chosen to present relevant research and litterature on the subject. I the study we found that the girls did not perceive the gender related expectations regarding both beauty ideals and for choice of education and occupation as demands. The girls chose to follow these expectations because of the benefits they generate. The girls also perceieved that the gender related expectations create a sense of belonging among girls. Perceptions regarding both beauty ideals and educational and occupational choice are connected by both implying gender related expectations which the girls follow. The expectations considering both relate to each other by being connected with femininity and the female role.

This thesis maps out the roles of cosmetic use in Renaissance Italy from the period c.1450-1540, using books containing cosmetic recipes as the primary source material. Their content, dissemination, and use is explored as a means of creating a new understanding of a practice central to daily life and integral to ongoing arguments about the body. Recent scholarship has seen a rise in interest in books of recipes and secrets in the Renaissance and Early Modern periods, but there has yet to be a full-length study exploring cosmetic recipes as a significant source of information, leaving a considerable gap in the understanding of how ‘high’ cultural discussions of beauty ideals related to popular culture and everyday practice. This thesis aims to fill that gap. Focusing on the formative period of 1450-1540, when both the written and artistic interests in cosmetics were developing, this thesis draws together a large body of previously unpublished primary source material from printed and manuscript recipe books relating to the making and use of cosmetics, and is the first in-depth analysis of the material and visual culture of Italian cosmetic practice during this period. A major component of this project was to establish what practices, materials and products constituted Renaissance cosmetic practice. The way in which recipes for beautification are identified within recipe books is carefully considered, and recipe ingredients and methods are examined, with comparisons made to the representation of cosmetics in non-recipe sources (written and visual). The goal was to describe cosmetics as they were defined in Renaissance terms, so recipe ingredients have been considered largely in context of Renaissance medicine rather than modern pharmacy, in contrast to most extant studies on the topic. A further major aim of this study was to create a detailed reconstruction of the social values attached to cosmetic use during the Renaissance period. This has been investigated both through an examination of how cosmetics are represented in written and visual sources, and also through a critical investigation of the people involved in the making and use of cosmetics and cosmetic recipe collections. Throughout, a range of material sources have been examined in consideration with each other—recipe books, behavioural advice, moral arguments, printed and painted image, inventories, and household objects such as mirrors and combs—demonstrating that cosmetics had a wide ranging and significant presence in daily Renaissance life. The first chapter examines the moral discourses directed at cosmetic use, establishing the place of these discourses within broader concerns about the control of women’s behaviour. Chapter 2 begins to place the ideals of beauty in a social context, examining how cosmetics are represented in recipe books, and discussing what activities and practices Renaissance ‘cosmetics’ consisted of, with particular attention given to their relationship with medicinal recipes. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the people who made and used cosmetic recipes, broadly addressing themes of accessibility, and the connections between a beautified appearance and social status. The authors of recipe books, the books’ cost, audience literacy, markets for medicine, and cost and effectiveness of cosmetic recipes are all taken into account to illustrate a lively economy surrounding the use of makeup. Finally, Chapters 5 and 6 address cultural representations of cosmetic use in art and literature, re-examining key examples within the context of the material culture of cosmetics to demonstrate the significance of makeup use in formulations of Renaissance femininity.

This study aims to explore how the goddesses of beauty Aphrodite and Venus were portrayed in sculpture in comparison to physical beauty, as attested in ancient texts. The study uses iconography and iconology to analyse the sculptures and semiotics to analyse the ancient texts. In this study measurements were taken of Aphrodite and Venus sculptures at Berlin’s plaster museum (Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik). The measurements were taken in order to compare the results from the ancient texts. In this study, 11 sculptures are analysed and compared to ancient texts from five different periods (700-400 BC, 400-1 BC, 1-200 AD, 200-500 AD and unknown dates). The sculptures and the ancient texts are then compared to each other and then compared with modern studies about nakedness, physical appearance and beauty during antiquity. The results conclude that it is difficult to specify exact beauty ideals, but the study shows that women should be curvy, white and rosy, have firm breast and a lovely face, and that the sculptures follow that beauty ideal closely.

In this research, the women ideals, during the 1930s have been studied based on the content of two women's magazines, Hertha and Husmodern. The purpose of the study was to look in to, how the ideals are expressed in each magazine, how the growing nationalism and the society’s social structure are affected by the design of the ideals, and then concluded in a comparison between the results of the magazines content. The study also had a gender perspective and was based on the theories gendersystem and genderorder. Results showed that ideals of beauty, ideals of housewives, motherhood and knowledge as ideals were indicated in the magazines, in different ways; through advertisements, articles and question columns. There was also a clear difference in which ideals the magazines expressed and also how they were expressed. In summary, the study showed that the prevailing societal changes after the First World War contributed to a process of change among Swedish women and they became increasingly aware of their rights and their independence. The study also showed that beauty- and body ideals became important ideals to follow as a Swedish woman.

Yes / We examined whether visual processing mechanisms of the body of conspecifics are different in women and men and whether these rely on westernised socio-cultural ideals and body image concerns. Twenty-four women and 24 men performed a visual discrimination task of upright or inverted images of female or male bodies and faces (Experiment 1) and objects (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, both groups of women and men showed comparable abilities in the discrimination of upright and inverted bodies and faces. However, the gender of the human stimuli yielded different effects on participants’ performance, so that female faces, and male bodies appeared to be processed less configurally than female bodies and male faces, respectively. Interestingly, the reduction of configural processing for male bodies was significantly predicted by participants’ Body Mass Index (BMI) and their level of internalization of muscularity. Our findings suggest that configural visual processing of bodies and faces in women and men may be linked to a selective attention to detail needed for discriminating salient physical (perhaps sexual) cues of conspecifics. Importantly, BMI and muscularity internalization of beauty ideals may also play a crucial role in this mechanism.