# "those who had been exposed to only thin, beautiful women" - Allure magazine article



## bbwgatorgirl (Aug 22, 2011)

i just saw this in the magazine, and found the link online to share.

"Prolonged exposure to images of glamorous, thin women in the media can change female viewers' body imagefor the better. This finding, which contradicts many short-term studies that produced opposite results, emerged from research led by Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus. After 140 women looked at 80 pages from magazines (including Allure) that featured models or celebrities, some participants were told to compare their bodies to those shown. Everyone read the pages over five days; three days later, those who had been exposed only to thin, beautiful women rated their own body image higher than they did at the start of the study. The researchers found that the participantsespecially heavier ones who compared themselves to the thin womenhad begun to diet and exercise. Seeing "magazine pages with thin body ideals appears to induce behavior changes and, as a result, increases body satisfaction," they say. Other studies that assessed immediate reactions to images may not reflect the way women respond to motivational articles and pictures over time, they add."

http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/health/2011/thin-inspiration

What do you all think of this? To me, this article screams sizeism, and is only enabling women of size to hate themselves.


----------



## ConnieLynn (Aug 22, 2011)

I can't believe they actually titled the article Thin Inspiration and put it in the health category.

Google 'thinspiration' and you'll have the urge to sit down with every teenaged girl you know and tell them how beautiful they are.


----------



## Tania (Aug 22, 2011)

Yeah, come back to those same study participants in a month or a year and see how many of the inspired ranks have fallen off the diet wagon and loathe themselves for their inevitable failures.


----------



## Dr. Feelgood (Aug 22, 2011)

bbwgatorgirl said:


> research led by Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus. After 140 women looked at 80 pages from magazines
> http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/health/2011/thin-inspiration



I quoted this section because two things jumped out at me here:

(1) "associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus." "Communication" in college-ese is what used to be called speech therapy. Yet associate prof K-W seems to be carrying out some sort of psychological experiment which seems to be clearly outside her field. What sort of expertise is involved here? And where's the control group?

(2) Where does an associate professor of communication get 140 women for a research project? (hint: extra credit) We are told nothing about the women involved in the project, but I would bet they are overwhelmingly middle class and all between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. In other words, how representative was the sample? We're not told.

The whole thing strikes me as bad science. :doh:


----------



## Diana_Prince245 (Aug 22, 2011)

Communication in collegese is not speech therapy. It covers everything from media/journalism to interpersonal interactions.

Plenty of reasons to question the study, but it's within her area.


----------



## Jes (Aug 23, 2011)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> (1) "associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus." "Communication" in college-ese is what used to be called speech therapy. Yet associate prof K-W seems to be carrying out some sort of psychological experiment which seems to be clearly outside her field. What sort of expertise is involved here? And where's the control group? :



I think the study sounds like crap, but you're wrong about the above.

Communication is mass media and covers journalism and media criticism and content analysis, etc. Remember: The Annenberg School(s) for Communication (one of which is at an Ivy League school) isn't about speech therapy.


----------



## LillyBBBW (Aug 23, 2011)

Doesn't say what the other group was exposed to. Reader's Digest? Popular Mechanics? The National Enquirer?


----------



## Dr. Feelgood (Aug 23, 2011)

Diana_Prince245 said:


> Communication in collegese is not speech therapy. It covers everything from media/journalism to interpersonal interactions.





Jes said:


> Communication is mass media and covers journalism and media criticism and content analysis, etc.



You're right. At my college, journalism is a wholly separate field of study, so my view is somewhat skewed. Thank you both for setting the record straight. :bow:


----------



## Surlysomething (Aug 23, 2011)

bbwgatorgirl said:


> i just saw this in the magazine, and found the link online to share.
> 
> "Prolonged exposure to images of glamorous, thin women in the media can change female viewers' body imagefor the better. This finding, which contradicts many short-term studies that produced opposite results, emerged from research led by Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus. After 140 women looked at 80 pages from magazines (including Allure) that featured models or celebrities, some participants were told to compare their bodies to those shown. Everyone read the pages over five days; three days later, those who had been exposed only to thin, beautiful women rated their own body image higher than they did at the start of the study. The researchers found that the participantsespecially heavier ones who compared themselves to the thin womenhad begun to diet and exercise. Seeing "magazine pages with thin body ideals appears to induce behavior changes and, as a result, increases body satisfaction," they say. Other studies that assessed immediate reactions to images may not reflect the way women respond to motivational articles and pictures over time, they add."
> 
> ...


 
I'm surprised that they didn't mention anorexia as a possible solution to cure all that ails you as well. I'd like to put a picture in this magazine of my sister as a teen when she was admitted to the hospital for a re-feed when she was down to 85 pounds and had to shop in the kids section. 

Bastards. I find these articles to be abusive.


----------



## SlightlyMorbid (Aug 23, 2011)

bbwgatorgirl said:


> i just saw this in the magazine, and found the link online to share.
> 
> "Prolonged exposure to images of glamorous, thin women in the media can change female viewers' body imagefor the better. This finding, which contradicts many short-term studies that produced opposite results, emerged from research led by Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at the Ohio State University in Columbus. After 140 women looked at 80 pages from magazines (including Allure) that featured models or celebrities, some participants were told to compare their bodies to those shown. Everyone read the pages over five days; three days later, those who had been exposed only to thin, beautiful women rated their own body image higher than they did at the start of the study. The researchers found that the participantsespecially heavier ones who compared themselves to the thin womenhad begun to diet and exercise. Seeing "magazine pages with thin body ideals appears to induce behavior changes and, as a result, increases body satisfaction," they say. Other studies that assessed immediate reactions to images may not reflect the way women respond to motivational articles and pictures over time, they add."
> 
> ...



