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Body image diversity in the media: A content analysis of women's fashion

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Article in Health promotion journal of Australia: official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · January 2018
DOI: 10.1002/hpja.21

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Received: 16 June 2017 | Accepted: 20 October 2017

DOI: 10.1002/hpja.21

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Body image diversity in the media: A content analysis of

women’s fashion magazines

Catarina de Freitas MPH1 | Helen Jordan PhD1 | Elizabeth K Hughes PhD2,3,4

1
Melbourne School of Population and
Global Health, The University of Abstract
Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia Issue: The narrow representation of body image in the media has been linked to
2
Department of Paediatrics, The University
body dissatisfaction, particularly among readers of women’s fashion magazines.
of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia
3
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Some countries have made efforts to improve body image diversity in the media
Parkville, Vic., Australia and the fashion industry. This has included attempts to regulate minimum body size
4
Centre for Adolescent Health, The Royal
of models (eg Israel, France), and the development of codes of practices such as the
Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Vic.,
Australia Australian Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image. However, there is little evi-
dence of whether these efforts have impacted media content.
Correspondence
Elizabeth K Hughes, Centre for Adolescent Method: This study aimed to gauge the state of body image diversity in the print
Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital,
media 5 years after the introduction of the Australian Code of Conduct via a con-
Parkville Vic., Australia.
Email: [email protected] tent analysis of 13 Australian women’s fashion magazines published in 2015.
Results: Results revealed low levels of diversity in body size, ethnicity and age
Funding Information
This research did not receive any specific among models depicted in fashion magazine images. Models were predominantly
grant from funding agencies. The Murdoch
young, white and underweight.
Childrens Research Institute is supported by
the Victorian Government’s Operational Conclusion: The results suggest that efforts to improve body image diversity have had
Infrastructure Support Program.
little impact on print media. Further research is needed to understand the barriers to
increased diversity in the representation of body image in the media so that the industry
and regulatory bodies can further address this important issue. This is increasingly
pressing given the proliferation of content now enabled through online media plat-
forms.

KEYWORDS
body image, communications media, content analysis, diversity, magazines

1 | INTRODUCTION and reducing factors that contribute to body dissatisfaction are crit-
ical areas of research.
Negative body image, or body dissatisfaction, is widespread and Amongst the many and varied factors influencing body image,
persistent among women and men of all ages1,2. It is a serious the media is thought to play a significant role. Fashion magazines,
health concern as it can lead to harmful weight loss practices, and the broader fashion and beauty industries, in particular have
including disordered eating and excessive exercise, and is associ- been the focus of scrutiny for their frequent use of thin models and
ated with other risky health behaviours such as smoking and digital alteration of images10,11. Cross-sectional research studies con-
3-5
unsafe sexual practices . In addition, body dissatisfaction in girls firm that female fashion models are more likely to be underweight
and women has been shown to have economic consequences compared to non-models12,13, and the practice of digitally altering
through its associations with reduced educational and social partici- images of models to look thinner is considered the norm in the fash-
pation, reduced confidence and performance levels, and reduced ion industry14. Moreover, there is now considerable evidence to sup-
6-9
cognitive capacity . Given its wide-ranging impacts, identifying port the assertion that exposure to oftentimes unrealistic and

Health Promot J Austral. 2017;1–6. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hpja © 2017 Australian Health Promotion Association | 1
2 | DE FREITAS ET AL.

