Abstract/Description
In our contemporary appearance culture, media has been complicit in convincing women that the body is a measure of overall happiness and one’s value to society. Because of this it should be viewed as a project that needs constant attention and upkeep. This research explores the way the media, and more specifically, health and fitness magazines, address the body as a project with endless room for improvement. Believing that the human body can be molded and significantly transformed can lead to unrealistic expectations, causing many women to feel negatively about themselves. Through a textual analysis of the U.S. magazine Health, this research examines messages about the way women should think about their bodies. Analysis found that this magazine encourages readers to identify problems in themselves and to seek to fix these on an individual level. These problems are heavily related to the body, appearance, and health. Resolving these problems is viewed as a project involving personal commitment on the path to health and happiness.
Recommended Citation
Serna, Sophie
(2018).
Western Appearance Culture, Media, and the Body as a Project.
Undergraduate Review, 14, 129-139.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol14/iss1/20
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Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.