Spring 2010
Research in Brief:
by Callie Boyd, Lindsay Krcelic & Monica Ryskamp
by Helen Diamond Steele
Articles:
by Carrie DuPre
Reviews:
by Lance Watson
Callie Boyd
AnMed Health
Lindsay Krcelic
Clemson University
Monica Ryskamp
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Effects of Toxic Media Messages on Women’s Health
Explanation of Problem
In today’s society, young women are constantly inundated with mixed messages regarding body image via music, video, movies, and other forms of media (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002). Many of these media messages are promoting an idealistic female body image. Research shows that exposure to images depicting the slender female ideal, relative to exposure to average-sized or neutral images, has consistent negative effects on some females’ levels of body dissatisfaction; specifically, females with existing body image concerns are most likely to experience adverse effects (Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002).
Further research has revealed that sociocultural models have connected the growth of body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders to exposure to media messages of the idealistic female body image (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). The ideal body for a female is portrayed in media as slender and young, with long legs and well-developed female attributes (Levine & Smolak, 1998). This desirable image is something that women believe they must achieve, with no regard to the fact that the media edits images. Even brief encounters with body-related images are likely to produce automatic affective responses in young women irrespective of body-related concerns (Watts, Cranney, & Gleitman, 2008). In university students, the perfectionist mentality is influenced greatly by media with respect to other populations (Simon, et. al, 2009).
Clemson University women are not exempt from being pressured by similar media messages. This paper outlines on-campus research that led us to the conclusion that a series of events tailored for women at Clemson University to reveal the truth regarding female body image, self-esteem, and media messages was necessary to combat these media messages. This week of events was the first of its kind in South Carolina and will positively impact college-aged women. This week proved successful, and it could serve as a model for other universities. We heard from students that bringing attention to the media messages regarding self-esteem and body image was positive for women at Clemson. Female students gained a greater appreciation for themselves as a result of these events. A few females cited that they had not realized how much they were personally influenced by media messages. Students were excited about the opportunity to showcase their appreciation for influential women by giving these women flowers. We even heard some students ask for additional flowers.
Researching the Problem at Clemson University
The purpose of our study was to evaluate electronic media in the forms of music, lyrics, and music videos for criteria that promotes healthy and unhealthy messages, images, self-esteem, and body image in women ages 18-24. In order to assess the climate of Clemson University women with regard to how the media affects their body image and self-esteem, we facilitated focus groups. It was important to use focus groups because they provided a small and relaxed environment for open discussion. For each focus group, we chose three songs from a local popular radio station, likely recognized by the students, to present to the groups three times: once in the audio form, once in the visual form of a video, and once in a visual form of typed lyrics. After each media form was presented, students were asked to answer a series of questions and we recorded their reactions.
We selected the top three downloaded songs for Thursday, November 29, 2007: Low by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, No One by Alicia Keys, and Apologize by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic. Participants were recruited via a popular website, Facebook. Each focus group was held in an academic classroom and lasted no longer than an hour and thirty minutes. In order to maintain continuity between each focus group, the same research student facilitated each session using a prepared script and the other two student facilitators recorded feedback similar to each previous session. A few of the sample questions that we asked included the following:
- “Did this piece of music make you feel positive or negative about the way you look?”
- “What do you feel were some of the underlying messages in this piece of music?”
- “Did you feel differently about this piece of music after watching the music video and reading the lyrics than you did just listening to it?”
- “In your opinion, is the female character in the song portrayed as a person or an object?”
A total of 15 females participated in the three focus groups. It was important that we invited a diverse group of participants. As a result, we recruited females from every academic class year, as well as from multiple demographic backgrounds. Though diversity was important to us, based on our participant confidentiality, the demographic information of each participant cannot be documented or distributed.
There were many themes that were identified from coding the information based on participant discussion, with two main themes emerging. The majority of participants found the popular music they tend to listen to most as depressing and degrading toward women. These songs also evoked strong emotions such as anxiety and confusion, along with a lack of awareness about the negativity within the music and the embellishment of negative influences in order to put them in a more positive light. As these themes continued to emerge, the need for a creative intervention became clearer and the opportunity to influence the female perception of these media messages became necessary.
