PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Ethnic identification helps Latina adolescents resist media barrage of body images

2013-12-03
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Elizabeth Daniels
Elizabeth.daniels@osucascades.edu
541-322-3186
Oregon State University
Ethnic identification helps Latina adolescents resist media barrage of body images CORVALLIS, Ore. – A strong sense of ethnic identity can help Latina girls feel positive about their body and appearance, a new study concludes, even as this group slips further into dissatisfaction with themselves when compared to a media-filled world of unrealistic images of thin white women.

Identification and pride in their ethnic background can act as a partial buffer against a deluge of advertisements, magazines, television shows and movies that show white women in sexualized roles, researchers said, and help teenage girls feel more comfortable with themselves and their appearance.

Scientists say anything that can help is necessary as sensitive young teenagers compare themselves to an onslaught of thin and glamorous models portrayed by the media, and suffer as a result. One out of every two advertisements featuring women depicts them as sex objects.

Some past research has suggested that women of color were less vulnerable to concerns about body image, but the latest studies found that Latina girls are reporting body dissatisfaction at a rate similar to that of Caucasian girls.

"We're in a perfect storm of dissatisfaction," said Elizabeth Daniels, an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University–Cascades.

"This is a serious problem among girls, and our media environment and consumer culture has been making it worse for some time," said Daniels, who is an expert on gender, body image and youth development. "The issue of young teenagers feeling bad about their appearance is so prevalent that we now call it normative. In other words, it's normal to feel dissatisfied with your body."

Most adults have more real-life experience to help protect them, Daniels said, but impressionable adolescents too often feel seriously unhappy with their appearance, think about their bodies constantly, and are easily persuaded to buy the latest beauty products that advertisers tell them will help. For some, severe dissatisfaction can turn into an eating disorder.

But in this research, which studied 118 Latina girls ages 13-18, scientists found that a stronger sense of ethnic identity helped some girls feel positive about themselves. The analysis was done by showing images of white women taken from advertisements to separate groups of girls. Some images were "sexualized" in settings, such as wearing bikinis or lingerie; and others had more conventional, fully-clothed poses. The girls then created statements about how they visualized themselves.

Those who included reference to their ethnic identity – by saying something like "I am Latina" or "I am Hispanic" – tended to view themselves overall more positively. But Daniels pointed out that while the association with ethnicity appears to be helpful and partially protective, it's not a panacea.

"Media images are typically very idealized, done with white women, using lots of makeup and photo techniques, and they create a great pressure on young women to live up to this ideal," Daniels said. "They see more than five hours a day of this unrealistic depiction on television and elsewhere, and it's a tall order for them to just ignore it. Even the model, Cindy Crawford, once said that 'I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford.'"

However, this study indicates that cultural pride can help. One participant in the study wrote in her statements that "I am a proud Latina" and "I am not a skinny toothpick and proud of it."

The new findings were recently published in Body Image, a professional journal, by researchers from OSU and Gallaudet University.

The researchers also cautioned that the buffering effect of ethnic identity might not stand up when Latina girls are exposed to Latina media models – instead of the white women that dominate traditional advertising. Girls with strong ethnic identity might be especially vulnerable to the negative effects of viewing idealized media images of Latina women, the report concluded.

### Editor's Note: The study this story is based on is available online: http://bit.ly/1jKMGql


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Aerobic fitness and hormones predict recognition memory in young adults

2013-12-03
Aerobic fitness and hormones predict recognition memory in young adults (Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found further evidence that exercise may be beneficial for brain health and cognition. The findings, which ...

'Designer sperm' inserts custom genes into offspring

2013-12-03
'Designer sperm' inserts custom genes into offspring New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that altering genes in sperm and then inducing fertilization, produces new genes that are present and active in the embryos and inherited ...

Bothersome pain afflicts half of older Americans

2013-12-03
Bothersome pain afflicts half of older Americans Findings from a unique study underscore need for public health action on pain and disability in the elderly, reports PAIN® Philadelphia, December 2, 2013 – More than half of older adults in the United States – ...

Mission possible: Simulation-based training and experimentation on display

2013-12-03
Mission possible: Simulation-based training and experimentation on display A unique system that merges the virtual and real worlds to train Sailors for combat scenarios was unveiled Dec. 2 in Orlando. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is demonstrating ...

NASA investigating the life of Comet ISON

2013-12-03
NASA investigating the life of Comet ISON After several days of continued observations, scientists continue to work to determine and to understand the fate of Comet ISON: There's no doubt that the comet shrank in size considerably as it rounded ...

Genetic mutation may play key role in risk of lethal prostate cancer in overweight patients

2013-12-03
Genetic mutation may play key role in risk of lethal prostate cancer in overweight patients Boston, MA — Obesity is associated with a worse prostate cancer prognosis among men whose tumors contain a specific genetic mutation, suggest results from a new study ...

NASA's HS3 hurricane mission called it a wrap for 2013

2013-12-03
NASA's HS3 hurricane mission called it a wrap for 2013 NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel airborne mission known as HS3 wrapped up for the 2013 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season at the end of September, and had several highlights. HS3 will return ...

SU biologist develops method for monitoring shipping noise in dolphin habitat

2013-12-03
SU biologist develops method for monitoring shipping noise in dolphin habitat Nathan Merchant is exploring the link between man-made noise and marine mammal populations A biologist in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences has developed a system of techniques for ...

Osteoporosis drugs compared for side effects, efficacy in Loyola study

2013-12-03
Osteoporosis drugs compared for side effects, efficacy in Loyola study A study comparing the efficacy and tolerability of two popular osteoporosis drugs, denosumab and zoledronic acid, found that denosumab had a significantly greater effect on increasing spine ...

Micromovements hold hidden information about severity of autism, researchers report

2013-12-03
Micromovements hold hidden information about severity of autism, researchers report INDIANAPOLIS -- Movements so minute they cannot be detected by the human eye are being analyzed by researchers to diagnose autism spectrum disorder and determine its severity in children and ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

PLOS One study: In adolescent lab animals exposed to cocaine, High-Intensity Interval Training boosts aversion to the drug

Scientists identify four ways our bodies respond to COVID-19 vaccines

Stronger together: A new fusion protein boosts cancer immunotherapy

Hidden brain waves as triggers for post-seizure wandering

Music training can help the brain focus

Researcher develop the first hydride ion prototype battery

MIT researchers find a more precise way to edit the genome

‘Teen’ pachycephalosaur butts into fossil record

Study finds cocoa extract supplement reduced key marker of inflammation and aging

Obesity treatment with bariatric surgery vs GLP-1 receptor agonists

Nicotinamide for skin cancer chemoprevention

Novel way to ‘rev up’ brown fat burns calories, limits obesity in mice

USC Stem Cell-led team makes major advance toward building a synthetic kidney

[Press-News.org] Ethnic identification helps Latina adolescents resist media barrage of body images