Wednesday 29 August 2007
Medias effects on childrens body image
"Media's Effect On Girls: Body Image And Gender Identity
Did you know?
Gender identity begins in toddlerhood (identifying self as a girl or boy) with gender roles being assigned to tasks early in the preschool years (Durkin, 1998).
A child's body image develops as the result of many influences:
A newborn begins immediately to explore what her body feels like and can do. This process continues her whole life.
A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks.
A pre-adolescent becomes increasingly aware of what society's standards are for the "ideal body."
Media's Effect on Body Image
The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body (and now ever more physically fit) image as the ideal for women. The ideal man is also presented as trim, but muscular.
In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (USA Today, 1996).
A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996).
One author reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen (Brumberg, 1997).
In a study among undergraduates media consumption was positively associated with a strive for thinness among men and body dissatisfaction among women (Harrison & Cantor, 1997).
Teen-age girls who viewed commercials depicting women who modeled the unrealistically thin-ideal type of beauty caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance (Hargreaves, 2002).
In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends" (Mundell, 2002).
In another recent study on media's impact on adolescent body dissatisfaction, two researchers found that:
Teens who watched soaps and TV shows that emphasized the ideal body typed reported higher sense of body dissatisfaction. This was also true for girls who watched music videos.
Reading magazines for teen girls or women also correlated with body dissatisfaction for girls.
Identification with television stars (for girls and boys), and models (girls) or athletes (boys), positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002"
Click on title to find out more thanks.
Did you know?
Gender identity begins in toddlerhood (identifying self as a girl or boy) with gender roles being assigned to tasks early in the preschool years (Durkin, 1998).
A child's body image develops as the result of many influences:
A newborn begins immediately to explore what her body feels like and can do. This process continues her whole life.
A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks.
A pre-adolescent becomes increasingly aware of what society's standards are for the "ideal body."
Media's Effect on Body Image
The popular media (television, movies, magazines, etc.) have, since World War II, increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body (and now ever more physically fit) image as the ideal for women. The ideal man is also presented as trim, but muscular.
In a survey of girls 9 and 10 years old, 40% have tried to lose weight, according to an ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (USA Today, 1996).
A 1996 study found that the amount of time an adolescent watches soaps, movies and music videos is associated with their degree of body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996).
One author reports that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen (Brumberg, 1997).
In a study among undergraduates media consumption was positively associated with a strive for thinness among men and body dissatisfaction among women (Harrison & Cantor, 1997).
Teen-age girls who viewed commercials depicting women who modeled the unrealistically thin-ideal type of beauty caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance (Hargreaves, 2002).
In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show "Friends" (Mundell, 2002).
In another recent study on media's impact on adolescent body dissatisfaction, two researchers found that:
Teens who watched soaps and TV shows that emphasized the ideal body typed reported higher sense of body dissatisfaction. This was also true for girls who watched music videos.
Reading magazines for teen girls or women also correlated with body dissatisfaction for girls.
Identification with television stars (for girls and boys), and models (girls) or athletes (boys), positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002"
Click on title to find out more thanks.
Friday 10 August 2007
Effects of media
Medias effects on body image altogether and how this can also inflence and effect childrens body image.
"One of the ways we can protect our self-esteem and body image from the media's often narrow definitions of beauty and acceptability is to become a critical viewer of the media messages we are bombarded with each day.
Media messages about body shape and size will affect the way we feel about ourselves and our bodies only if we let them. When we effectively recognize and analyze the media messages that influence us, we remember that the media’s definitions of beauty and success do not have to define our self-image or potential.
To be a Critical Viewer, remember:
All media images and messages are constructions. They are NOT reflections of reality. Advertisements and other media messages have been carefully crafted with an intent to send a very specific message.
Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service.
To convince you to buy a specific product or service, advertisers will often construct an emotional experience that looks like reality. Remember, you are only seeing what the advertisers want you to see.
Advertisers create their message based on what they think you will want to see and what they think will affect you and compel you to buy their product. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn’t mean it has to work with you as an individual.
As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. We can choose to use a filter that helps us understand what the advertiser wants us to think or believe and then choose whether we want to think or believe that message. We can choose a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image.
To help promote healthier body image messages in the media, you can:
Talk back to the TV when you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself or your body by promoting only thin body ideals.
Write a letter to an advertiser you think is sending positive, inspiring messages that recognize and celebrate the natural diversity of human body shapes and sizes. Compliment their courage to send positive, affirming messages.