unattainable body images in the media has a detrimental impact on magazine showed evidence of all 3 criteria. This magazine, Madison,
women’s body image through social comparison, objectification and has since been discontinued. The study also found that some
internalisation of the thin ideal15,16. magazines represented and discussed body image and diversity in a
A variety of strategies aimed at reducing the impact of the media potentially problematic manner. For example, providing tips on how
on body image have been developed. Consumer-targeted strategies to hide or disguise body areas rather than tips for dressing to suit
such as university-based body image interventions that include a body figures. The authors recommended future analysis of diversity
media literacy component have shown some promise17. However, in body shapes, ages and ethnicities in contemporary magazines to
greater impact is likely with content-targeted strategies such as the ensure claims of diversity are objectively monitored. Although this
implementation of government policies and legislation that directly study found partial adherence to the Code of Conduct, it was con-
changes practices in the fashion industry and associated media. In ducted shortly after the Code’s release and warned of the potential
2009, the Australian government formed a National Advisory Group for the results to be placatory and short-lived.
on Body Image. From a range of “soft” and “hard” regulatory policy This study therefore aimed to gauge the state of body image
instruments available, the Advisory Group developed a voluntary diversity in the print media 5 years after the introduction of the
Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image18. This code of conduct Australian Code of Conduct. Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate
contained 7 “good-practice” principles for the advertising, fashion diversity in the visual representation of body size, ethnicity, and age
and media industries including diversity in the representation of in Australian women’s fashion magazines published in 2015 using
body size and ethnicity, use of healthy weight models and guidelines content analysis. It was expected that diversity would be low across
for the use of digital alteration. The code was launched alongside a all 3 aspects of appearance.
Positive Body Image Awards scheme that recognised efforts by the
industry to promote positive body image. Other countries have gone
2 | METHODS
a step further, imposing legal requirements for fashion models and
the use of digital alterations. In 2013, Israel introduced a law which
2.1 | Selection of magazines
required fashion models to have a BMI of at least 18.5 kg/m2, pro-
ven by a medical certificate no older than 3 months and for any digi- Thirteen magazines were selected for inclusion in this study (all Aus-
tally altered images to have a visible warning label, stating that tralian editions): Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Dolly, Elle, Frankie, Girlfriend,
alterations have been made, covering 7% of the size of the image Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Marie Claire, Oyster, Shop Til You Drop,
surface area19. Similarly, in 2015 amendments were made to the Vogue, and Yen. Magazines were included if they targeted adoles-
French Health Bill requiring models to be of a minimum BMI of cent and adult females, were primarily focused on fashion rather
20
18 . The law has only recently come into effect but with the BMI than lifestyle and/or gossip, and were readily available in Australian
cut-off replaced with a requirement for models to have a medical newsagencies. Australian magazine readership information by Roy
certificate stating they are healthy to work, and for images in which Morgan Research29 indicated that 11 of the magazines had com-
a model’s appearance has been manipulated to be labelled as bined readership of approximately 12.4% (readers 14 years and
retouched. Other initiatives have come from the industry itself, such older), equating a readership of about 2 409 000. Including Next
as the Dove Real Beauty and Target Loves Every Body campaigns. Media’s information for Yen30, the combined readership total
Although these efforts suggest greater awareness, both within approximately 2 559 00. Readership information was not available
government bodies and the fashion industry, of the need to depict for Oyster. One issue of each magazine published was selected for
diversity in appearance, there is little evidence of whether this work analysis based on convenience, spanning January to October 2015.
has resulted in greater diversity in the appearance of women
depicted in fashion magazines. Content analysis of magazine content
2.2 | Image inclusion criteria
is a useful and widely used technique21-27 and can be used to deter-
mine the extent to which fashion magazines comply with standards All images within the magazines were included in the analysis if they
or expectations of body diversity. This approach has been used pre- contained a real-life image of a female (ie not a drawing or cartoon),
viously to explore magazine representation of older women27, mas- were not children, and the arms and/or legs were visible including
culinity in men’s lifestyle magazines23 and gender role portrayals24. arms and/or legs visible through tight clothing. If more than 1 model
A content analysis study by Boyd and Moncrieff-Boyd28 explored was depicted, each model was rated separately. Coding included
whether magazines upheld aspects of the Australian Voluntary whether the image was embedded within an advertisement or was
Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image18. The study looked at the magazine-generated content (eg fashion spreads).
representation of diverse body shapes and sizes in the annual swim-
suit issues of 7 Australian women’s magazines28. Three criteria were
2.3 | Coding procedure
used: evidence of at least one fuller size/plus size model, evidence
of various body shapes and sizes, and evidence of body enhance- Body size was classified using the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale
ment tips for diverse body types. It was found that while most (FRS)31. The FRS is a visual scale of 9 silhouette figures increasing in
magazines upheld at last one of the 3 analysis criteria, only 1 size from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very obese). It has been widely used as
DE FREITAS ET AL. | 3