Combating the Problem
Based on our findings, we realized that Clemson University female students are not exempt from being pressured by media messages. To help combat these pressures, we developed and hosted the Women’s Awareness Week, a collection of events that provided positive messages for college-aged women. Before creating a schedule of opportunities available for our week, we reached out to student organizations and clubs, Clemson University’s Fike Recreation Center, health promotions, and other areas across campus that often lacked the resources for their own promotion of female-specific services. Additionally, we contacted University departments and student groups to learn about events they already had planned for the week of April 13-17, 2009. The result was a schedule of empowering and female-tailored events and services across campus. Our motto for the week was “to be extraordinary everyday” and we created the following schedule with themed days:
Monday
“Be Good to Your Body”
Women’s nutrition experts available in the dining halls
Tuesday
“Play It Safe”
Attend “Sex in the 21st Century: Can We Talk?,” a seminar on domestic violence and sexual assault.
Wednesday
“Take Care of Your Body”
Enjoy a free fitness assessment at Fike Recreation Center, and attend a tour on how to use the fitness equipment. The free fitness assessments were available all week.
Thursday
“Love What You See”
Dare to Bare: exude self-confidence and shorten your morning routine by going all natural. Wear your free t-shirt that says “love yourself from the inside out.”
Friday
“Love the Women that Impact our Lives”
Pick up a free flower on campus in appreciation for being an extraordinary woman.
To prepare and advertise for the week, we consulted a graphic designer to create fliers that included a distinguished Women’s Awareness Week logo and the opportunities available on campus throughout the week. We used this logo to link the various events and services available over the course of the themed week and we posted the fliers with this logo at numerous popular student locations. Additional advertising efforts included strategic communication through email with partners across campus that had expressed an interest in women’s issues. Partners included sororities, the Women’s Leadership Conference Board, and the Women’s Commission of Clemson.
We assessed each event on the schedule separately. Our plans to have a representative from Redfern Student Health Center in the dining halls on Monday were unable to materialize due to scheduling conflicts. On Tuesday, over 120 attendees came to the “Sex and the 21st Century: Can We Talk?” discussion, and 25 women completed surveys after the presentation. From comments on the survey assessments, many attendees felt empowered by the speakers to confront personal issues and further the discussion of domestic violence across Clemson University’s campus. Students explained their lack of awareness of domestic violence issues, their personal desire to influence these occurrences on campus, and the desire to inform their peers about domestic violence. On Wednesday, five students received the fitness assessment at Fike Recreation Center, and two students learned to properly use the exercise equipment through equipment tours. In comparison to average weekly participation rates, fitness personnel were impressed with the number of students who received fitness assessments and tours.
Thursday and Friday were our most successful days. We had approximately 108 women receive “love yourself from the inside out” T-shirts to wear on Thursday. These T-shirts were printed and worn inside out with this phrase printed on the front. Many women responded that wearing the T-shirt and going make-up free spurred awareness of inner beauty through conversations. After the week ended, we placed an extra order for T-shirts requested by an additional 26 women showing a continued interest in this message. On Friday, 500 carnations were distributed for students to give to women in order to show their appreciation. Each flower had a note card attached that read, “Thank you for being an extraordinary woman.” Female students, faculty, and staff received flowers. When distributing the flowers, we received overwhelmingly positive responses from women. Many students were excited about sharing their flower with their mom, friend, coworker, and teacher. One student said, “This is great! I can’t wait to see the expression on my professors’ face when she realizes what this flower stands for.” Many students asked for additional flowers to give away saying that one was just not enough.
Lessons Learned
We continue to hear of interest and talk on campus about the message of the week. After reflecting on the week, we deemed the week successful based on the high rates of participation, the anecdotal feedback received, and the continued desire to order t-shirts after the week ended. Throughout the week, we proved that research can be fun and is an important part of making decisions and planning programs. We also learned the importance of communication, especially with professionals. Finally, we learned, and saw first hand, how a small group of people can influence our campus in a big way. Our hope is that the Women’s Awareness Week will continue as an annual tradition at Clemson University.
