Imperfect

The Unfair Perception of

Women in The Media
Reflection Statement - Samantha J. Gordon

Table of Contents
Introduction to my personal project ........................................................ 3
-

my goals, focus and aims

what my project is

Narrative
..............................................................................................37
-

plans and ideas

the process of making this project
the problems I faced
my research and investigation

Analysis ..................................................................................................... 7 - 9
-

how I dealt with problems I faced

my main discoveries
strengths and weaknesses
what I would do differently

Conclusion ................................................................................................ 9 - 10
-

what I learned about myself

accomplishing goals
continuation of my project
presenting at the club fair

Work Cited ............................................................................................... 11 - 13

-

gathering of all my sources throughout the project

Appendices ............................................................................................. 13 - 14
-

photos of my poster

For my personal project, I originally decided to focus on health and eating disorders in
particular. Ive always been passionate about this subject because it has had a huge impact
on my life and on my health from when I was younger. Eating disorders and body dysmorphic
disorder affects many girls from around age eight and up. It is a topic that should be
discussed more often, especially seeing as it has significance in many young women and
young mens lives. As I continued with my research, I realized that eating disorders were
largely connected to beauty standards and the perception of women in the media. Ive always
been very interested and involved with female empowerment, so the shift in direction for my
project was a great opportunity to learn more about the two topics and how they relate to
each other. Ultimately, I my desired finished product will be a non-profit organization to help
with the empowerment of girls, building up their confidence and regaining a healthy body
image that promotes the concept that you dont have fit into societys preconceived notion of
what perfect is to be beautiful. In order to achieve this goal, I worked on my project during the
summer by researching my topic and thinking about how I could make an impact on my
community. At this time I also applied for a program, LearnServe, that teaches students about
leadership and entrepreneurship. I was accepted, and I have been going to the meetings
where we work on our ventures, which are the projects that we envision and hope to start
up. Throughout my creative process, my research focus shifted direction from just the
disorders themselves to what the unfair perceptions of women in the media were and the
relation between beauty standards and a young girls physical and mental health.
When I first started working on my personal project, I found it difficult to find a topic
that had a global connection that I could relate to and find interesting. I decided to start off by
finding the issue that I was passionate about first and then creating a project around it. One of
my biggest obstacles was choosing what I wanted to focus on. In the beginning, I had so
many ideas, and I had trouble limiting myself to just one concentrated focus question. As I
continued working and thinking about which subjects I was passionate about, I realized that
body image was something that I found particularly interesting and felt was misrepresented in
todays society. While deciding how I wanted to approach my project and finished product, I
wrote most problems and thoughts that I came across in my process journal. This really
helped me visualize my progression and in what direction I wanted to take my research. Just
focusing on the eating and body dysmorphic disorders would have been enough, however I
felt that including its correlation to the cause of the issues would have more significance. In
addition, the perception of women in the media has a huge impact on most young women see
3

themselves. On a global spectrum, both the perception of women in the media and body
image dissatisfaction consequences are prominent.
After narrowing down the possible issues I could choose to focus on, my original
intent was to research eating disorders and their psychological effects. As summer
approached, I started doing my in depth research on body image dissatisfaction. While
studying this topic, I realized there was a strong relation between the disorders I was studying
- eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder and the perception of women in the media. I
decided to direct my focus on the relation between the perception of women and beauty
standards. In our society, we objectify womens physical appearance. Adolescents
confidence and self-esteem decreases significantly because of this. When looking into this
issue, I discovered multiple social experiments and campaigns. In 2004, Dove conducted a
global study and social experiment called The Real Truth About Beauty across 10 countries.
The research found that just 13% of all women say they are very satisfied with their beauty,
12% with their physical attractiveness, 17% with their facial attractiveness and 13% with their
body weight and shape (Etcoff, Orbach, Scott). More recently, Renfrew Center Foundation
conducted research starting in 2012 on how these standards affect the younger generations.
According to their results, most girls start wearing makeup between the ages of 8-13
(Griffith). When analysing this issue, I discovered that one of my main difficulties as far as
research was finding sources. While it wasnt impossible, many academic journals and
research reports were difficult to find because most of them required payment, even if I only
inquired specific chapters from them.
However, I was still able to find some great reports through databases and online
investigation. I decided to use several different sources for my project. Some gave me
academic information that I used for the base and detail of my research, and some that
appear more commonly. I decided to incorporate sources that discussed body image in the
news because it gave me a good idea of how beauty standards are interpreted by the public
and by social media itself. While I was aware of several challenges that various accounts
online have created, I didnt know to what extent they became popular. For example,
challenges such as the bikini bridge challenge and the collarbone challenge shocked me. Both
fads in the media were intended to show how skinny an individual is by placing as many coins
on their neck as possible for the collarbone challenge (Kabas). What I found most appauling
about the bikini bridge challenge, was the encouragement from the public as well as
companies such as 4chan in China to post pictures of the gap between rim of a girls bikini
4

