It's well known that young girls are very self-conscious about their bodies, but it may not be because of the unrealistically thin Disney characters they see on TV, as is often assumed.
A new study featured in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology suggests that while the media's portrayal of beauty does influence how young girls see themselves, they aren't likely to suffer short-term consequences from watching Cinderella, a conclusion in sharp contrast to earlier studies which suggest that the self-esteem of older girls and women suffers after short-term exposure to thin, beautiful models on television and in the movies.
During the study, 121 girls were taken into a room with a "playmate" -- a trained research associate in her 20s who had experience working with children. After chatting for several minutes, the playmate asked each girl how she feels about the way she looks. Thirty-one percent indicated they almost always worry about being fat, while another 18 percent said they sometimes worry about it.
Half of the girls watched parts of animated children's movies such as Cinderella that featured young, beautiful characters and appearance-focused comments, such as Gaston telling Belle in Beauty and the Beast that she is "the most beautiful girl in town, and that makes her the best." The second group watched parts of animated children's movies such as Dora the Explorer and Clifford the Big Red Dog that do not contain any appearance-related messages.
In a room that featured a dress-up rack of costumes, a vanity, dinosaurs and more, children then spent about the same amount of time on appearance-related play activities, such as brushing their hair at the vanity, regardless of which set of movies they watched.
While older girls and women tend to compare their bodies to the models', younger children may be more likely to adopt the persona of the princesses while playing, the UCF researchers said.
The number of girls worried about being fat at such a young age concerns the authors because of the potential implications later in life. Studies have shown that young girls worried about their body image are more likely to suffer from eating disorders when they are older.
"We need to help our children challenge the images of beauty, particularly thinness, that they see and idolize and encourage them to question how much appearance should be part of their self-worth," said Stacy Tantleff-Dunn, who directs UCF's Laboratory for the Study of Eating, Appearance and Health. "We should help them build a positive self-image with an appreciation for many different types of body attributes."
Citation: Sharon Hayes, Stacey Tantleff-Dunn, 'Am I too fat to be a princess? Examining the effects of popular children's media on young girls' body image', British Journal of Developmental Psychology', 2009, doi: 10.1348/026151009X424240
Comments
So, it sounds to me like the condensed version of this study merely suggests that a measured amount of exposure will have little influence.
My question is how much exposure is enough? The consistent influence of family members, as Mr. Adam suggests? Cumulative years of TV and cinema and radio and video might have a different outcome.
steve (not verified) | 11/24/09 | 13:33 PM
Are you daft? These are children...
As a father of a nine year old, I tend to think that she knows nothing of vanity save the importance of proper hygene of course. Why would you subject mere children to this? Forgive me for being rather broodish about this, but again, I am a father of a nine year old. Mr. Adam's suggestion of what children are exposed to, to this I ask the question: Have you, Sir, ever sat down and viewed an episode of Disney's "Hannah Montanna"? If not, I suggest doing so, I give you a half-hearted belief that you will see Disney in a new light, in fact my daughter isn't even allowed to watch such (in my opinion of course) filth. Okay, it seems I have rambled a bit... The point I am trying to make is that children can only be influenced by that which we expose them to. If parents monitor what they see and do instead of simply putting their child/children in front of the television and turning it on. One would think such studies would no longer be necessary.
Anonymous (not verified) | 11/24/09 | 14:30 PM
I happen to have several daughters and now two granddaughters (9&12) that routinely watch Hannah Montana and don't give it a second thought. In truth, their time is spent mostly outside working with horses and other animals, so I've never felt that television or the media defined who they were. Instead we try to teach them skills that go directly to their own sense of accomplishment, at which point the media becomes largely irrelevant.
Gerhard Adam | 11/24/09 | 14:36 PM
nina (not verified) | 11/24/09 | 14:47 PM
"We often think that pressure on young women to be thin is a modern phenomenon, but a fascinating letter to the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
published in 2000 noted that this is not a new development. The authors
cite evidence from Ancient Rome showing a similar cultural pressures
were widespread: http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/10/size_zero_culture_in.html"
Happy holidays all :-)
Tiffany McMan | 11/26/09 | 16:23 PM
Sue sent me this months ago, but I kept it. We see this with young girls at our school. It is tough for young girls and women now. There are some touching videos with the link: http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/02/10_triplebind.shtml
Think I'll post this as well. Such smart people go to Berkeley.
Pressure to be a supergirl is causing teen mental health crisis
By Yasmin Anwar, Media Relations | 10 February 2009
BERKELEY — Expectations for teenage girls to be brainy, athletic, nurturing, and look like supermodels - while juggling homework, social networking and resumé-padding activities - are fueling a generational mental health crisis, according to a new book by University of California, Berkeley, psychologist Stephen Hinshaw.
At the same time that opportunities abound for teenage girls to compete in both traditional male and female bastions, conflicting messages to be ambitious, caring and effortlessly thin and glamorous have led to a surge in adolescent depression, eating disorders, self-mutilation, suicide, and aggression, according to "The Triple Bind: Saving our Teenage Girls from Today's Pressures" (Ballantine Books, 2009).
In the book, Hinshaw and coauthor Rachel Kranz make a compelling case that, compared to previous generations of young women who juggled fewer roles, today's teenage girls are literally collapsing under the weight of adult expectations, consumerism and a highly sexualized pop/cyberculture that celebrates physical perfection and stratospheric success.
Hinshaw on environment,genes, and risk
A Q&A with the Berkeleyan about interactions between "vulnerable" genes and environmental pressures.
