Media And Our Self Esteem

1
Media And Our Self Esteem

• Who feels the pressure the most?

2
The Study

• Who People through the ages of 12 to 46
• What A questionnaire
• When Throughout December and January
• Where Cawthra Park and the Mississauga Region
• Why To see what effect the media has on
  someones diet and exercise regime
• Independent Variable The Media
• Dependent Variable The people who are surveyed

3
The Study (Contd)

• The total number of women surveyed was 51 and the
  total number of men surveyed was 30 creating a
  total of 81 people surveyed
• I decided to disregard age because it was my
  belief that no matter what age you are you have
  self esteem and can be effected just the same

4
Hypothesis

• There are many negative images in the media and
  the message that we receive tells us that me must
  be thin to be perfect. Therefore it can be
  thought that the media has had a negative effect
  on our self esteem as a nation.

5
The Results

• The two questions I was tabulating my results on
  were
• How often do you exercise?
• Why?
• And
• 2) Have you ever been on a diet?
• a)Why?
• The results were separated by gender

6
The Results (Contd)

• The Women
• Out of 51 women, 47 women said that they exercise
  over an hour a week
• 24 of those women said that they exercise because
  they want to lose weight
• 27 women said that they found other reasons to
  exercise
• Out of 51 women, 27 women said that they have
  been on a diet before

7
The Results (Contd)
19 of those women said that they diet because of
the media 8 women said that they dieted for
other reasons
8
The Results (Contd)

• The Men
• Out of 30 men, 23 men said that they exercise
  over an hour a week
• 10 men report that they exercise because they
  want to lose weight
• 13 men said that they found other reasons to
  exercise
• Out of 30 men, 11 men reported that they have
  been on a diet

9
The Results (Contd)
4 of those men said that the media influenced
them 7 men said that they found other reasons to
diet
10
Explaining My Results

• My Opinion
• I believe that there has been pressures from the
  media as early as the 1800s because women have
  always been told how to look. In addition I
  believe now, more then ever there is an added
  pressure on men in western society because of the
  pressure to be muscular and surprisingly thin.
  Although women have grown stronger throughout
  history, we are still surrounded with the media
  and cannot escape the negative and disturbing
  images and messages that surround us. On average
  we see 3000 advertisements a day, most of which
  are for diet products, clothing brand,
  alcohol,cosmetic products and various other
  products that most of us pass by because we have
  become so used to negative advertising. Although
  I do believe that women in western society have a
  very hard time feeling comfortable in their own
  skin, there has been an increase in eating
  disorders in men. That comes as no surprise when
  we look at the world around us and realize that
  every man we see in the media has a strong build
  and supermodel good looks.

11
Explaining My Results (Contd)

• Albert Bandura (The Bobo Doll Experiment)
• I decided to use Albert Banduras experiment on
  the Bobo doll because it shows how easily
  children can be manipulated by something as small
  as a video. The experiment is the same as what
  the media does to us everyday, it shows us images
  that make us inadequate hence the increase of low
  self esteem throughout the nation. Its become
  painfully obvious that this is a case of Monkey
  see, monkey do, the manipulation from the media
  today is exactly what happened to the children
  with the Bobo doll. They were told to violently
  attack the doll and so most of the children did.
  The only difference is instead of killing a doll,
  these children are killing themselves.

12
Further Research

• Eating Disorders A Parents Guide (Rachel
  Bryant-Waugh and Bryan Lask
• The most obvious manifestations of this are in
  the media and fashion industry. Advertisements
  for a wide range of products, and not just
  clothes, tend to feature thin models. Very rarely
  is there use for normal-weight models, let alone
  over weight. Furthermore, bookstalls and
  newsagents are full of magazines promoting
  slimming diets, the virtues of being thin and the
  convert message that for a women to be successful
  she must be thin. Children are also exposed to
  these pressures and grow up in a culture
  promoting dieting behavior and dissatisfaction
  with the normal variations of body sizes and
  shapes. In the presence of other predisposing
  factors mentioned, such stresses may contribute
  to the development of an eating disorder
• This is proof that not only do we as citizens
  worry about our children and the effect that the
  media has on them, but published authors are also
  extremely worried. This leads us to the question,
  when is Hollywood and the media going to realize
  that weve gone to far?

13
Conclusions

• In conclusion I found that there were a lot more
  women then men who were on diets and who were
  exercising regularly. Although this information
  was to be expected. I found that I received a lot
  of honest answers to my survey even though for
  some people body image and self esteem is very
  personal. The results were what I was expecting,
  unfortunately. This is unfortunate because it
  means that there are many women and men walking
  around everyday absorbing these unnecessary and
  negative images. I feel that it is time for
  someone to take a stand and realize that these
  images are no longer fashionable, but they are
  deadly.

14
Conclusions (Contd)

• Further Questions
• Who is the right person to take action of the
  fight against the media?
• How did the media manipulation get completely out
  of control?
• Why do we listen to what the media has to say
  about us and our bodies through their
  manipulation?
• When and what will it take for us to finally feel
  offended?

15
Just A Few Extras

• The reason I wanted to buy Special K is because
  I saw a commercial for it on TV. In the
  commercial, theres a lady in a white bathing
  suit who just keeps smiling and walking around a
  big swimming pool, just so you can see how thin
  she is. But then she comes really close and looks
  you right in the eye and asks Can you pinch an
  inch? She means on your stomach. Shes still
  smiling, of course, because when she pinches her
  own stomach theres no fat at all. Shes pretty
  happy about that. If you can pinch an inch, she
  says, then you need Special K cereal. Even
  though the lady bugged me, I still tried her
  pinching test after the commercial ended. If I
  pinch above my belly button, I cant pinch an
  inch, but if I do it underneath, I can almost
  pinch an inch. So now I eat Special K instead of
  Product 19.
• Stick Figure A Diary Of My Former Self
• Lori Gottlieb

16
Just A Few Extras
17
Did You Know?

• That it takes 6 months to receive treatment from
  a proper hospital for an eating disorder? (This
  makes you think twice about where your tax money
  is going, doesnt it?)
• Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto only has nine beds
  for children suffering from eating disorders
  while North York General only has two for
  inpatient care
• On average it takes seven years to recover from
  an eating disorder and even then relapse is still
  a huge concern

18
Thank You For Your Time!