Women can do anything

 -

We have to stop watching TV ad impove media representation of women women don't have be barbie doll they come from any background or religion have career and kids. Women can do anything

There have been many studies on the negative portrayals of women in the media and the relationship between media and women’s body image. The media has portrayed the expectations of women with regard to body image, occupation, and gender roles through the interpretation of magazines and television. As a result of this, from the time we are in our mother’s womb, there are guidelines, rules, and expectations on a person’s appearance, behavior, and how they interact with others. These are expectations that every individual in society is trained to follow and obey

Method

Participants

 A sample of 50 college students was recruited during the spring of 2015. All participants were females. The majority (50%) of participants were African American. In addition, 20% of the participants were white, 20 % were Latino and 10% of participants were of other descent. Freshmen and sophomores only accounted for 5% each of the sample. Juniors were represented by 60%. Lastly, seniors were signified by 25% of the sample, and graduate students were 5%of the sample 

Measures

The instruments used in this study were a combination of the instruments used in other survey research and items created by the author. The First instrument was a Self-Esteem Index used in the study by Rosenberg (1965). This scale was 1 to 5.measuring self esteem. .1 = strongly disagree or strongly agree depending on the question number 2-= disagree or agree depending on the question number 3=agree or disagree depending on the question number 4= strongly agree or strongly disagree. The second instrument was called ’Socio cultural Attitudes Towards Appearance” scale created from the website www. Body image disturbance. usf. Edu /sat index.. This scale was 1 to 5.measuring the women “s. Attitudes. For this scale 1 EQUAL definitely agree. 2 Equals mostly disagree. Three equals neither disagree or agree 4 equals mostly agree AND five equals definitely agree. The third section of the survey used an Instrument named “ The Influence of Day preference On Body Image and Mood in college aged women “ by Miglinas Kristen from the Saint Anselm College Department of Psychology Basic demographic questions were created by the author. The first section of the questionnaire consisted of 20 questions that included questions on the participant’s age, class standing, racial or ethnic background, media influence and 10 questions on self-esteem. The second section of the questionnaire consisted of 22 questions about the media’s influence on the attitudes of women. The name of this scale was ’Socio cultural Attitudes Towards Appearance” The third section of the questionnaire consisted of 7 questions about the media influence on the body image attitudes of women and body image diagram. The last section of the questionnaire consisted of two questions that asked for the height and weight of the participant’s. Each question was measured by the Likert Scale that consisted of four to five values depending on the section; 1= strongly disagree or strongly agree depending on the question number 2-= disagree or agree depending on the question number 3=agree or disagree depending on the question number 4= strongly agree or strongly disagree The first questions asked the participant’s their age class standing, racial or ethnic background, media influence and 10 questions on self-esteem. Then there were 22 questions about the media influence on the attitudes of women who read magazines and who do not read magazines The third section of the questionnaire dealt with nine figures and body image questions like which figure most resembles you and which figure do you find most attractive, etc. The last the last section of the questionnaire consisted of two questions that asked for the height and weight of the participant’s

Procedure 

The participants were given a pen and paper survey on the media’s influence on women’s self-esteem and body image. The results of the survey were gathered by asking 50 students who were all women to fill out a survey on the influence of media ion the body image attitudes of women, half of participants did fashion read magazines and the other half of the participants did not read fashion magazines. As the surveys were completed the data was entered and statically analyses were performed using SPS program. There were 22 questions about the media influence on the attitudes of women who read magazines and who do not read magazines the third section of the questionnaire there were two questions on fashion magazines in the survey .the first question was if women read fashion magazines. The second question was how often women read fashion magazines if they did women read fashion magazines once, week, twice a week , three times a week or four times.  

Results

It was hypothesized that women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. The total scores for the questions on women who read magazines (M=24.6, SD =3.20) were compared between participants who did not read magazines (M=25.75, SD =2.60). An independent t- test was conducted comparing The total level of esteem of women who read did and did not read magazines. With a an alpha level for this test being .05 was not found to be statically significant, t (-.82) =16 p<.7.57) .This suggests that there is no significant difference in the relationship between the esteem of women who are exposed to media and read magazines and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines in society.

