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, you’d 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.
In a recent study, researchers measured how some women felt about themselves, from their body weight to their hair, and then exposed them to images of models in magazine ads for one to three minutes. The women were then asked to evaluate themselves again, and in all cases, they 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 curbing the effects of the media. Unlike past interventions that have targeted specific groups of women, such as those with preexisting eating and body-image concerns, this study suggests that such attempts are important for all women.