I checked out the book The Media & Body Image by Maggie Wykes and Barrie Gunter. Initially I checked out this book to help me with my research paper for English Composition 120. My paper is about the effects media has on body image and eating disorders. I prove that media is one of the reasons that eating disorders are on the rise in young women.
This book was very helpful for my research paper, but I also was very interested in the book itself. This book was amazing and bringing about different aspects of the media. It then shows how these aspects impact society for example, by the negative connotations of feelings people get from the media even though the media is trying to give off a positive message.
Chapter Four was by far my favorite chapter with lots of interesting information that I was able to use in my paper and also just my general knowledge. This chapter was titled Print: Selling Sex and Slenderness. This chapter was intriguing because it focused on magazines, which are very popular among teenagers today, such as Cosmo, Self, People, etc. It discusses all the crazy articles that arise from these magazines that influence having a perfect body and how to get it. These articles influence girls that they need to have the perfect body to be happy in life and attract the opposite sex physically. Two of my favorite sections in this chapter were: 'Skinny models send unhealthy message' and 'What boys love about you; sexy hair and beauty tips'. These articles just give off an image that isn't reality. Then girls use this and in worse case scenario, go to the extreme of eating disorders in order to gain satisfaction.
This book was more then just a book for my research paper. It turned out to be a very interesting book with great information that everybody should know about the media and the images they give off in today's world. I would recommend this book to anyway interested in this topic or need it for a paper! I am very glad I came across this book and glad the library had it! I would rank it four stars out of five for good information and also interesting facts!!
~Megan Marie~
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Thanks, Megan, for the review. You're entered in a drawing for a gift card and you can enter as many times as you like before May 1st.
It's short notice but if you can get over to Hughes Fine Arts on Friday (4/18) it's the last day of an exhibit where a student plays with magazine covers and the messages they send.
I'm taking a "Visual Persuasion" course in the Art Department (excellent class!) and we also touch on these issues -- I agree that we don't always recognize the images we're getting but they are having an affect on us.
Take care!
Kristen
Post a Comment