Degree Name
Master of Science
Graduate Program
Mass Communication and Media Arts
Advisor
Karan, Kavita
Abstract
Extensive literature has focused on the media influences on the body images of women. This is a quantitative study that examines the relationship between the impact that media has had on women and their body image as adolescents, as well as their current relationship with the media and their body image. It also examines if women feel that the media accurately portrays women in magazines and TV shows, and if they are influenced by the images in following them and changing their lifestyles to look like them. One hundred and fifty-one women studying at a university were surveyed over the period of one week, and their results were charted and analyzed in this study. The results showed that young women are working towards good health by eating well and exercising. However, media has a definite role in defining the body images of women, and most of them were not satisfied with their body images and preferred to be skinnier. Media not only influences them in determining their body images as adolescents but also continues to influence them in their adulthood.