This was my original proposal:
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the overwhelming effects of media’s influence on the presence of poor body image and its effects on women. I will also examine eating disorders in women caused to guilt associated with eating food.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
As a young female, I am well aware of the “ideal” thin and beautiful woman ever present in media coverage today. Although I have relatively high self-esteem, I personally know women that cannot say the same and I am interested in learning about the environmental causes of this poor body image. Media coverage of overly thin women and the popular new “diet of the day” surely have to have an effect on women, and I wanted to explore how. I am interesting in finding out how the media has shaped us cognitively with thin body awareness undertones subconsciously, making women have a food and guilt association and overall low self-esteem.
Guiding Research Question
1. What are some first hand thoughts of women who have eating disorders and what caused them to go down such a harmful and dangerous path?
2. Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
3. Is the media at fault for food related guilt?
4. Are social upbringings at fault for food related guilt?
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
What can we do to change poor self image in women?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
Eating disorders and women
Eating disorders and the media
Guilt and food
Self-image and the media
Guilt associated with food
And this is my revised proposal:
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the negative effects of the government’s war on obesity in America. I want to explore whether this campaign is in fact justified and if it is actually doing more harm than good.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
There is an ever-present charge in America today to stay thin and beautiful. To heighten this, the government has also implemented a “war on obesity” to combat a condition they believe could become a very serious epidemic. I believe this campaign could have very negative effects on body image, as people are constantly flooded with images of “thin ideal” men and women and the urgencies the government commands about the “healthy lifestyle” one should live.
Guiding Research Question
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
Is the anti-obesity campaign morally wrong by singling out overweight people?
Are the food regulations that the government is implementing an invasion of our rights?
Is the government really just trying to make money from the campaign by getting people to buy diet and exercise supplies?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
War on obesity
National health campaign
Small steps program
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009.
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates main stream media with negative effects on eating patterns.
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Radley’s article alludes to a three-day event called the Obesity Summit and refers to different speakers and their opinions at the lectures. He satirically addresses the strong willed combatants of obesity that hold radical opinions such as obesity being “every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today.” Radley refutes their ideas by providing evidence of the fictional belief that obesity causes cancer and heart disease. He mentioned Paul Campos and Dr. Jeffrey Friedman as advocates of uncovering the myths of obesity. This article is useful to me particularly for the extreme representation of the government.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009.
Campos addresses the inaccuracy of the government’s BMI calculator and poses the idea that the government’s anti-obesity campaign is really just a mechanism to make money from gullible Americans. He debunks the common lies that fat people are less healthy than thin people, that fat people would be as healthy as thin people if they lost weight, and that fat people can choose to be thinner. This will be useful to disprove the government’s extreme notions that fat is the route of all health problems in America.
Friedman, Jeffrey M. "The War on Obesity, Not the Obese." Scientist 13 May 2005: 1-3. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Friedman takes a very scientific approach in this article, looking down upon diet industries and the common view of obese people a stigma to humankind. He argues that obesity is mostly due to genetic inheritance and is not as easily combated as portrayed in common media. He also talks about the skewed statistics of increasing obesity, when in reality Americans have only gained an average of 7 to 10 pounds since 1991.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
The first two sentences of this article really sum it up and could be used as a good quote for my paper. It proposes “having the option to order a salad makes people more likely to order the least healthy item on the menu. And the more self control people have, the more likely they’ll be influenced to eat unhealthy according to Psychology Today.” This shows that the government’s persistence in health promotion could really be promoting poor health.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article’s purpose is to critique Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Guntham argues against Pollan to state that his theories of caloric metabolism and food are false. She states “caloric metabolism appears to explain less than half of body size variation,” and “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat.”
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article talks about the negative effects of obsessively eating healthy to the point when it becomes a very unhealthy eating disorder called Orthorexia nervosa. This disease is known to disturb relationships and cause feelings of disconnectedness. I feel that this evidence may correlate well to the government’s flooding promotion of eating well in America today. Could the rise of Orthorexia be blamed on the governments’ anti-obesity campaign?
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article offers a very fair and balanced view of obesity in America. Lobel states that obesity is in fact a problem, yet focuses on the twisted view Americans have of overweight and obese people. A good example of this is a quote that states “ We’re sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seeking refuge in yo-yo diets that feed a multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry but do nothing but keep the pounds off and, in fact, often contribute to health problems later.” This concise article will be good to use for powerful quotes and ideas in my paper.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
John Tierney discusses the common idea that reducing fat intake in your daily diet decreases disease. He poses several cases of evidence in which scientific study has disproved this idea. He explains the overwhelming belief of fat causing disease as an instance of a “cascade” of misinformation, which means that doctors and scientists believe what others say without scientifically testing the idea themselves.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article aims to define what Orthorexia-nervosa is, the consequences, and plausible treatments. Some good quotes from the article include a description of Orthorexia as “an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food.” This article also included information about skeptics of the disease. Overall, I think this article will provide good general information for my paper.
Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009.
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates main stream media with negative effects on eating patterns.