bottom and their stomach. Due to these unhealthy standards, patients with anorexia nervosa
and bulimia quadrupled in China (Alfonso III). These developments aside, having constant
reminders of what others expect girls to look like creates both pressure and furthers the
existing insecurities that teenagers have. I discovered many different things about new trends
that had appeared in the last few years that I had never even heard of, and it was a great
opportunity to understand how most people interpret this subject. Another influential
challenge in the media was the Dont Judge Me Challenge. This trend was particularly
interesting because it had originally been intended to put an end to body shaming (Linshi),
however it furthered them by portraying people with what society considered unattractive
qualities, therefore deeming any individual with those features less than beautiful. The
message that they wanted to send was that beauty is a quality best represented by what is on
the inside, but in doing so they called attention to facial or body components that some
members of society consider flaws. By using a wide variety of sources, I was able to study
many different perspectives, that were very rich in detail about the disorders and the creation
of these standards themselves based on statistical analysis, as well as how these concerns
affected society directly.
One of the biggest factors during the working process is definitely time management.
As I worked during the summer and continue to work during the school year, managing my
time is essential to the projects progression. The 10th grade project is our first long-term
investigation, so it is the first assessment that really shows how we organize our time. During
the summer I tracked my hours to make sure I knew when I worked on the project and for how
long. This helped me keep track of my progress and how much I had done in comparison to
how much I had to do. This helped me understand how I efficiently I spend my time when I
was the one giving myself deadlines to have certain tasks completed. My goal and outline for
the year was to have my research completed by the end of my summer break and to start
focusing on the finished product during the beginning of the new school year. It was crucial
for me to focus during the summer to make sure that I completed the research that I needed
to in order to start concentrating on my final product. Once I had finished the research, I
would be ready to focus on the presentation and what I am going to be leaving behind. While
organizing my working routine and forcing myself to keep to my schedule, I learned how to be
more responsible with my work. While it may be taken for granted, it is a very helpful skill to
have, especially for the future when we have more than one major assignment due at once.

When I started working on my project during the summer, I decided to focus on one
element of research at a time. I worked on the disorders first and then on how social media
affects beauty standards. As I worked on collecting information about body image
dissatisfaction, I also thought about what I would like to ultimately achieve as a final product
to display at the project fair in December. In the end of freshmen year, I decided to apply for a
program called LearnServe Fellows that focuses on teaching students about leadership and
entrepreneurship. While interviewing for a position in this program, I realized that if I was
accepted I would be able to connect my personal project to my venture for the program, which
is a non-profit organization that helps to solve the issue that you are passionate about in your
community. When I was later accepted into the program during the end of my summer break, I
started to envision possible projects that I would like to create. The large majority of my
personal project will be based around this venture. The concept for my venture is to create a
program for young girls that teaches them to be confident and regain a healthy concept of
body image. In doing so, theyll

have an understanding that perfect is not a realistic

expectation. I have discovered that working in LearnServe is a wonderful opportunity. It has

opened many possibilities for my project, as well as my life in general. I find that both the
mentors, meaning the faculty, and the students who participate in the program are all
open-minded and passionate about social change. This has created a wonderful working
environment which is ideal for a creative outlet.
I chose to participate in this years Fellows program because I wanted to experience
new things. With the help of this program, I will better understand of how be a good leader
and entrepreneur. Understanding how to manage budget and business is an important skill
that is needed for a successful venture. In addition, these skills are important for a successful
future. Personally, I am good at public speaking in front of people that I know well. However, I
have always been afraid of speaking up when I dont feel comfortable or completely certain of
my ideas. This program will help me with my confidence and my presentation skills.
My project is centered around a global issue. I chose to create a project focusing one
of these problems because it is something that I feel strongly about and want to change. This
year, I am one of the head organizers of the GIN conference. I have always been interested in
how to solve pressing social injustice. This is the first project in which we have been able to
focus on any subject that we wanted with no requirements other than a global connection.
Seeing as it is a personal project, I wanted to choose something that affects me and that I can
really relate to. My project is based on perceptions and standards. From a global perspective,
6

