After graduating from UNC, I would like to follow my dream and pursue a career in the fashion industry. Fashion trends, designers and models have always been of great interest to me. Over the past decade, from the beginning of adolescence through present day, I have been observing fashion through the media, primarily in magazines. The world's most famous models all fit the same mold. They may have different hair, eye color, or skin tone, but they are all tall and abnormally thin. Millions of women thumb through these magazines every day and view what they believe to be the ideal image of beauty. The obsession with thinness and distorted self-body images create severe physical and mental health problems for women, young and old.

Using knowledge acquired in both my psychology and women's studies fields, I realize the mental instability and the often-irreversible physical demise eating disorders have on females. In doing research for this topic, I wish to answer several questions. First, is it fair to say that the idealized images actually cause females to have eating disorders or does it simply aggravate an already existing psychological disorder? Second, even if the thin, beautiful bodies on the pages of the magazine only aggravate the pre-existing condition, then why haven't drastic measures been taken to lessen the abundance of waif-thin models? Last, other than incorporating average and more-than-average body types into the modeling industry, what other measures can be taken to reverse the negative body images that many females have ingrained in their minds?

Fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry, reaching millions of people all over the globe. This research is geared more specifically toward females of all ages who are victims of the psychologically negative images of fashion magazine advertising. Many of the sufferers are young girls, who accept these false images subconsciously at a very young age. Parents of these girls would benefit from learning the true correlation between idealized body image and eating disorders.

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Internet Resources :

Do Models Really Cause Anorexia? Popular science is almost ready to discard the theory that eating disorders are highly linked to fashion image and waif thin models. This web page suggests alternative biological, psychological and spiritual causes.
Source of Web Site: Independent News

Yahoo!News-Models Linked to Eating Disorders The British Medical Association concluded that the media has a “significant” role in causing eating disorders. This article pinpoints areas of concern in thin-model selection for advertisements, fashion and television images.
Source of Web Site: This is London-Evening Standard

Ultra-thin Magazine Models Negatively Impact Girls with Pre-existing Body Image Dissatisfaction A team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin conducted an experiment testing the correlation between negative body image and exposure to ultra-thin fashion models. They recently presented the results at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. These results indicated that only adverse effects occurred in those female adolescents with initially elevated body dissatisfaction.
Source of Web Site: Self-Help Magazine

Supermodel Turns Role Model: Urges Treatment for Eating Disorders French model Magali Amadei speaks out about her eating disorder and ends her era of secrecy. She speaks about the roots of her battle with bulimia, the fashion industry’s influence, and how she got help.
Source of Web Site: CBS Health Watch

Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women The page deals with the obsession with body image and advertising’s influence. Kilbourne offers an in-depth analysis on how women’s bodies are depicted in advertising imagery and the devastating effects of that imagery of women’s health.
Source of Web Site: The Media Education Foundation

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Electronic Resources

Brabbs, Cordelia. (2000, June 29). Adland left confused over "waif" code-Last week’s Body Image Summit failed to give advertisers clear guidelines about their regulatory obligations. Marketing [Online], 832 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

Brabbs, Cordelia. (2000, April 20). Hello boys-Am I too thin?-Government ministers have expressed concern that images of women in UK ads create pressure to conform. But is the ad industry to blame? Marketing [Online], 1310 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

Dam, Julie K.L. (2001, July2). Making it big; with Emme leading the charge--and the fashion world in hot pursuit--Plus-size models redefine what it means to be beautiful. People [Online], 1927 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

Gustafson, Robert. (2001, June 4). Subtle ad images threaten girls more; ‘Thin’ is too in. Marketing News TM [Online], 894 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

McClelland, Susan. (2000, August 14). Distorted Images. Maclean’s [Online], 1366 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

Milne, Celia. (1998, January 12). Pressures to conform. Maclean’s [Online], 1824 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe [2001, July 22].

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Other Reference Sources

Print Sources:

Harrison, Kristen. 2000. The body electric: Thin-ideal media & eating disorders in adolescents. Journal of Communication 50 (Summer): 119-25.
Location: Davis Library--Call Number: P87.J6

Hesse-Biber, Sharlene. 1996. Am I thin enough yet?; The cult of thinness and the commercialization of identity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Location: Davis Library--Call Number: BF697.5.B63 H47 1996

Non-Print Source:

Kilbourne, Jean. 1995. Slim hopes: Advertising & the obsession with thinness. Produced and directed by Sut Jhally. 30 min. Media Education Foundation. Videocassette.
Location: UL Non-Print Videocassette--Call Number: 65-V6106

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