Media influences and body image depictions among minority women, adolescents, and mature women

The portrayal of the feminine thin ideal has been assessed using mainstream magazine images, but little attention has been focused on investigating trends in magazines specific to particular age groups and cultural groups. This study empirically examined whether the mainstream tendency towards a thin ideal can be seen on the covers of leading minority, adolescent, and mature women's magazines. Body size and waist-to-hip ratio measurements were obtained for models appearing on the magazine covers. The frequency with which these covers depicted full-body pictures of models was also examined. The results indicated significant trends for the mature and African-American women's magazines toward a more tubular shape. In addition, trends towards smaller body size were found for the adolescent and Hispanic-American women's magazines. The majority of the magazines showed an increase over time in the frequency with which entire bodies of models were depicted on the covers. These results were compared to previous mainstream study findings. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.