"Given the unprecedented advances for women, it is the best of times to be a teenage girl. But it is also the worst of times, because many in this generation are experiencing depression earlier and are more vulnerable to serious mental health problems," said Hinshaw, chair of the UC Berkeley psychology department and an expert on child and adolescent psychopathology.
The phrase "triple bind' in the book's title is a play on "double bind," a term coined by 1950s social scientists who studied the effects of the conflicting messages conveyed to children by grownups. What's different about the "triple bind," said Hinshaw, is that teenage girls are receiving even more contradictory messages about what they should aspire to, and are often devastated if they don't meet these impossible standards. This largely explains why one in four teenage girls will experience major depression, self-mutilation, binge eating, a serious suicide attempt or notable aggression before age 20, he said.
"The Triple Bind is why girls who might have accepted or even celebrated their size 10 bodies a generation or two ago now feel disgustingly fat if they're not a size 2 or 4," he writes in the book. "It's why girls who might not have been all that interested in boys at ages fourteen and fifteen now insist on having steady boyfriends by ages eleven and twelve."
"It's why girls who once had a bit of breathing room to figure out their futures now feel under the gun before they finish sixth grade, already anxious about getting perfect SATs and a roster of impressive extracurriculars," the book goes on to say. "And it's why girls who once might have identified with alternative female figures - a rock star, an athlete, a female author - now have trouble finding any role models other than those who are beautiful, hot, thin, and thoroughly focused on conventional notions of success."
Stephen Hinshaw, professor and chair of psychology, discusses his personal path to the study of psychology and his latest findings about the sudden, steep rise in mental illness among teenage girls. (2:30 min. video produced by Roxanne Makasdjian, Media Relations)
Hinshaw came up with the idea for "The Triple Bind" book while studying girls with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at the all-female summer programs that he has been leading since 1997. Tracking these socio-economically and ethnically diverse girls from childhood through their late teens, he said he noticed that they had the same adolescent problems as boys with ADHD "plus a whole lot more." He sought to understand the reasons why.
In his research for the book, Hinshaw learned that the average age of onset for depression in women has fallen from their 30s to their 20s, with an ever-growing number of girls starting in their teens. Also, rates of "cutting," which involves nicking or slicing one's skin with knives or razors to relieve emotional pressure, appear to be skyrocketing, while obsessive dieting and binge eating are alarmingly prevalent, he said. Following puberty, girls are much more likely than boys to become depressed and anxious. But in the last decade, not only have such trends accelerated, but girls are becoming more aggressive. At the same time, aggression in boys has declined, Hinshaw said.
"Certainly, genes and other biological factors 'up the ante' for all such conditions," Hinshaw said. "Yet, the recent changes in girls' mental health problems cannot be explained by changes in genes, which would take generations to appear. Issues in the culture at large are the key focus of the book." However, a parental tendency to overvalue a child's achievements also plays a major role in the triple bind, said Hinshaw. He asks parents to be careful "not to succumb to the overwhelming social messages of insisting on top grades, top teams, top everything all the time."
"The Triple Bind" weaves together anecdotes and personal observations with a review of current research and sobering statistics. Topics include the culture of "busy-ness" that surrounds teens; the stress of homework and sleep deprivation; the ever-increasing sexual objectification of young females; today's relentless cyberculture; and how genes and environmental pressures are combining forces to compound a teen mental health crisis.
To resist the triple bind, Hinshaw advises girls to focus less on themselves by finding a wider sense of purpose, such as volunteering at environmental and civil rights organizations, or at an animal rescue shelter or program for at-risk youths. Volunteer work can provide a much-needed perspective for teens who obsess about their failures and imperfections, he said. He also urges parents and schools to promote self-discovery over rote achievement, and to stop putting pressure on kids to pad their resumés with ever more extracurricular activities.
Tiffany McMan | 11/26/09 | 16:38 PM
In my view, it's the parents. Parents have failed miserably in tempering their children's activities and sense of themselves. In fact, I would argue that too many parents are too wrapped up in themselves and their own insecurities which effectively translates directly to their kids.
I may be over simplifying, but show me a stressed out teen-age girl, and I'll show you a mother that feels exactly the same way.
Gerhard Adam | 11/27/09 | 00:40 AM
Signed a woman who understands.
Anonymous (not verified) | 01/08/10 | 10:46 AM
People want to see themselves represented in their entertainment - it's why gay and lesbian audiences are so loyal to the few performers who are out.
And with children, seeing a parade of people on tv and in movies who look nothing like you, don't eat what you eat at home and don't have the same cultural assuptions - you start to feel invisible to the larger world when most people on tv are slim, white, christian (at least around that season's special episode times) - if you aren't these same things.
Or if you only ever see images of people who share your ethnicity as the villians, criminals or victims - it tends to wear on a person.
nina (not verified) | 01/08/10 | 13:12 PM
It is blatantly foolish to suggest that any person, male or female, will be unduly influenced by something they watch for an hour or two. More importantly, since when does a cartoon imagine become more influential than the thousands of hours of other media to which children are routinely exposed.
Since the study focused on 3-6 year old girls, it would seem that a much more important question should have been what kinds of self-image statements they were exposed to by members of their families rather than worrying about whether Disney cartoons might cause self-esteem problems.
When a 3-6 year old tells you they're concerned about appearance it isn't something they've decided for themselves (since they are clearly well below the age during which we could expect sexual selection influences to begin manifesting). Instead it seems extremely likely that they are picking up on concerns and behaviors that they observe in other members of the family.