loving yourself

As most of you know and have followed, I have been working on an independent study during this past semester at American University about the fashion and food industries and how they play a role in our society’s view of the “perfect woman” or the “ideal body”. There’s a lot of fight from advocates from within the industry and in the health field, as well as consumers, to change our ideal fromthe thinner the better to the healthy the better. Health is different for everyone and between the talk of the rise in obesity and seeing the thin ideal in the media, it’s confusing.

I’ve enjoyed this study and this blog much more than I could ever imagine and hope to continue it as I look at graduate programs in public health communication or nutrition communication. I’m also looking into research grants for an idea I have so if anyone’s interested in talking with me, please let me know.

Below are the posts that I’ve done for this project in case you’d like to read all of it or just one specific topic. I hope you enjoy!

January

14: Asking for Help

17: Brittany Murphy and watching your words

17: 10 surgeries for Heidi Montag on People.com

20: “Marilyn?” Not quite. A reflection on the Golden Globes

22: America, the Beautiful

24: Demi Moore: Which do you prefer?

25: EDNOS: When a label means nothing in the NYTimes

28: Michael (Pollan) and Alicia (Silverstone) on “Oprah”

29: Plus-Size Models in the NYTimes and Washington Post

31: Photoshop Hall of Shame in Newsweek

February

3: BMI debate in the Wall Street Journal

3: What did you see first? Evan’s ad in the UK

6: Reflection on Skinny Bitch

7: The Obamas and our obesity fear

10: Reflection on being your own best friend

10: Who’s your celebrity role model? Ellen in Glamour magazine

11: FDA woes in the NYTimes

17: Coco Roche at NYC Fashion Week

18: Reflection on taking care of #1

19: Are we obsessing over women’s bodies? Reflection from NYC Fashion Week

23: Could athletes help our beauty standards? from the NYTimes and theExaminer

24: Italy’s Curvy Can ad

25: European Fashion Weeks with Elena Miro (Milan) and Mark Fast (London)

26: All about Binge Eating Disorder

March

2: A follow-up on athletes and body image with Lindsey Vonn

8: Nolita ad in the NYTimes

11: Reflection on Hungry

15: Do sororities promote a low body image? Reflection inspired by Parent Dish

17: Thailand on The Price of Beauty

23: An online beauty focus group

24: Paris on The Price of Beauty

26: Calorie counts: a reflection on the Healthcare Reform

27: What Anna Wintour and Michael Kors are doing for the fashion industry

30: Are advertisements with plus-sized models hurtful? Reflection on an study by Arizona State University

April

6: India on The Price of Beauty

6: “Weighty Matters” Part 1 of a panel hosted by the National Eating Disorders Association at Pace University

7: “Weighty Matters” Part 2 of a panel hosted by the National Eating Disorders Association at Pace University

10: Uganda on The Price of Beauty

12: Vogue Curvy celebrate Julie Henderson

13: Reflection on meeting a celebrity

15: Morocco on The Price of Beauty

16: Reflection on being a part of Delta Delta Delta and Reflections

18: How do we talk about food? from the NYTimes

19: Can we normalize food? A reflection from the above article in the NYTimes

23: Japan on The Price of Beauty

May

4: Reflection on what’s next after this study

10: Survey Analysis: part 1

10: Survey Analysis: part 2

11: Survey Analysis: part 3

12: Survey Analysis: part 4

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Layla September 13, 2010 at 9:40 pm

If you are still doing your research, you should check out my Master’s thesis. It sounds quite similar! I focused my research on the advertising and fashion/beauty industries, but all the main parts are the same. Here’s a link to the electronic version, if you are interested: http://gradworks.umi.com/14/50/1450713.html. I’m very excited to read and follow your blog!

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