Gender Influence on Body Image Perceptions in the Media
This paper is a "mock" research proposal intended for submission to granting institutions. The document outlines the research topic: how does gender influence body image perceptions in the media? In the media, advertisements emphasize thinness as a standard for female beauty, and the bodies idealized in the media are frequently atypical of normal, healthy women. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Some researchers believe that advertisers purposely normalize unrealistically thin bodies, in order to create an unattainable desire that can drive product consumption.