a self-report measure of perceived and ideal weight status, and is Table 1 shows the percentage representation of each body size
considered suitable for the assessment of an individual’s relative using the FRS for the 13 magazines. Of the 1534 models, 1141
weight or size by an observer32. A recent review of FRS found the (74%) were classified underweight (figures 1-2), 380 (25%) as appro-
33
FRS to have high reliability and validity , on par with other recent priate weight (figures 3-4), 10 (1%) as slightly overweight (figures 5)
scales such as the Photographic FRS34. Previous studies suggest the and 3 (.2%) as overweight (figures 6-7). No models were classified as
FRS figures can be classified into 5 categories: underweight (figures obese (figures 8-9). There was considerable variation across maga-
1 and 2), appropriate weight (figures 3 and 4), slightly overweight zines. For example 54% of models in Dolly were classified as under-
(figures 5), overweight (figures 6 and 7) and obese (figures 8 and weight compared to 96% of models in Shop Til You Drop.
9)35,36. Table 2 shows the percentage representation of ethnicity and
As few previous studies have examined ethnicity and age, this age. Regarding ethnicity, 1386 (90%) of all models were classified as
study aimed to provide a preliminary indication of ethnicity diversity white. Across magazines this ranged from 84% (Marie Claire) to
by categorising images based on skin colour as “white” (ie Caucasian) 100% (Cleo). Looking at age, just 12 (1%) of models were classified
or “other,” and of age diversity by categorising images as “young” as older. Eight of the magazines did not depict any older models.
and “older” (ie showing wrinkles and/or grey or greying hair). The greatest age diversity was observed for Frankie, with 5% of
models depicted being of older age.
Across both advertisement images and other images, on average
2.4 | Content analysis procedure
73% of models were underweight, whilst 26%-27% were classified
All images were rated by the first author. To measure intra-rater relia- as appropriate weight. In the advertisements, there were no models
bility, 60 images were re-coded by the same rater 1 week later. Per- classified as slightly overweight, overweight or obese. However, less
centage agreement was 100%. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by than 1% of models were classified as slightly overweight and over-
having a second rater (third author) code 15% of the images. Percent- weight in other images. None of the advertisements analysed in this
age agreement was 85% for body size, 95% for ethnicity and 100% for study depicted models of non-white ethnicity and/or older age.
age. Percentage agreement above 80% is considered acceptable37.

4 | DISCUSSION
3 | RESULTS
Overall there was little diversity amongst body images represented
A total of 1182 images depicting 1534 models were included in the in Australian women’s fashion magazines. Across the 13 magazines
analysis. Of these images, 293 (25%) were embedded within adver- examined, models were mostly underweight, white and young. Just
tisements. The mean number of model per magazine was 118, and 1 in 4 models were observed to be of an appropriate weight or lar-
ranged from 28 (Yen magazine) to 190 (Shop Til You Drop maga- ger, with less than 1% observed to be overweight. There was little
zine). difference in diversity between advertisements and non-

T A B L E 1 Number (%) representation of body sizes for each magazine using Stunkard’s (1983) Figure Rating Scalea
Figure Rating Scale, n (%)

Magazine Images, n Models, n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Cleo 104 121 1 (1) 85 (70) 32 (26) 3 (2) – – – – –
Cosmopolitan 110 126 3 (2) 92 (73) 18 (14) 11 (9) 2 (2) – – – –
Dolly 78 123 – 67 (54) 43 (35) 11 (9) 1 (1) 1 (1) – – –
Elle 121 164 17 (10) 122 (74) 25 (15) – – – – – –
Frankie 55 62 1 (2) 37 (60) 12 (19) 5 (8) 5 (8) 2 (3) – – –
Girlfriend 94 112 1 (1) 66 (59) 33 (29) 12 (11) – – – – –
Harper’s Bazaar 111 139 11 (8) 91 (65) 35 (25) 2 (1) – – – – –
InStyle 78 100 1 (1) 79 (79) 17 (17) 2 (2) 1 (1) – – – –
Marie Claire 120 159 6 (4) 103 (65) 47 (30) 3 (2) – – – – –
Oyster 76 82 2 (2) 66 (80) 13 (16) – 1 (1) – – – –
Shop Til You Drop 121 190 10 (5) 173 (91) 7 (4) – – – – – –
Vogue 88 128 2 (2) 88 (69) 34 (27) 4 (3) – – – – –
Yen 27 29 0 (0) 17 (61) 8 (29) 3 (11) – – – – –
Total, n (%) 1182 1534 55 (4) 1086 (71) 324 (21) 60 (4) 10 (1) 3 (.2) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
a
The stimuli for the Figure Rating Scale range from 1 (underweight) through to 9 (obese).
4 | DE FREITAS ET AL.

T A B L E 2 Representation of ethnicity and age for each magazine obtaining actual data on the characteristics of models were not fea-
Ethnicity, n (%) Age, n (%) sible, and the coding system arguably represents how the magazine
images would be perceived by readers. The simplicity of the coding
Magazine White Other Young Older
also allows for ease of replication in follow-up studies. Indeed, this
Cleo 121 (100) 0 (0) 121 (100) 0 (0)
study showed the rating system to have good intra- and inter-rater
Cosmopolitan 110 (87) 16 (13) 126 (100) 0 (0)
reliability. That said, the dichotomous categorisation of ethnicity
Dolly 106 (86) 17 (14) 120 (98) 3 (2)
remains problematic as it limits a more nuanced consideration of
Elle 152 (93) 12 (7) 162 (99) 2 (1)
ethnic diversity and may inadvertently validate the dominant repre-
Frankie 60 (97) 2 (3) 59 (95) 3 (5) sentation of white females in magazines. Third, images were only
Girlfriend 99 (88) 13 (12) 112 (100) 0 (0) included in the ratings of ethnicity and age if they had met inclusion
Harper’s Bazaar 132 (95) 7 (5) 138 (99) 1 (1) criteria which were designed to allow ratings of body size (ie visible
InStyle 91 (91) 9 (9) 100 (100) 0 (0) arms and/or legs). More inclusive criteria for these ratings (eg head
Marie Claire 134 (84) 25 (16) 156 (98) 3 (2) shot only) may have increased the degree of ethnicity and age diver-
Oyster 77 (94) 5 (6) 82 (100) 0 (0) sity observed. However, our impression from the rating process is
Shop Til You Drop 166 (87) 24 (13) 190 (100) 0 (0) that any such effect would be minimal.