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Radley’s article alludes to a three-day event called the Obesity Summit and refers to different speakers and their opinions at the lectures. He satirically addresses the strong willed combatants of obesity that hold radical opinions such as obesity being “every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today.” Radley refutes their ideas by providing evidence of the fictional belief that obesity causes cancer and heart disease. He mentioned Paul Campos and Dr. Jeffrey Friedman as advocates of uncovering the myths of obesity. This article is useful to me particularly for the extreme representation of the government.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009.
Campos addresses the inaccuracy of the government’s BMI calculator and poses the idea that the government’s anti-obesity campaign is really just a mechanism to make money from gullible Americans. He debunks the common lies that fat people are less healthy than thin people, that fat people would be as healthy as thin people if they lost weight, and that fat people can choose to be thinner. This will be useful to disprove the government’s extreme notions that fat is the route of all health problems in America.
Friedman, Jeffrey M. "The War on Obesity, Not the Obese." Scientist 13 May 2005: 1-3. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Friedman takes a very scientific approach in this article, looking down upon diet industries and the common view of obese people a stigma to humankind. He argues that obesity is mostly due to genetic inheritance and is not as easily combated as portrayed in common media. He also talks about the skewed statistics of increasing obesity, when in reality Americans have only gained an average of 7 to 10 pounds since 1991.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
The first two sentences of this article really sum it up and could be used as a good quote for my paper. It proposes “having the option to order a salad makes people more likely to order the least healthy item on the menu. And the more self control people have, the more likely they’ll be influenced to eat unhealthy according to Psychology Today.” This shows that the government’s persistence in health promotion could really be promoting poor health.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article’s purpose is to critique Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Guntham argues against Pollan to state that his theories of caloric metabolism and food are false. She states “caloric metabolism appears to explain less than half of body size variation,” and “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat.”
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article talks about the negative effects of obsessively eating healthy to the point when it becomes a very unhealthy eating disorder called Orthorexia nervosa. This disease is known to disturb relationships and cause feelings of disconnectedness. I feel that this evidence may correlate well to the government’s flooding promotion of eating well in America today. Could the rise of Orthorexia be blamed on the governments’ anti-obesity campaign?
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article offers a very fair and balanced view of obesity in America. Lobel states that obesity is in fact a problem, yet focuses on the twisted view Americans have of overweight and obese people. A good example of this is a quote that states “ We’re sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seeking refuge in yo-yo diets that feed a multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry but do nothing but keep the pounds off and, in fact, often contribute to health problems later.” This concise article will be good to use for powerful quotes and ideas in my paper.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
John Tierney discusses the common idea that reducing fat intake in your daily diet decreases disease. He poses several cases of evidence in which scientific study has disproved this idea. He explains the overwhelming belief of fat causing disease as an instance of a “cascade” of misinformation, which means that doctors and scientists believe what others say without scientifically testing the idea themselves.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article aims to define what Orthorexia-nervosa is, the consequences, and plausible treatments. Some good quotes from the article include a description of Orthorexia as “an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food.” This article also included information about skeptics of the disease. Overall, I think this article will provide good general information for my paper.
Citing Sources Within a Paper
Signal Phrase- verb introducing the source's word
Attribution Phrase- name of a source and a signal phrase, also known as identifying tag
Parenthetical Reference- last name of a soure and page number of source.
Attribution Phrase- name of a source and a signal phrase, also known as identifying tag
Parenthetical Reference- last name of a soure and page number of source.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Exericse 45.1
Oral history is an important way of capturing certain aspects of the past that would disappear when the people who could relay their experiences have died. While history books relate the stories of great men and events. Jean R. Friedman also makes note that history books do not usually include the experiences of ordinary people- slaves, concentration camp survivors, and the illiterate, for example (30). By providing information about the people and emotions of the past, oral history "makes sense of the present and gives a glimpse of the likely future, according to Allison Gregg. Due to the nature of memories changing over time, it is important to evaluate the context of an oral history (139). Honig points out that "oral history is just one of many possible versions of an individual's 'past' (139)."
Works Cited
Freedman, Jean R. "Never Underestimate the Power of a Bus: My Journey to Oral History." Oral History Review 29.2 (2002): 30. Print.
Gregg, Allison. "Planning and Managing an Oral History Collection." Aplis 13.4 (2000): 174. Print.
Honig, Emily. "Getting to the Source: Striking Lives: Oral History and the Politics of Memory." Journal of Women's History 9.1 (1997): 139. Print.
Works Cited
Freedman, Jean R. "Never Underestimate the Power of a Bus: My Journey to Oral History." Oral History Review 29.2 (2002): 30. Print.
Gregg, Allison. "Planning and Managing an Oral History Collection." Aplis 13.4 (2000): 174. Print.
Honig, Emily. "Getting to the Source: Striking Lives: Oral History and the Politics of Memory." Journal of Women's History 9.1 (1997): 139. Print.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
My Tentative Thesis
Subject Area: Obesity
Topic: The Government's anti-obesity health campaign.
