American University
Browse

Cultural expectations of thinness in women: An update

Download (1.65 MB)
thesis
posted on 2023-09-06, 03:25 authored by Claire Victoria Wiseman

An investigation of society's changing expectations of women's body image was performed. Body measurements of Playboy Magazine Centerfolds and Miss America Contestants for 1979-1988 indicated body weight 13%-19% below expected weight for women. Miss America contestants showed a significant decrease in expected weight between 1979 and 1988. Comparisons were made with an earlier study which had demonstrated that body measurements of both groups had decreased during the period 1959-1978. Diet-for-weight-loss and exercise articles in six women's magazines were tabulated for 1959-1988. A significant increase in both diet articles and exercise articles occurred during this period. These findings suggest that the overvaluation of thinness continues and thinness is now sought through both dieting and exercise.

History

Publisher

ProQuest

Language

English

Notes

Thesis (M.A.)--American University, 1991.

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/1961/thesesdissertations:4885

Media type

application/pdf

Access statement

Part of thesis digitization project, awaiting processing.

Usage metrics

    Theses and Dissertations

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC