M25CMC JOURNALISM PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM
‘NEWS’ ANALYSIS RESEARCH PRESENTATION PROPOSAL
(Best completed electronically, expanding text boxes if necessary)
|Student Name |
|GEORGIA TRODD |
|Research Project Title [should not be too long, suggest max 15 words]: |
| |
|Were skin conditions reported on in Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow was on America’s Next Top Model? |
| |
|Research Question [Definitive focus: Identifies object of study to realise objectives]: |
| |
|Were skin conditions reported on in Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow was on America’s Next Top Model? |
| |
|Research Aims and Objectives [specific realistic goals/ends or intended outcomes & how to achieve them]: |
| |
|To discover if skin conditions (such as psoriasis, vitiligo, stretch marks, cellulite, eczema etc) are shown in Cosmopolitan UK. For example; in |
|campaigns or on front covers, in articles, in advertisements. If they’re not, why they’re not and the influence this has on British women |
|(particularly regarding body image). I will look at psychological studies, analyse fashion magazine covers/pictures of models within magazines, and |
|look into reasons why skin conditions are or aren’t acknowledged. I also want to analyse the wording in Cosmopolitan UK regarding skin/skin |
|conditions, and see if there’s any trend in the way it’s reported on. I want to do this because I feel it’s an important issue, women of all ages in |
|Britain have skin conditions but do the women we see/are shown in fashion magazines have them too? Chantelle Young (or Winnie Harlow) took part in |
|America’s Next Top Model Cycle 21, which aired August 18th 2014. Contestants due to take part were released to the public in February 2014, so from |
|then until Chantelle Young left the show I want to discover; were skin conditions reported on by Cosmopolitan UK whilst Winnie Harlow (Chantelle |
|Young) was on America’s Next Top Model? |
|Context/Background & Rationale [link with society & similar work, past & current; why project is important now]: |
| |
|As I have a skin condition myself (vitiligo) I have an interest in the way skin conditions are presented in the media and, in particular, fashion |
|magazines such as Cosmopolitan. I recently came across a movement called the #NoFilter movement where people are posting photos on social media |
|without editing it and without putting filters on it, to show the world who they really are. The movement itself claims to be a quest for |
|authenticity, with more than 33 million examples of #NoFilter on Instagram. People like Winnie Harlow (who also has vitiligo and is a fashion |
|model/has appeared in many fashion magazines), as well as Em Ford (a former model who has also appeared in magazines who has severe acne) have joined|
|the movement. It interested me that two models who have featured in fashion magazines have joined this movement, and that lead me to want to look |
|into the subject further. I believe this topic is important because it’s incredibly relevant. Women and girls of all ages have skin conditions, but |
|often they’re seen as something to be embarrassed about or something to hide or fix – magazines may have a role in these beliefs through the way they|
|report on skin conditions or through their lack of reporting on skin conditions. If they’re not reported on, why aren’t they? And if they are, how |
|are they? |
|Literature Review [theories to be employed in making sense of, or analysing, the chosen topic, citing theorists, most common theories in literature]:|
|• Papadopoulos and Walker (2003): Women’s magazines highlight faults in appearance and emphasise the importance of looking like the glossy images on |
|their covers and in their articles. ‘Magazines show images of women with perfect skin… and often serve to create a kind of stereotype which women |
|feel they have to look like.’ ‘Any deviation from these magazine stereotypes can make many of the readers feel abnormal and different.’ ‘The media |
|can make skin disease patients feel stigmatised…’ through only reporting on/showing images of people with “perfect” skin. |
|• Parker et al (2011): Qualitative research study of the media and patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema found that respondents ‘identified|
|a societal ideal of flawless skin, largely mediated by media portrayals of perfection.’ ‘Failure to meet this ideal precipitated psychological |
