Matching Items (80)
Filtering by
- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Description
Of the over 17 million surgical and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures performed in the United States in 2016, women accounted for over 90% of patients and nearly 70% of all patients were white. The goal of cosmetic surgery is to surgically restructure a healthy body part to more closely represent the contemporary ideal of what defines a particular gender. For example, femininity being linked to large breasts and small waist-to-hip ratio maintains binary heteronormative standards of what female body should look like. Plastic surgeons rely on advertising to attract patients for their businesses, since insurances do not cover elective cosmetic procedures. The ethical dilemma with this medical profession is with establishing aesthetic criteria for categorizing which bodies are considered normal and which are deviant. To understand the role of the physician in perpetuating cultural standards of beauty and promote surgery through their advertising, a random sample of 5 board-certified plastic surgeons from Scottsdale, AZ 85258 was obtained, focusing primarily on the images and textual content of their web pages. Of the 50 images sampled, nearly 75% of images portrayed white women. Women of color did not present in any of the photos. 52% of the home page images sexualized female clients using seductive posing and lingerie and promoted femininity using makeup and long hair. The language used in these websites criticized the presurgical female body and suggested that only physicians could eradicate their deficiencies, thereby normalizing cosmetic surgery as a means of beauty enhancement and maintaining the cultural superiority of doctors. 60% of websites failed to include adequate description of surgical risk. By choosing cosmetic surgery, women are negotiating their lives and acting as agents, even under circumstances that they cannot control such as the withholding of information, minimizing of risk or the social context and its corresponding pressures. Although the forewarning of surgical risk is rarely effective as a deterrent, it is the responsibility of the physician to provide the patient with all the information to the best of their ability so that they can decide what's best for their present circumstance, although rarely taken under conditions of perfect knowledge or absolute freedom from societal pressures. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons should work in conjunction with the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Review Council to mediate regulatory solutions and increase public assurance in the credibility of advertising, perhaps an initiative similar to that of advertising for the cigarette industry. A pledge from the cosmetic surgery industry in conjunction to the Hippocratic Oath of the American Medical Association, which outlines the physician's responsibility to the patient within the context of advertising and marketing, could strengthen social responsibility and foster stronger, more honest relationships between surgeons and consumers.
ContributorsUchendu, Nneka Nwamaka (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Weitz, Rose (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The Impact of Forensic Science on Society examines the relationship between forensic science and society. Before 2009, society believed forensic science to be a important investigative tool. When the National Academy of Sciences released a report in 2009 detailing the issues within forensic science, society's opinion changed. This thesis analyzes factors that influenced the change in the relationship between forensic science and society, specifically focusing on the 2009 report, the CSI effect, the Innocence Project, and the role of the media. It also looks at how we can continue to improve forensic science, as well as how to strengthen the relationship between forensic science and society.
ContributorsDeroin, Shania Waldner (Author) / Kobojek, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Gordon, Karen (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Media and technology are integral parts of today’s society. Unlike in the past, most adults in the United States now have access to the internet via their own personal devices. Technology’s popularity does not stop with adults. The children of this generation are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to media and technology and are exposed to it at a very young age. This paper analyzes the effect that this exposure is having on early childhood development. The research shows that there are several benefits to children using technology at a young age. Some of these benefits include increased learning opportunities, preparation for future careers, and support for children with disabilities. However, there are also several challenges that technology can cause. Some of these challenges include increased violence, exposure to inappropriate content, sleep issues, and an increased chance of obesity. In addition to this paper, a resource website titled Toddlers and Technology was created. The purpose of this website is to give parents insight into the information that is available in regards to technology and child development. The website includes the benefits and challenges of children using technology, recommendations on how parents can combat the challenges, and a list of 10 educational apps for early childhood development.
