Stick-thin models make women of all sizes feel bad about their bodies

South Beach Maxim girls pose at a Maxim Magazine party

　　If you thought that only women on the heavier side felt bad about their bodies after being bombarded with images of stick thin models, well then you better think again, for the affliction is common to all members of the fairer sex.

　　And, it doesn't take a week or a month or even a year for those negative feelings to set in, but only three minutes, a new University of Missouri-Columbia study has found.

　　"Surprisingly, we found that weight was not a factor. Viewing these pictures was just bad for everyone," said Laurie Mintz, associate professor in the MU College of Education.

　　"It had been thought that women who are heavier feel worse than a thinner woman after viewing pictures of the thin ideal in the mass media. The study results do not support that theory."

　　As a part of the study the researchers measured how 81 women felt about themselves, from their body weight to their hair, and then exposed some of them to neutral images, while others viewed models in magazine ads for one to three minutes.

　　The women were asked to evaluate themselves after seeing the images, and in all cases, the women who viewed the models reported a drop in their level of satisfaction with their own bodies.

　　The study suggests that the majority of women would benefit from social interventions aimed at decreasing the effects of the media.

　　The researchers now state that unlike past interventions that have targeted specific groups of women, such as those with pre-existing eating and body-image concerns, this study suggests that reducing the acceptance of mass media model images and trying to stop the social comparison process is important for helping all women.

　　"Most women do not go to a counselor for advice; they look to Seventeen or Glamor magazine instead. These unrealistic images of women, who are often airbrushed or partially computer generated, have a detrimental impact on women and how they feel about themselves," Mintz said.

　　如果你认为只有较胖的女性看到纤瘦模特的形象后才会大受“刺激”，那最好还是再想想，因为几乎所有女性都会因此而“烦恼”。

　　而且，密苏里-哥伦比亚大学的一项最新研究发现，这种消极情绪不是一周、一个月甚至一年之后才会产生，只需要三分钟。

　　密苏里-哥伦比亚大学教育学院的副教授劳里·敏兹说：“令人惊讶的是，我们发现体重并不是一个影响因素，每个女性看到这些照片后都会产生消极情绪。”

　　“我们原本认为，较胖的女性看到媒体上的纤瘦模特照后会比瘦一些的女性郁闷。但研究得出的结果却并非如此。”

　　研究人员首先让81个女性对自己的体重、头发等身体部位进行评价，然后让其中的一些人看较为平常的照片，让另一部分人用一至三分钟看杂志中的模特照。

　　之后，研究人员让这些女性再次进行自我评价，结果发现，所有看了模特照的女性对自己外形的满意度几乎都有所下降。

　　研究表明，降低媒体效应的社会干预能让大多数女性受益。

　　研究人员称，过去的社会干预主要针对的是那些存在饮食和外形等问题的特殊女性群体，而目前的这项研究表明，降低媒体中模特形象的接受度以及停止社会比较对于所有女性来说很重要。

　　敏兹说：“多数女性不向咨询师进行咨询，而是看《17岁》或《魅力》等此类的杂志。这些不现实的女性形象通常都经过了（Photoshop中）喷枪工具的处理或部分由电脑生成，对于女性及女性的自我形象评价会产生不良影响。”

　　Vocabulary:

　　bombard :to assail persistently（攻击；质问）