References
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Carrie DuPre
Clemson University
Interculturalism as a Foundation for Helping Students Value Diversity
As colleges and universities grow in enrollment, administrators actively include diversity agendas in their growth plans (Castellanos, Gloria, Mayorga, & Salas, 2007). Yet while administrators reference diversity through the rhetoric of written mission statements and the increase in diversity enrollment statistics, there has been inadequate attention to understanding the complexity of multicultural issues (Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller, 2004). As we realize that student enrollment increasingly reflects diverse backgrounds (Jiang, 2006), we need to realize that simply adding to the numbers of students from diverse backgrounds is not sufficient in making a university open to diversity (Castellanos et al., 2007).
Brown (2002) identifies this as the difference between “statistical diversity,” or the demographics of a campus, and an “environment for diversity,” or the institutional goal of growing diversity (p. 1081). Simply enrolling a diverse student body does not equate to creating a truly diverse institution of higher education. One goal of the student affairs profession is to include diversity in a student’s higher education experience, yet there needs to be greater focus on how to train professionals to do so (Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller, 2004). Is there a framework that can address both student diversity development and the way in which student affairs professionals consider diversity when working with students?
Perhaps the answer lies within interculturalism, or the idea of “sharing and learning across cultures with the aim of promoting understanding, equity, harmony, and justice in a diverse society” (Intercultural Framework, 2008). This idea goes further than the idea of multiculturalism, which simply refers to the respectful coexistence of different cultures (Kymalicka, 2003). Interculturalism in education is not a new concept in regard to how teachers teach, yet traditionally it has entailed only inclusion of cultures in lesson plans (Lee, 2005). Of course, to make such a concept work, it is important to first assess the culture of the university; if the culture is not one that would support such open attention to diversity, any diversity programs presented to the student body might end in failure (Brown, 2002). To make this idea effective in the college environment and to truly create an atmosphere that supports understanding of diversity, I argue that interculturalism should go beyond lesson plans to include intentional dialogues and interactions between people of different cultures. This is where student affairs plays a critical role.
Pope and Reynolds (1997) recognize the need for student affairs professionals to acquire skills for effectively working with a diverse student body. To help build the concept of multicultural competence (which, by the definition previously mentioned, would be included in intercultural competence) in college students and to give student affairs professionals direction in working with students, the two researchers created a list of core student affairs competencies; the list includes elements like administration, theory, and ethics, but most relevant to this discussion are the elements of “teaching and training” and “multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills” (Pope-Davis, Coleman, Liu, & Toporek, 2003, p. 366). Pope and Reynolds elaborate on this second element by stressing the importance of students to have “the ability to identify and openly discuss cultural differences and issues” (p. 271), involving both sharing differences and growing by openly addressing those differences. With these two core competencies in mind, I offer two categories in which student affairs professionals can intentionally help students value diversity: meaningful discussions and community service.
Fostering Meaningful Discussions
A central element of interculturalism involves critical thinking and the comprehension that
“diversity in and of itself is of little value unless we can enhance communication among diverse individuals and groups” (Lee, 2005, p. 202). Student affairs professionals must realize that social pressures make it difficult for students to let their beliefs emerge, so open discussion is necessary to deal with and overcome such pressures; in our society, this can be especially difficult because agreement is valued and divergence is not (Opotow, 1990). For meaningful dialogue to take place, participants should be open to wherever the conversation takes them and understand that different does not mean bad—it simply means different (Roose, 2001). These might seem like elementary concepts, yet I believe starting with these reminders is important when working with college-aged students.
Kegan’s (1994) model of lifespan development reminds us that students go through a “self-authorship” phase as a way to organize their lives and act as the authors—not just the actors—in their lives, balancing outside influences with internal factors (p. 185). In other words, students are still figuring out who they are and might benefit from such elementary reminders, particularly as they enter college environment comprised of people from numerous backgrounds. One option when approaching discussions is to use trained undergraduate students to lead reflections (Ash & Clayton, 2004); having this peer-to-peer leadership might help students experiencing this self-authoring phase feel more comfortable being open in their sharing of thoughts.
