Beauty Ideals in the Checkout Aisle: Health-Related Messages in Women’s Fashion and Fitness Magazines

Abstract

This study analyzed magazine covers, as well as editorial and advertising content in women's health/fitness and beauty/fashion magazines. Results indicated that models in these magazines were of relatively the same thinness, and that there was very little emphasis placed on weight loss for the sake of overall health. Models in fashion/beauty magazines were glamorous, while models in health/fitness magazines were conspicuously thin. Health and body image content was generally framed as appearance-related rather than health-related in both types of magazines. These representations emphasize a thin, glamorous ideal, contradictory to the health-related messages that could be used to promote healthy body images and provide readers with healthy dieting and exercise advice.

“Context, Please?” The Effects of Appearance- and Health-Frames and Media Context on Body-Related Outcomes

“…This was one of the first studies to investigate the effects of health vs. appearance framing in different contexts. This is important because these strategies are widely used in social media (3,6) as well as in magazines (5,17). However, emphasizing the goal of improving the appearance of an individual rather than contributing to the individual's health can lead to certain negative effects.…”

“…Specifically, studies in the research area of health communication often distinguish between two media frames: appearance frames and health frames. As content analyses showed (4,5,16,17), appearance frames emphasize the importance of healthy eating and doing sports to look good (i.e., sexy, attractive), whereas health frames focus on the health aspects connected with such behaviors (i.e., healthy, feeling good). Overall, content analyses revealed that, in health and beauty magazines (4,5,16,17), as well as on social media (3,6,(18)(19)(20), health behaviors are oftentimes promoted in connection with appearance aspects.…”

“…As content analyses showed (4,5,16,17), appearance frames emphasize the importance of healthy eating and doing sports to look good (i.e., sexy, attractive), whereas health frames focus on the health aspects connected with such behaviors (i.e., healthy, feeling good). Overall, content analyses revealed that, in health and beauty magazines (4,5,16,17), as well as on social media (3,6,(18)(19)(20), health behaviors are oftentimes promoted in connection with appearance aspects. In this regard, some studies showed that, if individuals engage in health-related behaviors on the basis of appearance-related reasoning, this can contribute to extreme and unhealthy behaviors (7), higher body image concerns (21), lower body appreciation (9,22), and a lower selfesteem (8,9).…”

“…However, current research revealed that, in different contexts (i.e., magazines, social media), such health behaviors (i.e., engaging in physical activity, maintaining a healthy diet) are often portrayed in connection to the goal of improving the appearance of an individual, whereas health benefits are not emphasized (3)(4)(5)(6). This seems problematic because the reasoning for engaging in health-related behaviors has been shown to be decisive (7).…”

The Women’s Magazine Diet: Frames and Sources in Nutrition and Fitness Articles

“…One additional paper published in the Journal of Magazine & New Media Research examined body-related content in beauty/fashion magazines vs. women's health/fitness magazines, two genres conceptualized by the researchers. 20 Conlin and Bissell's ambitious study 21 quantified coverline content, models' body sizes in photographs, and framing of health messages in articles and ads. The authors found that both genres used thin models to emphasize appearance and glamour over fitness and health.…”