評論
打印
The Culture of Thinness
Researchers report that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance—by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery.
Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a woman’s worth. Canadian researcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight, and only one in twenty are above average in size. Heavier actresses tend to receive negative comments from male characters about their bodies (“How about wearing a sack?”), and 80 per cent of these negative comments are followed by canned audience laughter.
There have been efforts in the magazine industry to buck ( 抵制，反抗) the trend. For several years the Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce has consistently included full-sized women in their fashion pages and Châtelaine has pledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25 years of age. In Madrid, one of the world’s biggest fashion capitals, ultra-thin models were banned from the runway in 2006. Furthermore Spain has recently undergone a project with the aim to standardize clothing sizes through using a unique process in which a laser beam is used to measure real life women’s bodies in order to find the most true to life measurement.
Ethics
Another issue is the representation of ethnically diverse women in the media. A 2008 study conducted by Juanita Covert and Travis Dixon titled “A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Women’s Magazines” found that although there was an increase in the representation of women of colour, overall white women were overrepresented in mainstream women’s magazines from 1999 to 2004. Self-Improvement or Self-Destruction?
The barrage of messages about thinness, dieting and beauty tells “ordinary” women that they are always in need of adjustment—and that the female body is an object to be perfected.
Jean Kilbourne argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that real women’s bodies have become invisible in the mass media. The real tragedy, Kilbourne concludes, is that many women internalize these stereotypes, and judge themselves by the beauty industry’s standards. Women learn to compare themselves to other women, and to compete with them for male attention. This focus on beauty and desirability “effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate.”
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1 上作答。
1. Women’s magazines are full of articles to urge women to ___________.
A) eat less sweet food C) marry a rich husband
B) lose weight D) have at least two kids
2. The cosmetic and diet product industries gain profits by ____________.
A) exaggerating the goodness about their products
B) targeting at children and females
C) presenting an ideal image difficult to achieve
D) distributing free samples from home to home
3. Canadian Women’s health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls _____________.
A) at age 5 or 6 C) at age 13 or 14
B) at age 9 or 10 D) at age 16 or 17
4. In 2003, Teen magazine reported that ____________ percent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight.
A) 35 to 50 C) 50 to 70
B) 50 D) 90
5. Researchers found that a real woman with Barbie-doll proportions would _____________.
A) suffer from heart disease C) live a more rewarding life
B) be very popular with males D) die from malnutrition
6. Television and movies emphasize that a woman’s worth can be judged by _____________.
A) the cosmetics she uses C) the thinness of her body
B) the jewelry she wears D) the wealth of her husband
7. Spain has recently undergone a project to _____________.
A) include full-sized women in its fashion magazines
B) standardize clothing sizes
C) ban ultra-thin models from the runway
D) promote weight loss among men
8. In mainstream women’s magazines from 1999 to 2004, ______________ were overrepresented.
9. Jean Kilbourne concludes that many women judge themselves by _______________________.
10. The focus on ___________________________ destroys any awareness and action that might help to change the trend.