So, basically, if I were to read magazines that purely show big women and men, I would feel the urge to suddenly gain?

In either case, it's a bit of a stupid article if you ask me. If anything, those stick-figure model magazines only make women (and men!) bad about themselves


----------



## MissAshley (Aug 23, 2011)

I might be in the minority here but I read teen and women's magazines since age 13 and they never messed with my own body image, even when I was going through my awkward phases with my body. In fact, what did mess with my self image was real people I knew. I remember comparing myself to the very real, naturally pretty girls in my class and feeling bad about myself then, but when I would read magazines I never once felt bad because I didn't look like the models in them.


----------



## Tad (Aug 23, 2011)

MissAshley said:


> I might be in the minority here but I read teen and women's magazines since age 13 and they never messed with my own body image, even when I was going through my awkward phases with my body. In fact, what did mess with my self image was real people I knew. I remember comparing myself to the very real, naturally pretty girls in my class and feeling bad about myself then, but when I would read magazines I never once felt bad because I didn't look like the models in them.



I read another study recently, which found that when women were sent to buy a blouse, then shown it on a pretty actress who was playing a random shopper, they felt worse about themselves and the blouse. But shown the blouse on a pretty staff member of the store, they didn't feel worse. The conclusion was that they expected the store staff to be pretty and look good in teh clothes there, and they didn't compare themselves to them. But with another random shopper, they did compare themselves to them.

Maybe the same effect was at work with and the magazine?


----------



## mossystate (Aug 23, 2011)

Since the bbw forum is for bbw and bbw issues, maybe this particular article would be best for the main board, where people who are not bbw can share their experiences.


----------



## AuntHen (Aug 23, 2011)

In my experience and opinion, that article is complete and utter BALONEY. Probably propoganda to support "thin is in" and whatever else bullcrap they want (considering the amount of $ spent on the magazines because of the diet adds, I can only imagine the motive here).

I was slender and athletic in highschool but still big (tall, bone structure). I was made to feel fat and thought it was the worst thing you could be in life.

I was in highschool during the days of such super models as Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, Christy Turlington etc. I looked at those models and magazines as what to aspire for, all the while hating myself for not being able to achieve what these magazines all but shouted that I should. 

All I saw was that I wasn't pretty enough, skinny enough or good enough, since I wasn't like the magazine models. They set unrealistic expectations that caused me to yo-yo diet, starve myself and waste what should have been some of my best years of my life on stupid and shallow things. :/


----------



## TexasTrouble (Aug 24, 2011)

It sounds like what happens is that the women see these images, this inspires them to start dieting and exercising, and THEN they report better body satisfaction. So two thoughts come to mind: 

First, it's possible that ALL the perceived increased body satisfaction is really the result of exercising. A lot of research says that, when people start to exercise, it improves mood and body satisfaction even if it's not about weight loss. Anecdotally, I know I feel better about myself when I exercise--I think it's something about appreciating your body for what it can do not just about what it looks like (or looks like to others). The same results could be recorded if they ready material about the benefits of exercise and this "inspired" them to start an exercise regime. 

Second, if a study like this continued, I'd expect to see a rebound effect where, after doing the diet and exercise and still looking at the magazines, there would be increased body dissatisfaction as the women found that even after all that effort, it wouldn't translate into them looking like the (airbrushed) women in the magazines.

Anyway, it seemed the study was trying to "prove" that there aren't really any negative effects from fashion magazines without acknowledging the (really, duh!) concept that it's more than just magazines--it's the sum total of our society's obsession with body and looks that can have negative effects on people's satisfaction and self-worth.


----------



## Jes (Aug 24, 2011)

Tad said:


> Maybe the same effect was at work with and the magazine?



I think so. And that's very interesting. I might also feel potentially crappy compared to an employee but I'll admit I'd feel crappier next to the planted 'just-like-me' shopper. 

I, too, never really felt bad about women in mags. I'm savvy enough to know that there's all sorts of manipulations (digital, psychological, social) going on when something is being pedaled. That knowledge always distanced me from the 'i hate myself' effect. That said, I do enjoy reading Glamour (for middle class women who don't have $4000 to spend on a handbag but who splurge sometimes) more than Vogue. I don't feel I have to 'compete' in the looks department, but I don't like having to compete in the finances department, even though I've got lots of disposable income.


----------



## thatgirl08 (Sep 2, 2011)

MissAshley said:


> I might be in the minority here but I read teen and women's magazines since age 13 and they never messed with my own body image, even when I was going through my awkward phases with my body. In fact, what did mess with my self image was real people I knew. I remember comparing myself to the very real, naturally pretty girls in my class and feeling bad about myself then, but when I would read magazines I never once felt bad because I didn't look like the models in them.



I'm the same way. I don't envy models or celebrities. I envy naturally pretty girls I know in my day to day life. I especially envy other BBWs I know personally who I perceive to be prettier, or have a more attractive size or shape than I do. It's easy to look at a girl in magazine or on TV and distance yourself.. it's a lot more difficult to do when it's a friend or a coworker or whatever.


----------



## wtchmel (Sep 4, 2011)

ummmm.... First instinctual impression.... Utter Bullshit. Second instinct, this study is backed by the anti fat, big pharm, No fat kid allowed government bullshit propaganda.....


----------

