Americas Next Top Model Research Assignment
AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL RESEACH ASSIGNMENT
The show that I choose to do my research assignment on was Americas Next Top Model, a reality show on UPN. This is like the third season of the show I believe, and basically, what the concept is that there are 12 girls, ranging in age from 18 to mid 20 's. There are six Caucasian women, four African-Americans, and two Hispanics in the cast. They are all shipped off to; I believe it was Los Angeles, and have to live in the same house. It was your stereotypical reality show setup, with their being a challenge during the middle of the show, and then a panel of "experts" at the end votes someone off.
I read two studies that I believe will coincide with this show rather well. The first was a study done by Paul Hamburg entitled "The Media and Eating Disorders, who is must vulnerable?" published in the Harvard Medical School Journal. Hamburg 's findings show that the media markets to people 's desires. He says that the ideals that the media reproduces are completely absurd and out of line with real life, and because of this, its customers keep coming back because they desire stuff they cannot obtain. I figured that this study would be good for this show, because there was going to be beautiful girls on this program, and that many women watching probably would desire to be a pretty as them, so they loved to watch. The second piece of literature I chose to use was a study done by Amy R. Malkin called "Women and weight: gendered messages on magazine covers" that was published in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. This study basically says that having extremely beautiful women on TV is a bad thing because it raises the standard of beauty for the normal woman. So, I guess that means that men will not give the average lady the time of day because they have seen way hotter chicks on T.V. This study definitely applies to this program.
The social world portrayed is a very beautiful one. Everyone seen on screen is a beautiful person,
The show that I choose to do my research assignment on was Americas Next Top Model, a reality show on UPN. This is like the third season of the show I believe, and basically, what the concept is that there are 12 girls, ranging in age from 18 to mid 20 's. There are six Caucasian women, four African-Americans, and two Hispanics in the cast. They are all shipped off to; I believe it was Los Angeles, and have to live in the same house. It was your stereotypical reality show setup, with their being a challenge during the middle of the show, and then a panel of "experts" at the end votes someone off.
I read two studies that I believe will coincide with this show rather well. The first was a study done by Paul Hamburg entitled "The Media and Eating Disorders, who is must vulnerable?" published in the Harvard Medical School Journal. Hamburg 's findings show that the media markets to people 's desires. He says that the ideals that the media reproduces are completely absurd and out of line with real life, and because of this, its customers keep coming back because they desire stuff they cannot obtain. I figured that this study would be good for this show, because there was going to be beautiful girls on this program, and that many women watching probably would desire to be a pretty as them, so they loved to watch. The second piece of literature I chose to use was a study done by Amy R. Malkin called "Women and weight: gendered messages on magazine covers" that was published in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. This study basically says that having extremely beautiful women on TV is a bad thing because it raises the standard of beauty for the normal woman. So, I guess that means that men will not give the average lady the time of day because they have seen way hotter chicks on T.V. This study definitely applies to this program.
The social world portrayed is a very beautiful one. Everyone seen on screen is a beautiful person,
Cited: Hamburg, Paul (1998). "The media and eating disorders: who is must vulnerable?" Public Fourm: Culture, Media, and Eating Disorders, Harvard Medical School Journal. Malkin, Amy R (1999). "Women and weight: gendered messages on magazine covers" Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.