Meaningful discussions can occur on their own as activities marketing with titles such as “discussion of diversity issues on campus,” but morel likely they can be integrated into other activities on campus, chiefly through reflection at the completion of programs or events. Reflection is a process that allows a person to “integrate the understanding gained into one’s experience in order to enable better choices or actions in the future as well as enhance one’s overall effectiveness” (Rogers, 2001, p. 41). Even when experiencing the same activity, people generate different conclusions; engaging in collective reflection can bring together these multiple perspectives to increase learning (Mündel & Schugurensky, 2008). So as college campuses gain greater statistical diversity in their student bodies, the discussions will provide increasingly diverse perspectives, allowing reflection discussions to positively impact a student’s diversity awareness.
Community Service
People who live an intercultural life are curious about other cultures, want to learn new ways of life, and are open to looking at issues from another person’s point of view (Kymlicka, 2003). Community service provides opportunities to satisfy all three of these characteristics, as well as support other aspects of student development and success. Astin and Antonio (2000) found that the activities in which students participate while in college have a great impact on their character development, identifying volunteering as one such activity. Astin and Sax (1998) related serving the community with also positively influencing student retention. In addition, we see that serving the community provides students with an education in diversity; students who engage in domestic service projects—without even leaving this county—have been shown to have greater cultural competencies than those who do not (Miller & Gonzalez, 2009). Students can learn from their peers and from the people whom they serve. Their perspective can broaden a bit more than if they never went out into their community to participate in service activities. Considering how busy a college student’s schedule becomes with classes, homework, student organizations, and social activities, they could use support from student affairs professionals to take the initiative to organize service activities. This could include offering a website with local agencies that need volunteers, organizing service events for students like cleaning up a local park, and giving students the resources and support to form Relay for Life teams. Outside of organizing service activities, collaboration with faculty who incorporate service learning projects in their classes could be beneficial for students, as we see that participation in such projects increases students’ diversity awareness and appreciation (Simons & Cleary, 2006). Once organized, convincing students to participate in the activities should be an increasingly easy task: the Corporation for National and Community Service reports that the number of college students who engage in volunteer work increased by approximately 20 percent between 2002 and 2005, and that in 2008 69.7 percent of first-year college students believed that it is essential or very important to offer help to others in need—the highest rate for this belief since 1970. The Corporation also reports that the volunteerism rate for college students in South Carolina is 28 percent, ranking our state 39th among all states. And these rates are sure to grow. Mainstream media has already pointed to the impact of the Barack Obama presidential campaign as proving to students that they matter in social matters and inspiring them to serve their communities (Stone, 2009). Given the Millenial Generation’s sense of social responsibility (Howe & Strauss, 2000), community service appears to be a viable way to support college students in their efforts to reaching out to other cultures.
Conclusion
To maximize the potential of interculuralism on college campuses, the idea must broaden beyond class curriculum and into student affairs practices like meaningful discussions and planned community service activities, though this broadening is not without its limitations. One main limitation for any diversity-related initiative looks at the reverse of inclusion: when we identify with traits that contribute to how we see ourselves (such as race and gender), we not only align ourselves with those who are like us, but we also create fragmentation in society by encouraging exclusion from those who are not like us (Brown, 2002). This realization does not mean that diversity efforts should be halted; it simply means that administrators, particularly student affairs professionals who work closely with students, should be aware of possible negative effects of well-intended diversity efforts. Based on the interactive nature of interculturalism and its focus on dialogue among individuals, campuses might also watch for negative effects in some students simply based on the chance of their discussion or activity group. Dominant individuals in a discussion could heavily sway others with their dominant voices (Abdallah-Pretceille, 2006).
Despite these limitations, the broadening of interculturalism does provide a foundation that helps student affairs professionals understand their role in the diversity development of the students with which they work. As diversity will undoubtedly continue to grow as a topic of great attention on college campuses, attention to how to deal with students and their diversity development will also undoubtedly grow. Yet even as new theories are created for addressing diversity, I believe the fundamental elements of interculturalism—dialogue among different groups and learning across cultures—will continue to be essential.
References
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