Keywords: children, technology, media, apps, families
Keywords: children, technology, media, apps, families
ContributorsCave, Mckenna Ann (Author) / Farrand, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Boozer, April (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This research explores how to best communicate positive body images to women. This project was intended to improve a blog I created my freshmen year in college called You're Not A Potato where I used original illustrations to tell a narrative about body image issues. The thesis begins with an historical overview of body image issues and finds that women have been dealing with high levels of body dissatisfaction since the Victorian era. The thesis then recaps the role of traditional media as well as contemporary social media and the role they play in imposing rigid beauty ideals on women's bodies. After an analysis of social media culture, it becomes evident women still communicate about their bodies in a negative manner, not only towards themselves, but towards others. To address this issue, I define the Body Positive movement and explore how public figures are using social media to implement Body Positivity. To conclude this project, I utilize my new-found knowledge in body positive communication by impacting my university campus community. I started a "You're Not a Potato" Campaign for Body Pride week with the help of the ASU Wellness Team and designed and facilitated several engaging programs that reflected the values of the Body Positive movement to our students. Through this research, I discovered how our appearance-based culture has stolen self-confidence from young women today, but by the end of this project, I explain how we can attempt to rebuild our culture by effectively communicating self-love and body acceptance in our online and physical communities.
ContributorsMouton, Brianna Anais (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Taylor, Jameien (Committee member) / Manninen, Bertha (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The Internet has made it possible to exchange information at a rapid rate. With this extraordinary ability, media companies and various other organizations have been able to communicate thoughts and information to an extremely large audience. As a result, news subscribers are overwhelmed with biased information, which makes it very easy to be misinformed. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to stay truly informed without spending countless hours searching the Internet for different viewpoints and ultimately using that information to formulate a sound understanding. This project (nicknamed "Newsie") solves this problem by providing news subscribers with many news sources to every topic, thereby saving them time and ultimately paving a way to a more informed society. Since one of the main goals of this project is to provide information to the largest number of people, Newsie is designed with availability in mind. Unsurprisingly, the most accessible method of communication is the Internet \u2014 more specifically, a website. Users will be able to access Newsie via a webpage, and easily view to most recent headlines with their corresponding articles from several sources. Another goal of the project is to classify different articles and sources based on their bias. After reading articles, users will be able to vote on their biases. This provides a crowdsourced method of determining bias.
ContributorsAlimov, Robert Joseph (Author) / Meuth, Ryan (Thesis director) / Franceschini, Enos (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Sexual abuse is a major issue in the United States that has only recently begun to get media attention. This media attention has resulted in a growing awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and assault in society, especially in Hollywood and politics. However, sexual abuse is not limited to those areas, but occurs in all facets of society, including the workplace, schools, prison, and the military. Sexual abuse is only recently being recognized by society as a systemic problem instead of an isolational one. Depsite, this growing awareness of the issue, educator sexual abuse remains understudied. Educator sexual abuse is a largely ignored problem in society. This paper will look at how the media portrays gender in their reporting of educator sexual abuse cases and how this can affect biases, stereotypes, and myths surrounding the issue. We will look at eight cases—four female perpetrators and four male perpetrators—of K-12 educator sexual abuse in the United States. Using two articles for each case, we will analyze how the media reports on these cases and how gender biases are further perpetuated through these reportings. Specifically, we will analyze how perpetrators are portrayed as victims, instances of victim blaming, the implications of terminology in describing consent and responsibility, and the use of click bait all continue to perpetuate stereotypes and myths surrounding the issue of sexual abuse. The media coverage of educator sexual abuse is problematic and it is important to recognize the gender biases in the news coverage. Additionally, we will argue that the media can be a part of the prevention strategy for stopping sexual assault and harassment. Society has a long way to go in stopping sexual assault and educator sexual abuse; however, awareness is often the first step in this process, and the media needs to be careful about further perpetuating damaging stereotypes and myths.
ContributorsLanphier, Erin (Co-author) / Rosenbach, Elizabeth (Co-author) / McGibbney, Michelle (Thesis director) / Johnson, Eric (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In 1986, Wendy Chapkis published Beauty Secrets: Women and the Politics of Appearance, exploring beauty as it is interpreted through physical appearance, gender, and sexuality. Over thirty years later, many of the trends and problems Chapkis identified still exist or have gotten worse; we still live in a society that praises ideal physical beauty, and creates and reinforces unrealistic beauty standards. This research strives to determine why these problems still exist, and how to solve them. Through a combination of creative writing and analytic research, this project will discuss topics that have helped to create problems like cultural influences, gender norms, and the media, as well as discuss the consequences like mental health and eating disorders, and the unattainable ideal beauty standard. The purpose of this study is to bring new attention to the flaws of a society that teaches people they are defined by their appearance, in order to teach people what actions we need to take to make real progress. Research was conducted using an online survey to allow for anonymous, honest, responses, which were then analyzed to inspire sections of creative writing, as well as fuel the analytical research portions of the paper. In this way, the text mirrors Chapkis’ original style to connect and engage with readers. Research shows that many respondents know there are problems with society’s standards, but feel powerless to change anything. This study provides a platform to restart the conversation, and call people to action, to inspire people not to simply redefine beauty, but teach them that they should not define others or themselves by merely their physical appearance.
