Image representation of Women in Magazines (which are targeted to Dissertation

Image representation of Women in Magazines (which are targeted to University Students) - Dissertation Example 1 Afghan Girl 4.3 Fig. 2 She looks spoiled 4.4 Fig. 3 â€Å"Quite a Pear† 4.5 Fig. 4 Wad 4.6 Fig. 5 Keep on Dreaming of a Better World 4.7. Fig. 6 It’s nice to have a girl around the house 4.8 Fig. 7 Dove Advertising 4.9 Fig. 8 Twiggy 4.10 Fig. 9 Do Men Hate Fat Women? 4.11 Fig. 10. Dolce and Gabbana Advertisement 4.12 Summary 5.0 Chapter Five: Discussion List of Figures References Appendices Abstract The research that was conducted for this study concerns the images in the media and their influence over women of university level age. Images in the media have been shown to have a powerful influence over the body image of young women, affecting their self esteem and their development of identity (Cash, Cash, and Butters 1983: Catterall, Maclaran, and Stevens 2000). In a study that discussed the responses to ten different images in a group setting with twelve women, the phenomenon of the way in which women experience influences by media images gave a new dimension through responses, both expected and unexpected. Broken into five chapters, this qualitative study examines the nature of media images and the impact that they have on society. Chapter One Introduction The effect of the representation of women in media through both photojournalism and fashion photography acts as a catalyst to emotional responses which have helped to frame the way in which women see themselves as members of Western culture. The issues of body image, self, and identity are often manipulated by the media as women grow from childhood through adolescence. The influences that media imposes upon women can often lead to issues such as anorexia, bulimia, BED (binge eating disorder), and other medically dangerous conditions. Objectification of women has now begun to shift to subjectification, leading women into a world where they must now be the aggressive sexual being, rather than the passive object. Through research conducted using images and the discussion of twelve women who wer e put into a focus group the concepts of image and self is explored through the information gathered within the interview process. In a qualitative study of the emotional responses to women when a ‘story’ or suggested interpretation of images was interjected, the concept of trend is also explored as it relates to the interpretation of the responses to the images. This type of research helps in understanding the way in which images influence the direction of how women perceive beauty and how they are positioned within the discourse of attractiveness. The power of photo imagery in contemporary discourse has influenced culture, making changes in the concept of beauty and ’normalcy’. 1.1Background The objectification of women is not a new concept. However, the ways in which images of women have been formulated to specifically associate women as objects as an everyday occurrence is a part of the information age. As advertising has become a cycling of images thr ough television, the internet, and print media such as magazines, the concept of female is habitually stripped of its identity and reformulated into creatures of ’otherness’, usable objects of the imagination. An example of this can be seen in Fig. 3, women are morphed with objects, redefined as something consumable as indicated in Fig. 4, and objects of manipulation as seen in Fig. 4. The nature