Wilson 1 Courtney Wilson Dr.

Steffen Guenzel ENC 1102-0002 March 20, 2013 Research Dossier: Womens Health and the Media Dossier Introduction Research has led me to discover the impact of advertising and media on self-esteem. There is a common understanding that the main goal of an advertisement is to sell us on a concept or product. Advertisers use various techniques to impact our perception of who we are. Many of these techniques go unnoticed by the viewer, and yet still affect them. The medias biggest tool is influencing our idea of what we believe we need. Because todays society is often influenced by the opinions of others, advertising and medias goal is to impact our mental and physical needs. Advertisers are able to use this tool to sway our perception of ourselves into a negative light. Research shows increased depression, most common in teenage and college-aged girls. The correlation between depression and self-esteem is evidence that some external factor is affecting the way girls view their own image. There are various positions on this argument. The media distributes many advertisements with intentions of selling a product or service. Much thought goes into the creation of advertisements and evidence shows that many advertisers intend on creating these advertisements to appeal to a certain audience. The ads that objectify women may or may not be intentionally exploitative but do directly intend on affecting the audience in a certain way. Another perspective is that of consumers. As shoppers, we may overlook the impact of objectification of women in advertising but we are still intrigued (either positively or negatively) by the advertisement. This is the intention of the advertiser. The last perspective of the paper is that of researchers and studies on this particular subject. Much of my evidence and the development of my argument come from studies and visual evidence. Based on the research I have conducted, I conclude that advertising geared towards teenage and college-age girls can be harmful regarding self-image and perception. As visual media and advertising became popularized, the impact on women also became evident. A recurring theme of thinness began to be incorporated into more advertisements and became an expectation of women in American society. Studies show far more focus in movies, television, and commercials on mentioning womens and girls appearance versus mens and boys appearance. This contrast is evidence that media intentionally targets a particular audience by exploiting women.

Wilson 2 Research Map Research Question/Thesis An analysis of the impact media and advertising has on teen and college-age girls, in todays society, reveals negative effects on perception of self-image. Narrative: Informative, Research Internet includes: websites, online journals, blogs, visual advertisements Field Research includes: Personal Interviews: Venette Pierre (Community Relations Intern), Monica Moore (Asencio Models Agency, Senior Intern) Online Surveys: Randomized, roughly 20-40 respondents Keywords Advertising for women Teenagers and advertising Body image and the media Women eating disorder Objectification women advertisements Week Beginning On Feb 25 Mar 4 Mar 11 Mar 18 Mar 25 Goal Begin Research Online Research Field Research Audience Analysis Genre Analysis/Final Draft Rhetorical Rough Draft Research Paper Complete Research Paper Research Presentation Complete Web Portfolio Activity Apply key words and find sources for research Spring Break evaluate completed research and incorporate/ travel Perform interviews, face to face, peer review/ interviews Continue interviews, surveys Complete final draft of annotated bib, evaluate and correct errors/ final draft submit 3/26 Develop argument and research supporting points Revise draft, implement new thoughts and ideas Create visual aide, organize presentation, use relevant information Revise old works, compile into online portfolio

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Annotated Bibliography

Experimental Education Unit. "Teen Health and the Media." Teen Health and the Media. University of Washington, 1994. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. This web source includes statistics pertaining to the effects of marketing and media on teens image and nutrition. It includes other effects of advertising on teens including tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, teen sexuality, and violence. I will be using this source to obtain factual data, which is cited from the National Institute on Media and the Family. This web source has no bias because it is based off of facts. It includes somewhat current news articles (~2009) and statistical data gathered from studies and surveys. Much of this data also comes directly from the Experimental Education Unit at University of Washington. Wilson, Courtney. Advertising Effects. Survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8RTYS7Y. SurveyMonkey. Web. 24 March 2013. Wilson, Courtney. Perceptions of Advertisements. Survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8DDFM32. SurveyMoney. Web. 25 March 2013 These surveys include data that was gathered online. I distributed the surveys via web and used gathered data to obtain statistics or make inferences. The data from this survey is unbiased because it was distributed openly. The demographics are roughly ages 18-24 so it is directly related to my argument. However, due to the fact that this survey was distributed and evaluated by me, the evaluation of data does contain bias. I interpreted the data in reference to my predispositions, meaning I already had expectations of what each answer represented.

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Stice, Eric and Shaw, Heather E. Adverse Effects of the Media Portrayed Thin-Ideal on Women and Linkages to Bulimic Symptomatology. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: 13.3 (1994): 288. Guilford Press Periodicals. Web. 26 March 2013. This journal elaborates on a study to find correlations between the thin ideal stereotype and bulimic symptomatology. It elaborates on sociocultural factors that play into promoting eating disorders. The author is possibly biased depending on whether or not their targeted subjects were of a certain criteria versus randomly selected.