Date of Award

12-22-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. John Caputo

Second Advisor

Dr. Kipp Preble

Abstract

Research suggests that the depiction of women in a sexualized manner through mass media may be linked to body image disturbance among adolescents. In today’s culture, the message is too often that to be liked, or to be perceived as pretty, you must be sexy (Lerum & Dworkin, 2009). Though this message is pervasive, it is important to understand the effects that these messages have on adolescents, according to Levin and Kilbourne (2008), boys and girls, from all cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds, are affected by these trends. By focusing so narrowly on appearance, the media and popular culture have not only limited the notions of what is good and worthy, they have marginalized those who fall outside of the ideal. Via a meta-analysis of recent scholarship, this thesis attempts to uncover if the sexual objectification of women in the media is harmful to adolescents. Three communication frames will be employed to address the sexual objectification of adolescent girls in the mass media: critical theory, semiotics, and the sociocultural tradition. This thesis examines several different correlational and experimental studies testing the links between media exposure to adolescents’ body dissatisfaction.

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