Make a list of companies who consistently send negative body image messages and make a conscious effort to avoid buying their products. Write them a letter explaining why you are using your “buying power” to protest their messages. Tear out the pages of your magazines that contain advertisements or articles that glorify thinness or degrade people of larger sizes. Enjoy your magazine without negative media messages about your body.
Talk to your friends about media messages and the way they make you feel. Ask yourself, are you inadvertantly reinforcing negative media messages through the ways you talk to yourself (and the mirror), the comments you make to your children or friends, or the types of pictures you have on the refrigerator or around the office?"
Click on title to find out more thank you.
"One of the ways we can protect our self-esteem and body image from the media's often narrow definitions of beauty and acceptability is to become a critical viewer of the media messages we are bombarded with each day.
Media messages about body shape and size will affect the way we feel about ourselves and our bodies only if we let them. When we effectively recognize and analyze the media messages that influence us, we remember that the media’s definitions of beauty and success do not have to define our self-image or potential.
To be a Critical Viewer, remember:
All media images and messages are constructions. They are NOT reflections of reality. Advertisements and other media messages have been carefully crafted with an intent to send a very specific message.
Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service.
To convince you to buy a specific product or service, advertisers will often construct an emotional experience that looks like reality. Remember, you are only seeing what the advertisers want you to see.
Advertisers create their message based on what they think you will want to see and what they think will affect you and compel you to buy their product. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn’t mean it has to work with you as an individual.
As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. We can choose to use a filter that helps us understand what the advertiser wants us to think or believe and then choose whether we want to think or believe that message. We can choose a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image.
To help promote healthier body image messages in the media, you can:
Talk back to the TV when you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself or your body by promoting only thin body ideals.
Write a letter to an advertiser you think is sending positive, inspiring messages that recognize and celebrate the natural diversity of human body shapes and sizes. Compliment their courage to send positive, affirming messages.
Make a list of companies who consistently send negative body image messages and make a conscious effort to avoid buying their products. Write them a letter explaining why you are using your “buying power” to protest their messages. Tear out the pages of your magazines that contain advertisements or articles that glorify thinness or degrade people of larger sizes. Enjoy your magazine without negative media messages about your body.
Talk to your friends about media messages and the way they make you feel. Ask yourself, are you inadvertantly reinforcing negative media messages through the ways you talk to yourself (and the mirror), the comments you make to your children or friends, or the types of pictures you have on the refrigerator or around the office?"
Click on title to find out more thank you.
Ways of stopping media effects of body image
This site shows how to help children not to worry about body image ''Analyze the media. Consider talking to your children about unrealistic media images. For example, talk about the ads you see. Ask such questions as, "How are the women and men portrayed in the commercials? Are they all thin? How are overweight people portrayed?" Teach you kids that in reality there are lots of different body shapes and the goal is to take care of yours with healthy eating and activity. For help, use resources from organizations such as Child and Family Canada, which has an activity that explores how the media affects perceptions.''
Click on the title to find out more.
Click on the title to find out more.
Tuesday 7 August 2007
How children are inflenced by advertising
ADVERTISING IN DIFFERENT MEDIA
Television
Children and adolescents view 400 00 ads per year on TV alone.13 This occurs despite the fact that the Children's Television Act of 1990 (Pub L No. 101–437) limits advertising on children's programming to 10.5 minutes/hour on weekends and 12 minutes/hour on weekdays. However, much of children's viewing occurs during prime time, which features nearly 16 minutes/hour of advertising.14 A 30-second ad during the Super Bowl now costs $2.3 million but reaches 80 million people.15
Click on the title to find out more thanks.
Television
Children and adolescents view 400 00 ads per year on TV alone.13 This occurs despite the fact that the Children's Television Act of 1990 (Pub L No. 101–437) limits advertising on children's programming to 10.5 minutes/hour on weekends and 12 minutes/hour on weekdays. However, much of children's viewing occurs during prime time, which features nearly 16 minutes/hour of advertising.14 A 30-second ad during the Super Bowl now costs $2.3 million but reaches 80 million people.15
Click on the title to find out more thanks.
Thursday 2 August 2007
Children and advertising
Click on title to find a document which shows how children understand advertising and how it influences them thank you.
Protecting children from advertising
"The advertising industry spends $12 billion per year on ads targeted to children, bombarding young audiences with persuasive messages through media such as television and the Internet. The average child is exposed to more than 40,000 TV commercials a year, according to studies. And ads are reaching children through new media technologies and even in schools--with corporate-sponsored educational materials and product placements in students' textbooks.
But the buck stops here, if APA and its Task Force on Advertising and Children have it their way.
