Do More Realistic Images of Fashion Models Boost a Woman's Self-Image?

Look at a magazine rack in a store and you'll see many depictions of thin good-looking women that are used to represent an "ideal" for other women to strive towards. Many women who observably are less thin will have a negative psychological impact on their self-image as a result of the exposure to these idealized images.

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Not only that, but many of us know that a lot of airbrushing and alterations are done to make the women look more appealing and "perfect" which creates a false image of what others actually look like. Many women thus try to make themselves into something else based on the fake touched up images they see.

To show how average and plus-sized media fashion models can have a more positive impact on psychological health for women who want to be thinner, a study was done with 49 such women whose heart rate was recorded while they randomly viewed 12 images of fashion models with various body types. They were also asked to answer some questions about themselves and the models.

Participants viewing thin models made more comparisons between themselves and models, but paid less attention and us remember less about the models, and also had less body satisfaction. However, average and plus-sized models generated fewer comparisons, where they instead paid more attention and remembered more, and came away with higher levels of body satisfaction.

Researchers concluded that this overwhelmingly demonstrates more positive self-assessment and psychological health from viewing body types that are more representative of the reality of most women, instead of the traditional thin model.

This is compelling evidence for the media to shift their representation of women in their media campaigns. Persistently presenting unrealistic models can be detrimental to a person's mental and physical health. Comparing one thing to another is a natural part of the thinking mind and evaluating, discerning, assessing, diagnosing, judging, etc., so we of course compare ourselves to others such as our physical appearances.

Media that more accurately represents reality will allow women to see themselves fitting in more with the overall representation of women, as opposed to feeling like they don't fit in because they are not a thin woman as well. This will generate more inclusive feelings and more positive self-assessment, such as body satisfaction. Maybe it also create less of a false-image for women to try to emulate, despite the likely continued use of airbrushing, etc.

This was about women, but the same can be said for men. As much as the "ideal" woman is thin as portrayed by much of the media, so too is the "ideal" man the musclular one, where many strive to emulate that ideal body image.

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References:

• Plus-size fashion models improve women's psychological health, researchers find
• Researchers find plus-size fashion models improve women's psychological health
• Russell B. Clayton et al. Is plus size equal? The positive impact of average and plus-sized media fashion models on women's cognitive resource allocation, social comparisons, and body satisfaction, Communication Monographs (2017). DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2017.1332770