these limiting standards and expectations affect everyone. Social media are connections that
many people have worldwide, and therefore this is a problem that has no borders. As
comparison is a natural instinct, most people have a tendency to diminish their own
self-worth and beauty based on someone else or multiple others (Dunkley). People of all ages
have insecurities about their physical appearance, whether its about weight, facial
construction or skin quality. On a local perspective, this is something that affects younger
generations more specifically. In particular, adolescents are susceptible to outside influences
such as social media and music. As they are at an age where self-confidence is lowered as it
is, having these negative messages only adds to the issue. Young girls are taught from a
young age to care about their appearance and that they have to use products and do things to
change their physical aspects such as hair, face and body shape in order to please others by
looking the way society deems attractive. This is an issue that I feel very strongly about
because it affects everyone to a certain extent, and is taken somewhat lightly in todays
society. I believe that it is an issue that should be considered more often, especially because
while it is discussed, there are very few attempts to resolve the problem.
When I first started researching eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder, one of
my biggest difficulties was the actual information itself. As I read different articles and
scientific journals about various illnesses and case studies, I was very moved by how hard it
is for patients with these illnesses. There is so much criteria that an individual with these
disorders faces. There were many things that I knew but didnt fully understand, about these
illnesses. For example, eating disorders -- such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating
disorder - include extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food
issues. Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical problems that can have life
threatening consequences for females and males (NEDA). While many people may think that
they understand what these specific problems consist of, it is impossible to know what
emotions a patient may feel. There is a lot of appropriation around subjects like disorders,
race, gender and sexual orientation. While some of the information I read wasnt necessarily
new to me, I never knew how to properly explain what this topic consisted of, and I think many
people assume that its okay to make comments or jokes in reference to anorexia nervosa,
bulimia or body dysmorphic disorder. I also learned that certain biological and environmental
factors may contribute to its development, including genetic predisposition, neurobiological
factors such as malfunctioning of serotonin in the brain, personality traits, and life
experiences (ADAA). Investigation such as this really furthered my comprehension because it
7

is so detailed and goes deeper into what the root causes of these disorders. I found my
research to be very interesting, however also very complex and somewhat saddening.
Although this was challenging, it reassured me to think about what I could do to try and help
contribute to solving these issues and create a healthier mentality for young women's beauty
standards. Throughout my creative process, there were multiple obstacles that I came across.
When we first heard about the project, I decided to start thinking of possible ideas to pursue.
This was difficult for me because I had multiple ideas that I ultimately had to narrow down to
one. I faced predicaments with decision making because I wanted to make sure that I chose a
topic that I would continue to feel passionate about throughout the entire project. When
making choices, whether it was choosing what I wanted to focus on or other smaller details, it
was harder because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. After finally choosing my
main focus, I felt confident about the project because I had taken the time to figure out
exactly what interested me.
In addition, I was able to modify my project during the summer as new opportunities
presented themselves, such as the LearnServe program. This definitely helped take the next
step in my project and create a bigger impact on my community. As my project shifted course
it centered more on my LearnServe venture, a campaigning organization that helps create a
healthier body image for adolescents by sending a positive message through social media
posts that incorporate art and pieces of writing. Through this program I also plan on speaking
in student conferences and in schools to educate young girls about self-esteem and positive
mentality when it comes to facial construction and body shape. What had originally been
intended as simply a research report on the cause and effects of eating disorders
transformed into a bigger goal that I hope will ultimately change the way girls see themselves
in both my local community and eventually global community. This extension makes the
assignment a long-term commitment that I am very dedicated to. Every Thursday, I attend
meetings with other LearnServe fellows where we are taught about marketing our ventures.
My strengths lie in discovering and fully understanding the root of my problem and its
effects. I am working hard to improve my solution and hopefully earn seed funding at the end
of this academic school year to start implementing my campaign. However, I am still
struggling with public speaking and my abilities to present it to potential investors and peers.
These are skills that this program is helping me improve as I continue working with them.
As I reflect on my project, I am very pleased with the progression of my thinking and
how it developed into a larger and more complete product. Looking back, I would probably
8

