Perceived Realism in the Professional World
In 2009, researchers from Cornell released a study in which they compared roles that different sized women play on TV and peoples opinions on appropriate jobs for everyday women based solely on physical appearance. They first discovered that women with larger bodies are under represented on television. They also found that over weight women in television programs were less likely to be in successful relationships or succeed in the professional world.
The researcher then turned to the public. They showed average people pictures of skinnier women and of larger women and were asked to place them in appropriate jobs. Overwhelmingly, the skinner women were put in more professional positions, and the larger women were designated to roles such as homemaker and other domestic roles. Even more astonishingly, women always placed skinnier females in more professional roles; while men were also likely place average sized women in professional positions. College women felt the strongest that the skinnier the women the more likely she is to succeed in the professional world. They concluded that the media has influenced social standards when it comes to women in the professional world. (Barriga 2009)
The researcher then turned to the public. They showed average people pictures of skinnier women and of larger women and were asked to place them in appropriate jobs. Overwhelmingly, the skinner women were put in more professional positions, and the larger women were designated to roles such as homemaker and other domestic roles. Even more astonishingly, women always placed skinnier females in more professional roles; while men were also likely place average sized women in professional positions. College women felt the strongest that the skinnier the women the more likely she is to succeed in the professional world. They concluded that the media has influenced social standards when it comes to women in the professional world. (Barriga 2009)
Sociological Effects
After making connections between the roles of different sized women on television and the public's perception of women based on size they attempted to discover the effects of their findings. They found that the effects were the strongest on college age women (the next generation of women aspiring to the professional world). They felt the most pressure to be skinny and many college women with larger bodies believed their chances at professional success were less because of their size.