Research Questions: Is the government's campaign for a healthy lifestyle posing more harm than good for Americans?
Tentative Thesis: The government's new anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign is not the pretty picture it is made out to be. This campaign has several negative effects on Americans, most of them oblivious to many.
Points to Develop:
Topic: The Government's anti-obesity health campaign.
Research Questions: Is the government's campaign for a healthy lifestyle posing more harm than good for Americans?
Tentative Thesis: The government's new anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign is not the pretty picture it is made out to be. This campaign has several negative effects on Americans, most of them oblivious to many.
Points to Develop:
- Background on specific actions the government has taken
- Explain the negative effects and why the campaign really does not work as planned
- Explain Orthorexia and its potential correlation to the anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign
- Address the reasons how the government is actually benefiting from implementing the campaign
- Address the invasion of rights that the government is implementing by means of the campaign
Monday, October 12, 2009
Website Search
Definitely a reliable and credible source for information, as it is a governmental organization focused on raising awareness of current issues in the United States. It is not biased our outdated and is easily comprehended as it is written in common English.
This website seems to be very credible, and it is part of the government's Department of Health and Human Services. It focuses on a healthy lifestyle in a positive light, although I can see how it could become very easy to get overly obsessed with trying to not be obsese after looking at this website's many warnings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/jan/05/government-anti-obesity-campaign-change4life
This website contains advertisements along the top and sides which makes the site lose some credibility. It is also a blog, which is not always a reliable source for information. It is also a very opinionated article, which makes me think again about its credibility. It is current and from January 2009.
This website contains advertisements along the top and sides which makes the site lose some credibility. It is also a blog, which is not always a reliable source for information. It is also a very opinionated article, which makes me think again about its credibility. It is current and from January 2009.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Paraphrasing/Plagiarism
Paraphrasing- to put something in your own words in the same amount of space as the original.
Summary- boils down information into a smaller version highlighting main points
Plagiarism- using someone elses words or ideas without permission; "the act of taking ideas and/or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one's own. It is nothing less than an act of theft"
(http://users.edinboro.edu/warren/AntiPlagiarismhandbook.htm)
How to prevent and avoid plagiarism:
Summary- boils down information into a smaller version highlighting main points
Plagiarism- using someone elses words or ideas without permission; "the act of taking ideas and/or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one's own. It is nothing less than an act of theft"
(http://users.edinboro.edu/warren/AntiPlagiarismhandbook.htm)
How to prevent and avoid plagiarism:
- change both the words and the sentence structure
- identify the source and signal phrase
- Include parentetical phrase, footnote, provide documentation
- when in doubt, cite it anyway
- double and triple check!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Progress on My Annotation
So far, I have only summarized two of my sources for my annotated bibliography. They are listed below.
1. Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates the media with disturbed eating.
2. Tiggermann, Marika, and Amanda S. Pickering. "Role of Television in Adolescent Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness." International Journal of Eating Disorders 20.2 (Sep. 1996): 199-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
This article talked about a study performed on 11 year-old girls in Australia. They administered questionnaires with questions pertaining to how much and what types of television shows they watched, and, their overall body confidence and drive for thinness. Surprisingly, the amount of television posed no results to have a positive correlation of number of hours watched and ranked lowness of self-esteem. What they did find out though was that the types of shows that the girls watched, particularly music videos, had a very high correlation of number of hours watched per week to lowness of self-esteem. This article is great for me to use because it provides me with evidence suggested from a real study performed on girls and will allow me to use statistics in my paper.
1. Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates the media with disturbed eating.
2. Tiggermann, Marika, and Amanda S. Pickering. "Role of Television in Adolescent Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness." International Journal of Eating Disorders 20.2 (Sep. 1996): 199-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
This article talked about a study performed on 11 year-old girls in Australia. They administered questionnaires with questions pertaining to how much and what types of television shows they watched, and, their overall body confidence and drive for thinness. Surprisingly, the amount of television posed no results to have a positive correlation of number of hours watched and ranked lowness of self-esteem. What they did find out though was that the types of shows that the girls watched, particularly music videos, had a very high correlation of number of hours watched per week to lowness of self-esteem. This article is great for me to use because it provides me with evidence suggested from a real study performed on girls and will allow me to use statistics in my paper.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Summary of "College: A Time of Wonder"
The article College: A Time of Wonder by Robert A. Bonfiglio spoke of the first year experience for new college students and the shift of ideas that universities project to new students today. Bonfiglio talked about how higher education used to be projected as prideful scholarship; it was something challenging that not just anyone could achieve. In more recent years as college enrollment has skyrocketed, the message from the university has changed from excitement and pride to warnings and precautions about the coming year. Universities now fill the minds of students and their parents with potential physical and emotional dangers. This causes much anxiousness and both students and parents are constantly on the defensive, waiting for something horrible to happen. Bonfiglio concludes with stating that there should be a shift from this negative projection of university life to more active advising for enrolled students, and a heightened attitude of opportunity and overall success as an individual.
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