ContributorsFast, Elizabeth (Author) / Fontinha de Alcantara, Christiane (Thesis director) / Barca, Lisa (Committee member) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In this paper I examined whether the media, for example news outlets and social media sites, had any effect on how the public viewed police officers. I wanted to see if the police and citizen incidents that were dominating the airwaves actually happened as frequently as it seemed, whether the media and social media outlets had anything to do with the increase of these types of incidents, and if these incidents and reporting styles had any effect, negative or positive, on how citizens watching viewed police officers. I think it is important to see if the media can influence the way citizens think especially in regards to law enforcement officers because their role in society is crucial to keeping everyone safe and peaceful. I also believe it is important to see how these citizens are being influenced. Ultimately, I wanted to see if I could prove that the media and social media have an effect on how citizens view police officers through the way they report on certain issues. In order to do this I conducted research looking into the various news reports that have been going on, I also looked into the different issues going on and looked at research going into both the sides of police officers and media outlets. I also conducted my own research by interviewing four police officers three retired and one active, as well as distributing a survey asking specific questions relating to my thesis to college students ages 18 and over. At the end of all this research I found that media does in fact have an effect on the opinions of citizens because they seem to report on only negative incidents or those dealing with different races. Social media also plays a big part by allowing everyone to see clips of incidents without any information allowing people to form uneducated biased opinions and running with it. Which in turn influences citizens to think a certain way and believe in "facts" that are not true.
ContributorsMoreno, Christiana J. (Author) / Johnston, Coy (Thesis director) / Cerven, James (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Social Work (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Parental substance abuse is the number one reason children are neglected and placed in foster care. More than 18,000 children were in out-of-home care in Arizona in 2015, the majority of them for neglect. Reports to the Arizona Department of Child Safety are categorized by physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Neglect is the broadest category and 72.9 percent of the maltreatment reports DCS received between April and September 2015 were for child neglect. Experts say nationally, parental substance abuse is the main cause for the neglect of children. "The Endless Cycle of Neglect" is an in-depth story about the effects of parental substance abuse leading to children being placed in foster care. The research was conducted through reviews of data available in public records and interviews with experts and adults who were in placed in foster care after experiencing neglect by parents who were abusing substances. The story is built into a multimedia website with elements such as photos, embedded audio, and infographics. The story follows Amber Anderson, whose father was a drug addict, and chronicles the events in her life that led to her being placed in foster care and ultimately losing her children to foster care because of neglect. Anderson shared her story of neglect, her time as a prostitute, and the events that led to her losing custody of her children. The website that the story is hosted on, kuntharathesis.com, was built to be visually engaging for readers, with large photos, pull quotes, and interactive infographics. The full thesis can be found at kuntharathesis.com or http://kuntharathesis.com/index.php/2016/05/05/the-unending-cycle/
ContributorsKunthara, Pallavi Elizabeth (Author) / Petchel, Jacqueline (Thesis director) / Chadha, Monica (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Patients receive electroconvulsive therapy every day in the United States but negative media representations of the therapy put doubts in the minds of potential patients as to whether or not they should go through with the therapy or not. The purpose of this study was to explore how health care providers perceive the influence of media on patient decision-making regarding whether or not to receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and how they might address the perceived effects of said media. A total of 16 articles were analyzed in a literature review regarding the media's portrayal of ECT and/or how it affected patients and one interview with a physician was conducted. It was found that while the current literature still largely focuses on the negative media and its implications on patient decision-making, the physician had a more positive viewpoint. As a whole, the literature and physician agreed that media played a role in patients' decisions, but the media's portrayal of the therapy was not seen as negatively by the physician.
ContributorsIssar, Stephanie Marie (Author) / Pickens, Judith (Thesis director) / Sayles, Judy (Committee member) / Fargotstein, Barbara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2013-05