Vogue 110 (86) 18 (14) 128 (100) 0 (0) Finally, the analysis was restricted to print magazines. Analysis of
other forms of media is of growing importance given the rise in
Yen 28 (100) 0 (0) 28 (100) 0 (0)
social media and magazines’ increased use of online platforms.
Total, n (%) 1386 (90) 148 (10) 1522 (99) 12 (1)
Indeed, 4 of the magazines included in this study (Dolly, Yen, Cleo
and Shop Til You Drop) have since ceased publication with many
advertisements aside from a small representation of overweight attributing their decline to readers shifting their media use online.
body sizes in the non-advertisement images. That said, there is much to learn from studies such as this which
These findings are unsurprising given those of previous stud- highlight the difficulties of developing and implementing policies
ies27,28; however they are disappointing given recent efforts to change which will have significant impacts on diversity in the media. The
practices and improve diversity in the representation of females in the proliferation and speed of content delivery in the online space sug-
media. Unfortunately, these findings appear to confirm that voluntary gest this will be even more challenging as technology progresses.
efforts such as the Australian Voluntary Industry Code of Conduct on Beyond these limitations, the study also had several strengths. A
Body Image have had a placatory and short-lived impact on media large number of magazine were included for analysis, covering a
practices, at least in the print media. Initiatives by government, indus- large readership. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability showed a high
try and other sectors are to be commended, yet there is a clear need level of consistency across the measures. Diversity was measured
to ensure these initiatives are effectively implemented and evaluated not only by body size but also by age and ethnicity, therefore pro-
in an ongoing manner to ensure sustained impact. For example the viding a more complete indicator of diversity.
Australian Voluntary Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image initi- The study highlights several areas in need of further investigation
ated in 2010 was an admirable achievement. However, its voluntary and development. Firstly, there is a clear need for initiatives target-
nature limited implementation, and it was essentially abandoned upon ing media content that are evidence-based. For example, although it
a subsequent change in government in 2013. was thought that labelling images as photoshopped/altered would
Of importance, policy and legislative strategies aimed at changing reduce negative effects on body image, studies have found that such
industry practices need to be made in consultation with industry to labelling may not be effective and may sometimes have a detrimen-
identify and address any barriers to change. Furthermore, efforts to tal effect on body image compared to no label39. In contrast, it has
address the effects of media on body image must be multifaceted. been shown that exposure to advertisements depicting average-sized
Policy efforts need to be complemented with education and advo- models has a less negative effect on women’s body image compared
cacy, including evidence-based interventions like media literacy and to exposure to advertisements depicting thin models, whilst having
cognitive dissonance programmes17, and increased critical discourse no significant impact on the effectiveness of the advertisement40.
regarding sociocultural constructions of acceptable body size and Second, when evidence is lacking to inform selection of strategies,
appearance38. there needs to be a well-planned evaluation framework in place to
Although the study is helpful in contextualising the current state determine the effectiveness of implemented strategies. Such evalua-
of diversity in Australian women’s fashion magazines, some limita- tion frameworks can then ensure that initiatives which are effective
tions should be noted. First, only 1 issue of each magazine was anal- are maintained, and those that are ineffective are ceased. Regular
ysed and selected based on convenience of availability. Other issues monitoring and reporting of body image diversity in the media
of the same magazine may have included more diverse range of through content analysis, such as that undertaken for this study, can
models, and may have identified seasonal differences. Second, the form both a strategy for encouraging change by identifying narrow
classification categories used for age, ethnicity and body size could and biased representation, and a way by which to evaluate the effec-
be considered simplistic and somewhat subjective. However, tiveness of specific interventions. Monitoring may, however, require
DE FREITAS ET AL. | 5

more complex, innovative methodologies to capture the variety and 9. Quinn DM, Kallen RW, Twenge JM, Fredrickson BL. The disruptive
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