Skin Tone, Age, and Body Image Representation in Health and Beauty Advertisements in Women's Health Magazine

Study One Abstract.;Understanding how women's magazines portray skin tones and age of women in health advertisements is needed to understand how print media may be contributing to perceptions of skin tone representation and age. Moreover, magazines are a common source of health information for women (Warner & Proccacino, 2003); and unlike electronic media, readers have the opportunity to linger over and return to advertisements in print media. For study one, three highly circulated magazines targeting females' health within the United States were examined over a two-year period (2015-2016). The three women's health magazines selected for this study were: Shape, Women's Health, and Self. The author and an undergraduate research assistant coded advertisements (beauty and health advertisements) and magazine covers independently. The findings of this study suggest lighter skin tones and younger ages were valued or used within women's health magazines. The exclusion of persons with darker skin tones and older aged characters may be associated with consideration of these groups as "out-groups" (Forehand & Deshpande, 2002). Further research, reviewing a broader range of years, is needed to replicate study findings. Moreover, research with advertisers and magazine editors is needed to determine why women with darker skin tones and older females are not represented in health magazine advertisements and cover pages.;Study Two Abstract.;The media may be playing a role in shaping views of women as needing to be "thin", creating concerns about how women may internalize the messages they view. This study contributed to the literature by measuring the frequency of occurrence of different types of body shapes represented in women's magazine health advertisements. The purpose was to examine whether the preponderance of advertisements in popular women's health magazines featured a "thin body ideal." Three highly circulated magazines targeting females' health within the United States were examined over a two-year period (2015-2016). The three women's health magazines selected for this study were: Shape, Women's Health, and Self. The author and an undergraduate research assistant coded advertisements (health and beauty advertisements) independently. As expected, many of the characters in the health and beauty advertisements represented thinner body shapes. The strong representation of thinner body shapes further supports the thin ideal within the United States, where thin body shapes are associated with health and beauty. Future research should review all of the body shapes across health magazines and other women's magazines and determine how women who read these magazines picture the women portrayed and how they view themselves compared to the women they see in print.