have spent more time thinking about what I had done previously and how I could incorporate
it into my project. Upon realizing that I was heavily involved with the unfair perceptions and
portrayals of women in society, I was able to reconstruct a project that demonstrated who I
am and what I love to do. I would also try to create a set schedule for myself so that I could
work as efficiently as possible. Although I did utilize my time wisely during the summer, I
would set specific dates for myself to work on different parts of my project for organization
purposes. Moreover, I would direct more attention to the actual outside influences such as
specific aspects of social media themselves in addition to the research about their effects to
provide more examples of its influence on the problem.
While working on the personal project, I have learned more about a subject that I
previously inquired about. It presented me with an opportunity to earn a fuller understanding
about a pressing issue and a chance to create a venture that will contribute to society. As I set
goals for myself, I took the necessary steps to complete them and create new ones. In
starting the beginning phases of my campaign through LearnServe, I have opened up new
possibilities as I continue to help maintain a healthy body image for adolescent girls in my
community. In addition to learning about this matter, I have developed as a person. I am more
confident and more open to new occasions that come my way. I feel comfortable discussing
my ideas with other students, and I am improving my public speaking skills to present my
ideas and work in a professional environment. I was able to draw from my previous
experience in different clubs and conferences that I had participated in to keep an
open-minded mentality and generate new interesting approaches when coming up with
solutions for prompts and causes. In doing so I push my thinking forward, and I continuously
ask myself about how I can fundraise and create awareness or partner with other
organizations that look to help with combating societys standards of beauty. I am very
pleased with my progress and results that I achieved throughout this project because I drive
my thinking forward each day. I am proud of my accomplishments in LearnServe and my
research on different aspects of beauty standards and their effects. When presenting in the
club fair, I felt confident. The more I spoke with different people, the more I relaxed and took
my time to develop my thoughts while still remaining rather summative since it many
attendees were parents and students who wanted to see as many projects as possible. I
really enjoyed presenting because it gave me an opportunity to speak in public and explain my
ideas and what I hope to create at the end of this school year. It also gave me the opportunity
to practice speaking about my LearnServe project, which I will be doing again in front of
9

potential sponsors. I was quite happy to find that I wasnt left standing alone for more than
about five minutes at a time. There was almost always someone or a group of people who
were interested in my project. As different people approached me, I realized that I could orient
the presentation based on who I was talking to. For some people I followed the structure that I
had planned originally, explaining the steps of the projects and what it consisted of, and for
others I worked around their questions and things that they wanted to know about
specifically. Many parents approached my table with questions, some of which I could answer
immediately and some of which required a bit more reflection. These questions gave me the
opportunity to think constructively about my topic and what it consists of. I also realized that
in my project I connected with not only the appearance aspects, but also the general negative
message sent to young girls. I want to not only change the beauty standards, but also
promote the concept that women can become anything and do anything they want to in life.
As I continue my exploration of the topic, I learn more information about both how to create
awareness and become an advocate for my cause. I am determined to make a difference in
society, both locally and globally.

10

Work Cited
Alfonso III, Fernando. 4chan Launches Social Media Campaign in Support of the Bikini
Bridge.
The Daily Dot
. Daily Dot, 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.dailydot.com/lol/bikini-bridge-4chan-hoax/>.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).
Anxiety and Depression Association of America
. ADAA,
2010. Web. 30 May 2015.
<http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-condition
s/body-dysmorphic-disorder-bdd>.
Cohen, Rachel, and Alex Blaszczynski. Comparative Effects of Facebook and Conventional
Media on Body Image Dissatisfaction.
Journal of Eating Disorders
. Ed. Phillipa Hay
and Stephen Touyz. BioMed Central - Springer Science + Business Media, 2 July 2015.
Web. 2 July 2015. <http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/3/1/23>.
Drexler, Peggy. High Heels Vs. Gender Equality: One or the Other?
Forbes
. Forbes, 15 June
2015. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/peggydrexler/2015/06/15/high-heels-vs-gender-equalit
y-one-or-the-other/>.
Dunkley, Tracy L., Eleanor H. Wertheim, and Susan J. Paxton.
Examination of a Model of
Multiple Sociocultural Influences on Adolescent Girls Body Dissatisfaction and Dietary
Restraint
. Research rept. no. 36.142. N.p.: Libra, 2001.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
.
Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
<http://find.galegroup.com/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateDescend
&tabID=T002&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=&
currentPosition=1&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28SU%2CNone%
2C12%29%22body+image%22%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28LU%2CNone%2C18%29%22Bo
dy+Image%7Cgirls%22%24&userGroupName=wash25819&inPS=true&docId=A792517
97&contentSet=IAC-Documents&docId=A79251797&docType=IAC>.
11 Facts about Teens and Self Esteem.
Do Something
. Yahoo, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-teens-and-self-esteem>.
Etcoff, Nancy, et al.
The Real Truth about Beauty : a Global Report
. N.p.: Dove, 2004. PDF file.

