What a waste of Friggin money

[claridge]

A Swedish research team has just finished a 1 year study and thousands of $$$$$$$$ later to come to the conclusion that........GET THIS:

"a womans self esteem is lowered when she is confronted with unrealistic body images of herself, as portrayed in magazines and advertising"

DAH!! do you think?

I cant beleive Sweden (and other countries who waste our money) can confortably justify to us these type of stupid expensive studies, when sooooooo much more can be done for the country, with oviously alot of available $$$$$$$$$$

Whats the next study? Do men like a cold beer?

Gee, thats a hard one. We'd better pay 50 people lots of $$$$ for that answer!

So whats everyones thaughts, and do you think these type of studys are necessary?


Marion

 

[jdoll]

My thoughts: ROFL at you ! and you are absolutely correct! that is an indisputable waste of money!x( very frustrating! These stupid studies are getting no sympathy from me b/c obviously, they have run out of "new" information to crank out, so they are presenting us with old info to look busy! gggrrrr!

jes

p.s. i volunteer to be a participant in the cold beer study!!!!
Let's also do a red wine v/s vodka test group while we're at it!
}(

 

[FiddleFit]

As a social scientist who lives within the academic circles in which these studies are generated, I can attest that the stupid thing isn't the studies themselves, but the way the findings are publicized. Journalists who report what they read in published academic journals typically ignore the genuine contributions that such studies make to their research field, either in terms of methodology, or theoretical advancements, and pick out the brief finding that will garner public interest. They typically do not have enough editorial room in their newpaper/magazine to put the study within it's academic context (and probably feel the general public wouldn't be interested), so you get such simplistic statements as the one you mentioned.

People researching the influences of mass media on women's self-esteem would probably find some very interesting things within the study itself, such as a specific focus on certain types of media, or particular subgroups of females who may be more susceptible to these influences. Alternatively, this kind of research might demonstrate that there are certain groups of women or types of media that do not seem to influence female self-esteem. And while you might not find this kind of information useful, I can guarantee you that marketing companies will, and that they will put up the money to fund studies like this.

Finally, there is a lot of "common knowledge" in existence that can benefit from rigorous scientific study. To state that women's self-esteem can be lowered by unrealistic media images is an awfully general statement, and hardly true 100% of the time. Also, you may have read about previous studies that have already come to the same conclusion. Valid, reliable, and continued replication of studies is an important part of creating rigorous academic knowledge. Sure, their conclusion makes logical common sense, but it also ties into a whole philosophical field regarding ontological issues; how we come to understand the nature of our own being. Identity formation in general is an important philosophical field, and deals with some very complex social issues that are fundamental to the development of our society.

The problem is not with the legitimic of the study, but in the reporting of it.

Cheers,
Sandra

 

[NurseLRT]

I read about this study a week ago in a Swedish on-line newspaper. I think the group that was studied was teenage girls. Maybe this country and others can use this information to help girls with self esteem issues and educate them they are not required to meet this "ideal" image. Unfortunately I think a lot of American women and teens, feel like if we don't look like Jennifer Aniston there is something wrong with us. American men in my opinion are getting pickier and pickier, they expect women to look like Playboy centerfolds. The media has created a culture of plastic surgery and artifice, and we gobble it up.

Sweden, unlike the USA has a lot of natural beauties, they are not all in line at the plastic surgery office and do not obsess about dieting. I don't think they are into cosmetics, tatoos, hair coloring as we are. Sweden has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world, and one of the highest longevity rates.

Before I get a lot of flames for this, I want to say first I love my country, and we have plenty of beautiful women here too. I am just making an observation, which may be of no value.

Lori

 

[shobbsie]

Just one more observation from me:
One night I was flipping through the channels (I suffer from insomnia certain time of the month) came across Howard Stern's show...
These guys were critiqueing womens bodies (these silly women were standing there partially disrobed) and were they cruel....ironically, it didn't seem like these guys had seen the inside of a gym in a long time. They were heavy, sloppy and had the nerve to say one woman, who appeared to have 16% body fat had too square of hips....SQUARE HIPS!!!!

Such a double standard!
I'll stop the rant now.

 

[claridge]

I have NO KIND WORDS to say about Howard Stern. Hes such a "pig" and thinks hes "all that and a bag of chips"!

These shows really really annoy me just like the Man Show does. How humiliating for the woman, and having said that, WHATS UP girls? that you have to degrade yourselves like that.

The money and publicity must be reeeeeeealy important to you

Marion
x(