Body dissatisfaction is alarmingly common among women and research suggests that this is partly due to the unrealistic portrayal of female bodies in the media.
The glorification of very thin female bodies creates an ideal that women feel they have to meet in order to be seen as attractive to romantic partners.
Interestingly, there is an abundance of evidence suggesting that women think men prefer thinner female bodies than they actually do.
While much of the previous research has had participants evaluate silhouettes of female bodies, study authors Sarah N. Johnson and Renee Engeln wanted to take a different approach.
The researchers sought to extend the relevance of these findings by having participants evaluate images of real women in the media.
Having used images from actual women’s fashion magazines, the findings offer insight into how people view media representations of the female body.
The study, “Gender Discrepancies in Perceptions of the Bodies of Female Fashion Models”, was authored by Sarah N. Johnson and Renee Engeln. »