|morbidity in female, but not male, respondents.’ ‘An appreciation of the pervasive pressures of society and media upon females with skin disease may |
|inform management strategies, particularly psychological management strategies, in patients with skin disease.’ |
|• Papadopoulos and Walker (2005): ‘A number of reference points exist that a person will draw upon when constructing their mental model of body |
|image. These include the socially represented ideal body shown in the media.’ |
|• Eagly et al (1991): ‘Media… portrayals often equate evil with such skin conditions as scarring…’ |
|• Dion et al (1972): The idea that good people are seen as “perfect” and beautiful (no scars, perfect skin, etc) and bad people are seen as |
|“imperfect” (with scarred/deformed/diseased skin) – ‘typically we face constant messages from the media that to be beautiful is to be good.’ |
|• Wissinger (2014): Looks at the modernisation of models in magazines and the media putting ‘filters’ on people/everything to make them and their |
|bodies and skin look ‘perfect’. |
|• Jones (2004): A study of how appearance/body image portrayals in magazines affects adolescent girls and boys. |
|• Heason and Kent (2013): Research into the psychological effects of Vitiligo, looking at how society (and therefore the media/magazines) can |
|influence these effects too. |
|• Bowser (2010): When skin conditions/diseases are reported on in the media, they ‘sensationalise’ the treatments to fix the problems. ‘Many were |
|hailed as “miracle” treatments’. |
|• Lavinthal (2008): ‘Cosmo know what qualities make a woman alluring: healthy, glowing skin…’ |
|• Therefore, there is a gap in the market for my research and space to answer why women with skin conditions aren’t presented in magazines. As well |
|as why magazines portray clear ‘perfect skin’ as normal/good and anything else as abnormal/bad. The psychological effects of the media and magazines |
|not portraying skin diseases and conditions, such as acne, as normal seems to play a major role in a lot of the academic research found, which raises|
|the importance of why this research is relevant. |
|Methodology and Sources [Tools/techniques to be employed in the gathering and analysis of data; methods of accessing/acquiring data or evidence or |
|information; sources of the data]: |
|Looking at examples of articles in Cosmopolitan UK about skin conditions between February 2014 and December 2014 using content and discourse |
|analysis. |
|• Hsieh and Shannon (2005) describe content analysis as showing three distinct approaches: conventional, directed, or summative. They suggest it as a|
|widely used qualitative research technique. |
|• Yang (2008) suggests content analysis analyses the form and substance of communication. Underlying meanings and ideas are revealed through |
|analysing patterns in elements of the text, such as words or phrases. |
|• Weber (1990) content analysis ‘can be a useful technique for allowing us to discover and describe the focus of individual, group, institutional, or|
|social attention.’ |
|- Looking at Cosmopolitan UK articles/front covers/campaigns/images within the magazine online |
|- Looking specifically at the way women are portrayed (are they shown to have skin conditions?) |
|- Are there any trends in the way in which skin conditions are reported on? For example, only ever spoken about under the context of giving a cure or|
|remedy to help fix the condition as though it’s a problem that needs fixing? |
|• Paltridge (2012) ‘discourse analysis examines patterns of language across texts and considers the relationship between language and the social |
|cultural contexts in which it is used. Discourse analysis also considers the ways that the use of language presents different views of the world and |
|different understandings.’ |
|• Salkie (2006) suggests discourse analysis is one area of linguistics, ‘the systematic study of language.’ |
|• Brown and Yule (1983) ‘the discourse analyst attempts to discover regularities in his data and describe them.’ |
|- Take note of trends in language used to describe the women portrayed in the magazine why is this language being used? Are women shown to be more |
|desirable with “flawless” skin, or are skin conditions acknowledged/accepted? |
|- Describe the regularities found in Cosmopolitan UK regarding the reporting of skin conditions. How do they report them? What words are used to |
|describe someone with a skin condition/skin disease? |
|- When looking at the language used, how may these words affect women/readers that have skin conditions? |
