Get real!: Cultural relevance and resistance to the mediated feminine ideal

Abstract

As part of a longitudinal study that examines early and late adolescent girls' interpretations of mainstream teen magazines, this research focuses on how the African American audience's interpretive frame enables them to critique and distance themselves from selected aspects of a consumption object with which they regularly engage. The results were drawn from in-depth interviews with 16 African American girls, ages 13 -18, who are regular readers of one of the top three teen titles: Seventeen, YM, or 'Teen. In this article, consumption is conceptualized not only as purchase, but acceptance of and aspiration to the ideals employed by the beauty industry to sell goods and services, e.g., a thin body type, EuropeanAmerican facial features, and a preference for a "made-up" appearance. Conversely, anti-consumption is rejection, subversion or negotiation of those same ideals, although such critical stances do not preclude voluntary, regular exposure to the texts conveying these ideals. The analysis illustrates the importance of cultural relevance in promoting consumers' aspiration to mediated ideals; in particular, the article explores African American consumers' criticism of Euro-centric feminine ideals as not real. While White girls actively sought out the magazines' alternate, improved version of reality, African American girls compared the fictional work to their real world experience and not only denied the veracity of the ideal, but preferred their reality to it. As predicted by racial identity

When will larger‐sized female models in advertisements be viewed positively? The moderating effects of instructional frame, gender, and need for cognition

“…Marketers and social scientists have suggested that the effects of advertising extend beyond product awareness and product preferences to broader effects on the target audience's beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors about issues of relevance in our society (e.g., Duke, 2002;Pollay, 1986). For example, researchers have argued that exposure to gender-stereotypical images contribute to social problems such as sexual harassment, eating disorders, violence against women, and overly narrow perceptions of body ideals for men and women (Courtney & Whipple, 1983;Hall & Crum, 1994;Lavine, Sweeney, & Wagner, 1999;Rudman & Borgida, 1995).…”

25 years of Psychology & Marketing: a multidimensional review

“…Postmodernist studies can be divided into three often overlapping and interrelated strands within P&M: methodological, contextual, and conceptual explications. For instance, a number of studies using legal inquiry (Lamy & Moyer, 1995), historical analysis (Holden & Holden, 1998), projective techniques (McGrath, 1995;Luna & Peracchio, 2002), critical theory (Duke, 2002), and hermeneutics (Trocchia, 2004) reflect postmodernist methodological explications in P&M.…”

Valorização de beleza e inteligência por adolescentes de diferentes classes sociais

“…A busca por um modelo ideal de beleza, que nunca foi tão estimulada e valorizada, tem deixado um imenso grupo de insatisfeitos e deprimidos, desconfortáveis com o próprio corpo e com a auto-estima em baixa. Dentre esses, os adolescentes são atingidos, pois estão numa fase de construção da identidade e para tal buscam os modelos disponíveis (Duke, 2002).…”