FROM THE CLEAVERS TO THE CLINTONS - ROLE CHOICES AND BODY ORIENTATIONAS REFLECTED IN MAGAZINE ARTICLE CONTENT

The media have been heavily implicated as sources of overconcern with body focus, attractiveness, and thinness, primarily for women. Attenda nt negative consequences are widely assumed. Yet there appears to be a recent media trend to concern with physical health and fitness, rathe r than just appearance. This trend has not been empirically assessed. Further, previous research has not adequately explored the possibility that there may be an assortment of physical ideals represented in the media, which may vary according to the different audiences being targ eted. The current study assessed magazine article content, examining g ender differences, time trends, and magazine audience type. Four types of article content were examined: health, fitness, beauty, and weight loss, in an attempt to capture the major aspects of body focus. The n umbers of articles containing such content were tallied, over a 12-yea r period, in a sample of magazines oriented to three distinct audience s: traditional, high fashion, and modem. Huge gender differences were obtained, with female-targeted magazines not surprisingly outstripping male-targeted ones for all content categories assessed. There were al so clear differences in content between magazine types. Time-trend ana lyses indicated a decrease in emphasis on weight loss in women's magaz ines over the period studied, and a statistical trend for an increase in weight loss focus in men's magazines. We conclude that apparent tre nds toward healthier habits are not just thinness goals revisited. (C) 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.