3
|Ethical Implications (if any) [briefly indicate whether/how there is an ethical implication for the researcher in this work. What do you need to |
|consider as a researcher?]: |
| |
|Looking at pre-existing material and research already conducted by others - no ethical implications. However, as skin conditions are a delicate |
|subject to discuss for many, I need to remember to be sensitive when conducting my research. The greater the vulnerability of the |
|community/author/participant, the greater the the obligation of the researcher to protect them (Silverman, 2016). |
|Strengths/Weaknesses of the Project [briefly indicate any strengths or weaknesses of the project across all areas]: |
|- Strength: it’s an original topic. It’s focussing on skin conditions rather than body image issues in general. |
|- Strength: the question is narrowed down to a specific magazine and specific time frame, which means that precise information can be found easier |
|than if the question was very broad (Babbie and Rubin, 2009). |
|- Strength: the subject affects many people, my methodology will show this. |
|- Weakness: Van Dijk (2008) suggests that ‘link between discourse and society is often indirect and depends on how… users themselves define the genre|
|or communicative event in which they engaged.’ Therefore using discourse analysis may not reflect how the language used in Cosmopolitan truly |
|affected all readers. |
|- Weakness: not much previous research on the question to back up findings |
|- Weakness: Neuendorf (2002) ‘content analysis is as easy or as difficult as the researcher determines it to be.’ |
References
• Babbie, E. and Allen, R., 2009. Essential Research Methods for Social Work [online]. USA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
• Bowser, A., 2010. Acne and Rosacea: The Complete Guide [online]. London, UK: Vermilion.
• Brown, G. and Yule, G., 1983. Discourse Analysis [online]. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Dijk, V. T., 2008. Discourse and Context: A sociogonitive approach [online]. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Dion, K. et al., 1972. What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [online]. 24 (3), 285-290.
• Eagly, A. et al., 1991. What Is Beautiful Is Good, But…: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype. Psychological Bulletin [online]. 110 (1), 109-128.
• Heason, S. and Kent, G., 2013. Vitiligo: More Than a Skin Disease [online]. Sheffield, UK: University of Sheffield.
• Hsieh, H. and Shannon, S., 2005. Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research [online]. 15 (9), 1277-1288.
• Jones, D., 2004. Body Image and the Appearance Culture Among Adolescent Girls and Boys: An Examination of Friend Conversations, Peer Criticism, Appearance Magazines, and the Internalization of Appearance Ideals. Journal of Adolescent Research [online]. 19 (3), 323-339.
• Lavinthal, A., 2008. Cosmo’s Sexiest Beauty Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Gorgeous [online]. London, UK: Hearst Books (Sterling Publishing Co.)
• Neuendorf, K., 2002. The Content Analysis Guidebook [online]. California, USA: SAGE Publications.
• Paltridge, B., 2012. Discourse Analysis: An Introduction [online]. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Papadopoulos, L. and Walker, C., 2003. Understanding Skin Problems: Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis and Related Conditions [online]. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons LTD.
• Papadopoulos, L. and Walker, C., 2005. Psychodermatology: The Psychological Impact of Skin Disorders [online]. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Parker, M. et al., 2011. ‘Perfect Skin’, the media and patients with skin disease: a qualitative study of patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema. Australian Journal of Primary Health [online]. 17 (2), 181-185.
• Salkie, R., 2006. Text and Discourse Analysis [online]. London, UK: Routledge.
• Silverman, D., 2016. Qualitative Research [online]. London, UK: SAGE Publications.
• Weber, R., 1990. Basic Content Analysis [online]. California, USA: SAGE Publications.
• Wissinger, E., 2015. #NoFilter: Models, Glamour La-bor, and the Age of the Blink. Theorizing the Web [online]. 1 (1), 1-20.
• Yang, K. and Miller, G., 2008. Handbook of research methods in public administration [online]. Florida, USA: Auerbach Publications (Taylor Francis Group).
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