Women’s analysis 2

 

22 women took part in this questionnaire and all of the women either agreed or strongly agreed that the media affects the way we view ourselves, this indicates that the media does affect the way women view themselves. 15 females believe that the social pressure to conform to the slender ideal is greater for women than for me. 45.45% of the girls has claimed to have deprived themselves of eating, subsequently one individual stated her reason ‘I didn’t like the way I looked’. Considering her explanation, this shows how some females act when they feel slightly overweight. Some seem to think that depriving themselves will help them lose weight. Yes, that is true, if you restrict the amount of calories you consume you will lose weight however there is a heathier solution rather than not eating at all. All 22 women feel that their appearance is the most important aspect of who they are even if it’s the slightest, besides not one single female disagreed.

 

Only half of the women felt insecure after seeing models in advertisement. Evidence display the women who do not, has indicated that they are aware of photo shopping and it will be meaningless to compare themselves to the models. For the others that feel insecure, one expressed her opinion ‘because they’re what we think we should look like’, this also indicates how the media and the portrayal of the ‘perfect body’ can affect women.

 

Evidence from questionnaire 1 has some words mentioned several times which is ‘slim’, ‘slender’ and ‘toned’. Subsequently, majority of the females chose Image 2 in question 9 which is a slender representation of the social media norms. To summarise this from the data gathered, it seems that women are affected by the media and has increased women’s self-consciousness and dissatisfaction in their body image.  

 

Men’s analysis 2

 

33 males participated in this survey and 29 of them either agreed or strongly agreed to question 3. Similarly, to women, men also indicated that the media has affect the way they view themselves. Research has shown that not only does the media affect women, it has affected men too. This supports what Deborah Schooler has identified.  26 guys stated they have not deprived themselves from eating while the other 7 have. One man expressed how he disliked himself as he felt fat as a result he deprived himself from eating. It seems like the majority of the guys do not feel insecure about their body when they see models in advertisement. They acknowledge the fact they the models have been photo shopped however they seem to use this a motivation to achieve a body just as good. A comment like “Use it as motivation and have a goal that you want to reach rather than dwelling on it.” supports this hypothesis. 60.61% of the men chosen image 2 which represents a slim male with broad shoulders and a narrow waist without too much muscularity. Research from the secondary source indicated this theory and now the results from this questionnaire back it up.