In February, APA's Council of Representatives adopted the task force's policy and research recommendations to help counter the potential harmful effects of advertising on children, particularly children ages 8 and younger who lack the cognitive ability to recognize advertising's persuasive intent."
Click on title to find out more. This article shows how much advertising is effecting children.
But the buck stops here, if APA and its Task Force on Advertising and Children have it their way.
In February, APA's Council of Representatives adopted the task force's policy and research recommendations to help counter the potential harmful effects of advertising on children, particularly children ages 8 and younger who lack the cognitive ability to recognize advertising's persuasive intent."
Click on title to find out more. This article shows how much advertising is effecting children.
Advertising effects
"WASHINGTON – Research shows that children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased. This can lead to unhealthy eating habits as evidenced by today’s youth obesity epidemic. For these reasons, a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) is recommending that advertising targeting children under the age of eight be restricted.
The Task Force, appointed by the APA in 2000, conducted an extensive review of the research literature in the area of advertising media, and its effects on children. It is estimated that advertisers spend more than $12 billon per year on advertising messages aimed at the youth market. Additionally, the average child watches more than 40,000 television commercials per year.
The six-member team of psychologists with expertise in child development, cognitive psychology and social psychology found that children under the age of eight lack the cognitive development to understand the persuasive intent of television advertising and are uniquely susceptible to advertising’s influence.
“While older children and adults understand the inherent bias of advertising, younger children do not, and therefore tend to interpret commercial claims and appeals as accurate and truthful information,” said psychologist Dale Kunkel, Ph.D., Professor of Communication at the University of California at Santa Barbara and senior author of the task force’s scientific report."
Click on title to find out more thank you.
The Task Force, appointed by the APA in 2000, conducted an extensive review of the research literature in the area of advertising media, and its effects on children. It is estimated that advertisers spend more than $12 billon per year on advertising messages aimed at the youth market. Additionally, the average child watches more than 40,000 television commercials per year.
The six-member team of psychologists with expertise in child development, cognitive psychology and social psychology found that children under the age of eight lack the cognitive development to understand the persuasive intent of television advertising and are uniquely susceptible to advertising’s influence.
“While older children and adults understand the inherent bias of advertising, younger children do not, and therefore tend to interpret commercial claims and appeals as accurate and truthful information,” said psychologist Dale Kunkel, Ph.D., Professor of Communication at the University of California at Santa Barbara and senior author of the task force’s scientific report."
Click on title to find out more thank you.
Advertising effects on childrens body image
"TV watching is a major activity for Australian children and adolescents. If a child watches the average of two and a half hours per day (the average for an Australian child) and if this is mainly commercial TV he or she will see around 75 advertisements in a day, or around 22,000 per year. This topic covers:
what does advertising do
what are the particular problems for children and young people
what can parents do.
What does advertising do
Advertising often works by making us feel unhappy with our lives, anxious and dissatisfied. The messages are that you are not OK unless you buy this, wear that brand, wash your hair with, and look like that very slim model. It attacks our self esteem.
What are the particular problems for children and young people
girls in early adolescence are particularly vulnerable to messages about being OK as they are sensitive about their body image and whether they measure up to the peer group
recent research indicates that there is a marked link between TV watching, and negative body and eating disorders. (Becker, A, 2002)
two studies at South Australia’s Flinders University have shown that television advertising featuring idealised thinness negatively affected both the mood and the body image of adolescent girls, with those in the 13 - 15 year age group being more affected. (Hargreaves, D, 2002)."
what does advertising do
what are the particular problems for children and young people
what can parents do.
What does advertising do
Advertising often works by making us feel unhappy with our lives, anxious and dissatisfied. The messages are that you are not OK unless you buy this, wear that brand, wash your hair with, and look like that very slim model. It attacks our self esteem.
What are the particular problems for children and young people
girls in early adolescence are particularly vulnerable to messages about being OK as they are sensitive about their body image and whether they measure up to the peer group
recent research indicates that there is a marked link between TV watching, and negative body and eating disorders. (Becker, A, 2002)
two studies at South Australia’s Flinders University have shown that television advertising featuring idealised thinness negatively affected both the mood and the body image of adolescent girls, with those in the 13 - 15 year age group being more affected. (Hargreaves, D, 2002)."
View on why children care so much about body image and how media influences them.
"While doing research on this topic, I found numerous articles discussing children's toys, books and television shows, among other things, that teach our children that only skinny is beautiful, like in many Disney movies including Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Snow White. Barbie dolls also have this effect on our children. Have you ever noticed that evil characters or "the bad guys" in movies are almost always depicted as ugly, overweight people? It's time to take a look at what we are teaching our children and where they learn flawed body image ideals from."
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