Blog #2: Project Plan

Hello! And welcome back to my blog post. For my semester 2 project, I chose to be researching the inquiry question, “How does the portrayal of beauty standards by the media contribute to the ongoing presence of body dysmorphia?” I chose this question as it does affect many people; however, it still has a stigma attached to it. Through this project, I hope to find an answer to how much of an impact the media has in contributing to this disorder that affects so many people. I hope to do this by answering the following mini-questions:

1. What are beauty standards and body dysmorphia? How are they related? As for any research project, I believe it is important to thoroughly know background information about the topic before researching the inquiry question itself. That is why, I believe researching what beauty standards and body dysmorphia are and how they relate would be the best first step to understanding this topic. Finding an answer to this question would also be rather straightforward and opinionated, as it does have a straight answer.

2. What specific types of media (ex. social media, television, etc.) are most influential in shaping beauty standards and contributing to body dysmorphia?

The inquiry question I plan on researching relates closely to the media and how beauty standards and body dysmorphia are affected by it. Finding an answer to the specific types of media that most relate to the topics would help in finding an answer to my entire inquiry question, as it would filter out forms of media that don’t relate to the topic. This would also help in understanding the demographics of those who follow certain types of media and their correlation with those who are most affected by BDD’s as well.

3. How have beauty standards affected the number of teenagers affected by BDD’s every year?

The third and final mini-question I plan on researching relates to teenagers specifically. I believe finding an answer to how beauty standards affect teenagers is key to understanding the topic better and relates to the main reason I wanted to research this question in the first place. I know of a number of teenagers who struggle with the idea of not liking the way they look and personally not believing they fit society’s beauty standards. I hope to research to understand how big of a problem this is for teenagers today and how those affected by it can be helped, in hopes to find an answer to my inquiry question.

Resources –

1. NHS. (n.d.). NHS choices. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/body-dysmorphia/#:~:text=Body%20dysmorphic%20disorder%20(BDD)%2C,in%20teenagers%20and%20young%20adults.

This article touches on what body dysmorphia is in simple terms and also talks about the symptoms of BDD’s.

2. Beauty Standards. University of Washington. (n.d.). https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/beauty-standards/section/cff23c1e-aced-4e24-b14e-25a2728170d3

This second article talks about beauty standards and the history behind it. It addresses the difference in how beauty standards have changed throughout the years and social media’s relation to them as well.

3. The relationship between social media and body dysmorphia. D\’Amore Mental Health. (2024, March 29). https://damorementalhealth.com/social-media-and-body-dysmorphia/

As mentioned in the title, social media and body dysmorphia are what this article most talks about. The author also mentions other media that may affect people’s ideas on beauty standards and body dysmorphia, but focuses on social media’s affects on it today.

4. Cammarata, C. M. (Ed.). (2023, May). Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in kids and teens (for parents) | nemours kidshealth. KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/bdd.html

Although teens continue to be among those most affected by BDD’s, this article touches on how these disorders to impact kids (aged up to 12) as well. Symptoms and signs are also mentioned in this article.

5. NHS. (n.d.). NHS choices. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/body-dysmorphia/#:~:text=Body%20dysmorphic%20disorder%20(BDD)%2C,in%20teenagers%20and%20young%20adults.

Teenage body dysmorphia is what this article circles around and its impacts specifically on teenagers. It also gives tips and pointers on when to seek for help and the steps to do so.

Finding an answer to this question will have an impact on individuals, including those in the community, as it is around a topic that affects many. This is because of the number of people affected by BDD’s on a daily basis, which also happens to be one of my top reasons for picking this topic to research. The two main reasons I believe this research project will make a difference are that it will be able to challenge social norms and address community and society’s health and well being. Understanding how the media has an impact on beauty standards and it’s correlation to BDD’s will allow others to challenge topics addressed in ideas related to ‘the perfect beauty standards’ and can help spark conversations about all the problems to do with them as well. As a society, it is important to stay updated on issues affecting our world and how we can help those affected by them, which is the second reason I believe this topic will have an effect on others.

Thank you so much for reading my blog post! I enjoyed talking about how I hope to lay this project out and look forward to sharing it with you. I would love to read any suggestions and help you understand the topic better as well!

Until next time! Thank you.