Additional analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between esteem and media exposure in general. It was hypothesized that women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. A Pearson correlation test was conducted to relate the esteem of women who read magazines, (M =1.75, SD=1.48) and the total esteem score of women who do not read magazines and women who are not exposed to media .(M=24.85,SD=2.92).With an alpha level for this test being.05, the relationship between women who are exposed to media and read magazines and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines the was not found to be statistically significant r (1)=- .094 p >.05 This suggests that media exposure to media by women‘s did not affect the esteem of women whether or not women did or not read magazines .

 It was hypothesized that women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. .An independent t- test was conducted to compare those women who are exposed to media and read magazines (M= 30.33,SD=3.45) and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines (M=31.33,SD =2.082) With an alpha level for this test being .05, the relationship between women who are exposed to media and read magazines and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines the was not found to be statistically significant t(7)=-.-454 p >.05 This suggests that media exposure to media by women‘s did not affect the body image self And esteem of women whether or not women did or not read magazines ..

It was hypothesized that women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. A Pearson correlation test was conducted to relate the Total self esteem and total body image of those women who are exposed to media and read magazines(M 1.21 SD = 1.47 )and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines (M=7.24,SD =1.55) With an alpha level for this test being.05, the relationship between women who are exposed to media and read magazines and the esteem of women who are not exposed to media and do not read magazines the was not found to be statistically significant r (5)=-.-.64 p >.05 This suggests that media exposure to media by women‘s did not affect the self -esteem and body image of women whether or not women did or not read magazines .This suggests that media exposure to media by women‘s did not affect the esteem of women whether or not women did or not read magazines. 

Discussion

This study intended to expand upon the results of many past studies. The proposed study examined the issue of the media sending the wrong messages in society that emphasize the wrong ideals for women such as supermodel ideals and impossible beauty expectations. The results of the study did not support the hypothesis that those women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. In relation to the hypothesis, this study also focused on the influence of media on body image and the self-esteem of women and whether or not there is a relationships between body image and self-esteem of women Even though, the results of the study did not show a significant difference between the esteem of and body image women who read magazines and women who do not read magazines; the media does have a significant effect on the expectations of women in society Based on my research findings it has been hypothesized that women who are exposed to media will have a negative perception of their image and self. This proposed research study is important because it shows how heavily young women are negatively influenced by the negative the portrayal of women in magazines; even more, then they realized it this portrayal has a very deep effect on the perception of their own body image and self.

A limitation of this study is the small sample. A Study needs a large sample size to produce accurate and reliable results. Another limitation of this study is the fact that all of the participants were only limited to women students from Hofstra University. This means that the results cannot be generalized from all women; this study needed a larger sample of women from many different universities to generalize the results. The results of this would have been very different and they might have significant results if a sample of 300 people from five different universities were asked to complete survey on the media’s influence on women and body image. Participants need to be all females. In future studies the same experiment should be conducted with a larger sample. If a sample of 300 people from 5 different universities were asked to complete survey on the media’s influence on women and body image. Participants need to be all females. The results of this would have been very different and they might have significant valid and reliable results in that experiment. 

References

Guarari, I., Hetts, J. J., & Strube, M. J. (2006). Beauty in the "I of the beholder effects of ideals media portrayal on implicit self-image. Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28((3), 273--282. 

Lauren, M. M, Dozler, D. M., & Cleveland, E. (2006). Genre matters an examination of women working behind the Scenes and on Screen portrayal in reality and scripted Prime time programming. Journal of Springer Science, 123).445-464. 

Maddox, R. E. (nod.). Cognitive response to ideals media images of women; the relationship of social comparison and critical processing to the body image disturbance in college women. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 1114-11138. 

          Knoblock, Westerwick, S,. Westerwick ,Kennard A. R., Wills, L.,E,. & Gong, Y. (2014). A crack in the crystal ball? Prolonged exposure to media portrayal of social roles affects possible future Journal of Communication Research, 4(6), 739-759.

selves.

Wills, L. (2001). Enhancing gifts and talents of women and Girls. Journal of High Ability Studies, 12(1), 45-59.