Impact of media on self-image exposed

What are the effects of repeated exposure to advertisements of perfect bodies in womenís everyday lives? Vickie Rutledge Shields, telecommunications and an Institute for the Study of Culture and Society fellow, examines this topic in her book, Measuring Up: How Advertising Affects Self-Image, published in October by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Measuring Up looks at advertising as more than just a way to extract money from unsuspecting people but as a vehicle for conveying the larger views of a confining, body-obsessed culture.

ìThe mute gestures of advertising images are frozen for posterity by photographers and illustrators, gestures that, for better or worse, perpetuate a certain aesthetic, and eventually become emblematic of a period. The images of today show an internalization of the values of a society that has more interest in the body than the mind. They are techno-enhanced labyrinths of unattainable appearances that leave women and men feeling horrified, estranged, and restricted by unrealistic, silent mandates,î Shields writes.

Measuring Up is unusual in that it combines insights from theoretical works with the voices of real women and men.

Research offers profound evidence suggesting that girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to mass media messages pertaining to body image, size and appearance because they are born into a culture that subscribes to the notion that women are objects to be looked at, Shields contends.

Shields, who is on leave this year as the director of the Womenís Studies Program, poses the questions: Are women and men affected differently by media images of idealized bodies? What part do media images play in perpetuating girls' drop in self-esteem in junior high and high school? What is the relationship between media images and the rise in eating disorders? Does race or ethnicity have anything to do with how we experience media representations? Does age? Does sexual orientation?

And if media messages have powerful negative effects on children, especially girls, what can be done about it?

Shields says, ìMy advice to girls: Take the time to figure out what makes you and the other women you love and respect beautiful on the insideóvisualize it and hold on tight to that vision. Pull it into your consciousness when viewing too many advertisements and TV shows with perfect-looking models makes you doubt your sense of self-worth. One in 20,000 women has all the right attributes to be a professional model; however advertising, TV and films are brilliant at getting us to believe that models and actresses are the norm and our real bodies are abnormal, so we blame ourselves and turn the battle to be thin inward on ourselves. Claiming your own body as normal is a giant step toward self-empowerment."

Note: Shields and Dawn Heinecken, assistant professor of womenís studies at the University of Louisville and BGSU alumna who made significant contributions to the book, will give a talk titled ìFeminist Media Studies Today: How Advertising and TV Images Shape Gender Identity" from 2-4 p.m. this Friday (Nov. 16), in the Womensí Center, 107 Hanna Hall.