BEYOND THE THIN IDEAL: WOMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF AND EXPERIENCES WITH BEAUTY STANDARDS AND BEAUTYISM By WHITNEY STEFANI A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Edward R. Murrow College of Communication JULY 2019 © Copyright by WHITNEY STEFANI, 2019 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by WHITNEY STEFANI, 2019 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of WHITNEY STEFANI find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Stacey Hust, Ph.D., Chair Katheen Boyce-Rodgers, Ph.D. Elizabeth Hindman, Ph.D. Jessica Willoughby, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to have enjoyed the support and expertise of mentors, colleagues, friends, and family throughout this project. In particular, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Stacey Hust, whose insights and feedback were invaluable and who has spent many hours discussing gender and beautyism with me. Drs. Jessica Willoughby, Kathleen Boyce Rodgers, and Elizabeth Hindman have provided important suggestions and feedback for this dissertation. I would also like to thank Jason Wheeler, Nicole Cameron, and Jaymie Vandagriff for their assistance verifying transcripts and for sharing their perspectives on my research topics with me. Anna Strahm, Davi Kallman, and Nicole Cameron were wonderful editors and cheerleaders. To the countless professors, students, friends, and family members who have provided their insights, support, and kindness to me as I worked on this project, I am truly appreciative. iii BEYOND THE THIN IDEAL: WOMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF AND EXPERIENCES WITH BEAUTY STANDARDS AND BEAUTYISM Abstract by Whitney Stefani, Ph.D. Washington State University July 2019 Chair: Stacey Hust A substantial body of research suggests that women may experience anxiety, disordered eating, self-objectification, and other problems in response to narrow or unrealistic beauty ideals that are communicated interpersonally and through media. Beauty standard research has tended to focus on the impacts of the thin ideal on college women. Less is known about how women experience and cope with beauty standards related to other features, such as facial structure, or about the impact of beauty standards on women in middle or late adulthood. The present study used schema theory and social cognitive theory to investigate how women aged 25-60 experience, interpret, adhere to, and resist beauty standards. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 30 women were collected and analyzed from a feminist perspective using thematic analysis. Participants identified two types of beauty standards: the culturally dominant standard, which focused on physical features, and an alternative standard, which focused on psychological features. Participants felt that media and interpersonal communication played an important role in disseminating both beauty standards. They also believed that attractive women were associated with both positive and negative stereotypes, and these stereotypes may have influenced their motivation to be attractive. Weight dissatisfaction was common across the iv sample, but participants also criticized or praised other aspects of their appearance. In general, participants believed that society treats women differently based on their attractiveness. However, some were ambivalent about the impact of beauty-based discrimination, or beautyism, in their own lives. The findings have implications for intersectional feminist theory, objectification theory, and anti-beautyism. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................... ……….iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................1 Beauty and Sexism .........................................................................................................1 Beauty is Not Just Thinness ...........................................................................................3 Beauty Schemas and Communication ............................................................................4 Beautyism ......................................................................................................................5 Contributions of the Present Study ................................................................................7 Overview of the Present Study ......................................................................................9 2. METHOD .............................................................................................................................10 Feminist Methods for Studying Oppression.................................................................10 Philosophical Approach to Data Collection .................................................................11 Sample ..........................................................................................................................14 Procedure .....................................................................................................................16 Analysis........................................................................................................................19 3. DEFINING ATTRACTIVENESS ........................................................................................22 vi Culturally Dominant Beauty Schema ...........................................................................25 Stigmatized Appearances and Physical Attractiveness ................................................30 Attractiveness and Controllability ................................................................................47 Beauty-as-Psychological Schema .................................................................................50 Tensions Between Dominant and Alternative Schemas ..............................................54 Beauty-as-Psychological Schema and Objectification .................................................59 Summary ......................................................................................................................61 4.COMMUNICATION AND THE DOMINANT BEAUTY SCHEMA ................................62 Dissemination of the Dominant Beauty Schema ..........................................................62 Media Perpetuates the Dominant Beauty Schema .......................................................68 Social Cognitive Theory and Media ............................................................................76 Interpersonal Communication of the Dominant Beauty Schema .................................85 Summary ......................................................................................................................94 5.COMMUNICATION AND THE ALTERNATIVE SCHEMA ...........................................96 Media and Rejection of the Dominant Beauty Schema ...............................................96 Celebrity Culture and Favorite Media ..........................................................................98 News Media and Attractiveness .................................................................................101 Advertising and Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign ....................................................103 Considering Representation and Beautyism ..............................................................104 Interpersonal Communication and Mentors and Role Models ...................................107 vii Mentoring Others and Parenting ................................................................................112 Summary ....................................................................................................................118 6.STEREOTYPES ABOUT ATTRACTIVENESS ...............................................................120 Positive Stereotypes ...................................................................................................123 Negative Stereotypes ..................................................................................................128 The Interpersonal and Media Contexts of Attractiveness Stereotyping .....................136 Participants’ Reactions to Attractiveness Stereotypes ................................................142 Summary ....................................................................................................................147 7.SELF-EVALUATIONS OF ATTRACTIVENESS ............................................................148 Participants’ General Appearance Self-Evaluations...................................................150 Obstacles to Attractiveness ........................................................................................158 Challenges in Evaluating One’s Own Appearance ....................................................166 Emotional Experience of Evaluating One’s Attractiveness .......................................171 Summary ....................................................................................................................178 8.BEAUTYISM .....................................................................................................................180