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ICA-5-10636
Effects of Ideal Body Images
—Translatable Across Gender & Culture?
Introduction
Critics have long voiced concern that the marketing of body images through
advertising has been a powerful force in creating the perception of the tall, thin, and
toned ideal for women (Myers and Biocca, 1992; Silverstein et al, 1986). Images of
attractive models in media keep telling the audience “you too can look like this” but are
often interpreted as “you should look like this” (Gulas and McKeage, 2000). A number of
researchers have linked the idealized body image in advertisements to chronic dieting,
body dissatisfaction, and eating disorders in American females (Peterson 1987; Solomon
1992).
Traditionally males pay less attention to their body image than females and that
men are generally more satisfied than women (Burton, Netemeyer and Lichtenstein 1994;
Fallon and Rozin 1985). However, it has recently been suggested that men are becoming
more and more concerned with body image (Grogan and Richards, 2002). Studies have
indicated that the body images in advertising have also created a medium-sized, muscular
ideal for men. It
has been estimated that up to two thirds of young women and one third
of young men experience significant dissatisfaction with their body size, shape,
condition, or appearance (Rabak-Wagener, 1998).
However, most of the body image studies placed their focus on the context in the
United States. Little research has reached out to measure whether the same effects would
occur under different cultural contexts. This paper investigates whether the ideal body
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Convention