Theoretical Context

Some questions that I will be asking myself during my project are; How do we know what is ‘beautiful’ and what is ugly? Does the media influence women on how to look?  Can the impact of the media make a woman feel the need to change her appearance? Can ones identity become blurred as a result of this?  These questions I will explore throughout my project and incorporate into my photographs.

The ideas that are being explored in my project are how the media represents and portrays women.  These ideas came from looking at media sources, in particular magazines.  After looking through many it became clear that magazines advise their audiences on fashion style, what products to use to make you look better, weight loss techniques, etcetera.  One can argue that this may have a significant impact on its audience because they are using beautiful women to market these ideas and products; ‘The reader is constantly being told to buy products which are supposed to make them look better. Products are no longer sold for their uses, for example it promises to make you beautiful’ (Anon 2009).

My idea has been developed by many different writers and online articles such as, B. Englis who discusses that people know what beauty looks like when they see it and how the consumer is looking for the newest product to acquire this. A helpful source was the ‘Dove: Campaign For Real Beauty’ as it discusses how women and teenagers feel about the depiction of women in the media, ‘Many women and teenagers feel that media and culture show only the most attractive women.’  Another particular and key online article called ‘Women and The Fashion Magazine’ strongly influenced my idea because it discusses that magazine portray ‘perfect’ women, which its audiences might strive for, but realistically in unachievable.  The theoretical research helped to develop my ideas of how the media can make women feel about their appearances, for example unsatisfied, self-conscious, maybe leading them to want to change themselves and thefore potentially changing their identity.

Anon. (2009) Women and The Fashion Magazine [online]. Available from: http://www.nowpublic.com/style/women-and-fashion-magazine [Accessed 10 November 2011].

Englis, B., Solomo, R. And Ashmore, R. (1994) The Journal of Advertising. Beauty before the Eyes of Beholder: The Cultural Encoding of Beauty types in Magazine Advertising and Music television, Vol. 23 no 2.

Dove: Campaign For Real Beauty. (2011) About the Dove Self-Esteem Fund [online]. Available from:  http://www.dove.co.uk/cfrb/self-esteem-fund/about.html [Accessed 30 November 2011].