Global Journal of Human Social Science, H: Interdisciplinary, Volume 23 Issue 5

construction developed by a gendered worldview whereby the worthiness of women is linked to their sexualisation. As Blood (2005) claims, if it is not politically proper to broadcast sexually suggestive tales, then (women) news is just not worthy to broadcast. The everyday story of womanhood in our media uses repetition, regularity, and authoritative sources to provide a mythological character that lends the impression of truth (Levi-Strauss, 1958). Media give us a picture of femininity that is restricted, white, and patriarchal — it is a view that serves men’s and businesses’ interests (MacDonald, 1995). The ideal woman’s body must be slim, devoid of "excess hair", deodorised, scented, and elegantly dressed in society. According to Orbach (1988), women must adhere to an ideal body shape in which girls are taught to “groom” themselves correctly through networking from the time they go to school to when they come back home. Through the decades, femininity models have always promoted ideals of flawless femininity and such notions have percolated through media channels from one generation to the next. Accordingly, in mainstream media, women are presented to the public if they are married, heterosexually open, parental, thin, but also economically appealing and renowned (Bruch, 1978). In other words, a slim body form is linked to personal, career, and skills to succeed. b) Food, dieting, and the anxiety of standardised bodies Food may take on a negative meaning for many women in an obsessive media discourse since it is perceived as a source of weight gain (Chernin, 1983; Orbach, 1978). Food pleasure supposedly constitutes a temptation that must be subdued by restricted eating habits to achieve some socially accepted beauty standard. Despite academic findings of cross-cultural disparities in body form standards, evidence has begun to emerge that non-Western groups, particularly those who have interacted with Western society, exhibit Western-style weight and shape anxieties. For example, a study conducted by Wassenaar et al. (2000) explored the linkage between negative body images and dieting attitudes among white and Asian women living in London. The researchers found that such connections were comparable links to blend into Western culture for fear of being decriminalised. According to Blood (2005), the influenced image of women alters a cultural context that relies on promoting capitalism by utilising women’s desire for independence and income, while convincing them to criticise their physiques so they can spend lavishly on measuring up to the socially acceptable standards of beauty. Wolf (1990) referred to this as a predominant dual-nature culture that expects women to conform to certain pre-determent criteria of beauty to enjoy themselves while being persuaded their true selves are inadequate; yet, they need not fear as they are capable of acquiring the projected self - a feminine copy. Women impacted by mainstream adverts and media advertising are more likely to want to lose fat, according to large-scale polls (Button, et al., 1997; Serdulla, et al., 1993). From the 1980s until today, 82% of women globally started dieting or limiting their eating; this tendency has continued to grow annually (Jacobovits, et al., 1977). Explanations for these disparities have progressively been directed to the media discourses perpetuated by a patriarchal society where women need to be appealing to men who are the true breadwinners (Streigel-Moore, et al., 1996). Accordingly, feminists allege that an idealised, slim female form is over-represented, with potentially negative implications for women who suffer from eating disorders (Orbach, 1978). Certainly, the main mass media played a pivotal role in propagating the cultural ideal of beauty. Modern advertising, shopping, and entertainment systems develop vivid ideals of beauty that pressurise women to adhere to the prevailing body shape craze. c) Power and docile female bodies Many women’s self-perceptions are now mediated by body image discourse/knowledge, which is actively building the cultural meanings we assign to diet, nutrition, and body dimension. A constant obsession with calories, nutrition, and skinniness that primarily affect women may emerge as the most influential normalising strategies of our millennium. This may ensure the production of self-monitoring and self- disciplining “docile bodies” who become obsessed with self-improvement and modification to adhere to such lofty standards of beauty (Bordo, 1993a). As the effects of power upon the female body lead women to passively become societal docile bodies, other meanings or interpretations of women’s negative experiences with food and body size are hidden, Specifically, surveillance through dieting and body shape make women establish what is “normal” and classifies them with respect to this standard (Jeffreys, 1985). The power of regulating dominant discourses of femininity shapes the way traditional feminine practises (such as dieting and other body-management strategies) educate the female body in ways of complying with societal standards, although these practises are frequently viewed as “power” and “control” (Bartky, 1988). These norms effectively influence and define women’s wants, feelings, and identities within the practical site of mainstream magazines and newspapers, including “training” women on how to view their bodies in contrast to that norm (Bordo, 1993a). Such normalised views of a feminine body cause women to become subjugated by societal power © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue V Version I Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( ) H 67 To What Extent do Female Body Representations Create an Intersectional Understanding of Media Discourse?