eprintid: 135
rev_number: 11
eprint_status: archive
userid: 30
dir: disk0/00/00/01/35
datestamp: 2018-01-08 14:48:54
lastmod: 2018-01-08 14:48:54
status_changed: 2018-01-08 14:48:54
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: O’Rourke, Ciara
title: How does the portrayal of female beauty by the media influence young Irish girls between 8 and 12–years-old?
ispublished: submitted
subjects: H1
divisions: MAJ
full_text_status: public
keywords: Body image, Social Media
abstract: This study poses the question:  How does the portrayal of female beauty by the media influence young Irish girls between 8 and 12–years-old? It examines female perceptions of beauty within the media and how these contribute to body dissatisfaction among girls aged 
8 to 12 years-old. 
The study focuses on three research aims:  
(1) To gain an insight into how Irish primary school girls aged between 8 and 12-year-olds understand the term ‘body image.’  
(2) To explore how the media (social media, magazines, television) impacts on their self esteem. 
(3) To develop an understanding of how children consume the media in an educational setting and if media literacy is important in the Irish Primary School Curriculum. 

This small-scale qualitative study was carried out in a DEIS (disadvantaged) primary school in North Dublin over two school days. The researcher devised a powerpoint presentation (Appendix 3) of current images within the media, illustrating pictures of celebrities before 
and after the use of photo editing software, Photoshop. 

This facilitated two all-female focus groups, with the researcher as the moderator. One focus group consisted of five 3rd class female students, while the second focus group consisted of six 5th class female students.  
The study was carried out in an effort to understand how girls between 8 and 12 years-old are affected by the portrayal of beauty and the ‘ideal body’ within the media. Themes that were explored upon analysis of both focus groups included the idealisation of ‘thinness,’ 
body dissatisfaction, negative peer influence, appearance evaluation, body image, social comparison, social media influence, celebrity adoration and positive peer or parental influence on self-esteem.  

The results confirmed that the socio cultural influence of image-focused media is the biggest contributor to negative self-esteem and body dissatisfaction. Currently, there are no objectives within the Irish Primary School Curriculum to teach basic media literacy. 
 
These findings illustrate the need for an established programme of objectives for teachers to teach media literacy. This could aim to increase primary school children’s awareness of the impact of image-focused media.
date: 2017
date_type: submitted
institution: Griffith College
department: Faculty of Journalism and Media Communications
thesis_type: masters
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citation:   O’Rourke, Ciara  (2017) How does the portrayal of female beauty by the media influence young Irish girls between 8 and 12–years-old?  Masters thesis, Griffith College.   
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/135/1/Ciara%20O%27Rourke%20MAJ%20DISSERTATION.pdf
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/135/2/bibliography.txt