11

From Barbies to Blush - New Survey Reveals Young Girls Are Wearing Makeup Earlier than
Ever to Hide Their Insecurities.
PR Newswire
. PR Newswire Association, 21 Feb. 2013.
Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-barbies-to-blush---new-survey-reve
als-young-girls-are-wearing-makeup-earlier-than-ever-to-hide-their-insecurities-192318
071.html>.
Furnham, Adrian, Nicola Badmin, and Ian Sneade.
Body Image Dissatisfaction: Gender
Differences in Eating Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Reasons for Exercise
. Research rept.
no. 136(6), 581-596. University College London: Department of Psychology, 2002.
CSUB
. Web. 4 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.csub.edu/~lhecht/classes/behs501/articles/bodyimage.pdf>.
Gaille, Bradon. 26 Cosmetics Industry Statistics and Trends.
Brandon Gaille
. Brandon Gaille,
23 Oct. 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
<http://brandongaille.com/26-cosmetics-industry-statistics-and-trends/>.
Garber, Megan. What Beauty Looks Like, from Argentina to Vietnam.
The Atlantic
. Atlantic
Monthly Group, 28 June 2014. Web. 17 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/these-photoshops-of-the-s
ame-women-suggest-beauty-standards-around-the-world/373528/>.
Griffith, Taylor. Too Much Makeup Too Soon?
The Huffington Post
. Huffington Post, 22 Mar.
2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-griffith/too-much-makeup-too-soon_b_496000
4.html>.
Holland, Elise, and Nick Haslam. Sexualised Girls Are Seen as Less Intelligent and Less
Worthy of Help than Their Peers.
The Conversation
. Conversation, 28 Aug. 2015. Web.
1 Sept. 2015.
<http://theconversation.com/sexualised-girls-are-seen-as-less-intelligent-and-less-wor
thy-of-help-than-their-peers-46537>.
Kabas, Marisa. Women Are Putting Coins on Their Collarbones to Show off How Thin They
Are.
The Daily Dot
. Daily Dot, 18 June 2015. Web. 24 July 2015.
<http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/collarbone-challenge-china/>.
Kidd, Amelia, and Joanna Steinglass.
What Can Cognitive Neuroscience Teach Us about
Anorexia Nervosa?
Research rept. no. Volume 14 Issue 4. N.p.: Current Psychiatry
Reports, 2012.
NCBI
. Web. 14 July 2015.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410050/>.
Linshi, Jack. Heres How the Dont Judge Challenge Totally Backfired.
Time
. Time, 7 July
2015. Web. 24 July 2015. <http://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/>.

12

Parks, Chanel. Rituals Photo Series Defines the Intimacy of Beauty.

The Huffington Post
.
Huffington Post, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/noorann-matties-rituals-photos_n_5159
944.html>.
Romano, Andrea. One Womans Body Was Photoshopped to Explore Beauty Standards
around the World.
Mashable
. Mashable, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2015.
<http://mashable.com/2015/08/14/perfection-across-borders-body-photoshops/#uh2
fKKpPNOq0>.
Scherker, Amanda. 7 Ways the Beauty Industry Convinced Women That They Werent Good
Enough.
The Huffington Post
. Huffington Post, 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/beauty-industry-women_n_5127078.ht
ml>.
Types & Symptoms of Eating Disorders.
NEDA
. National Eating Disorder Association, n.d.
Web. 21 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/types-symptoms-eating-disorders>.
Vitelli, Romeo. Media Exposure and the Perfect Body.
Psychology Today
. Sussex, 18 Nov.
2013. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.
<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201311/media-exposure-a
nd-the-perfect-body>.
Weiss, Carmen V., et al. A Preliminary Study of Motivational Interviewing as a Prelude to
Intensive Treatment for an Eating Disorder.
Journal of Eating Disorders
. Ed. Phillipa
Hay and Stephen Touyz. BioMed Central - Springer Science + Business Media, 20 Aug.
2013. Web. 2 July 2015. <http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/1/1/34>.
Appendices

13

14