Celebrity Gossip Magazines and Feminist and Post-feminist Theory: The Impacts on Female Formation of Body Image Created

by Celebrity Weight Depictions in Heat and Closer.

Sarah Jane Baker

Journalism Studies (MA) Postgraduate Dissertation (2006)

With thanks to:

My dissertation supervisor Matt Hills for his continuous help and guidance throughout: the Obi Wan to my Luke. Cynthia Carter for her knowledge of feminist theory: her expertise steered me through unknown waters. All the people who participated in focus groups and questionnaires with special acknowledgment of those from Slimming World: without these there would be no dissertation. Cardiff University Library for its resources and library staff for their assistance: the library and computer labs became my second home. My parents and everyone else in close quarters with me for their infinite patience: when the word dissertation would bring me out in a cold sweat.

Abstract
When Heat magazine was re-formatted in 2000 it heralded the arrival and dominance of a new female interest format in the UK: the celebrity gossip magazine. Since its inception Heat has been replicated by other publications, most notably Closer, with great success. Whilst feminist and post-feminist theory have debated the impacts of the more commonplace female interest magazines such as Cosmopolitan, there has been little research into the what this new development has done to the genre overall. This dissertation investigates the hypothesis that these celebrity gossip magazines have a negative impact upon womens formation of self-constructed body image with a focus on weight issues. Based upon feminist theory, with post-feminist theory used as a counterpoint, the study argues that when those deemed perfect by society, such as celebrities, are ridiculed for being flawed, it sends a message to the reader that even if they achieve perfection it will not be good enough. This hypothesis is researched and proved using content analysis to document the level of coverage given to the depiction of celebrities with focus on weight related articles, and focus groups to examine how these depictions are interpreted by the audience and how they believe it impacts upon them. The study concludes that despite post-feminist theorists suggesting the positive potentials of such publications, celebrity gossip magazines are not subverting the negative aspects of female interest magazines by criticising celebrities. Heat and Closer are strengthening and reinforcing these negative aspects, through the use of societys voyeuristic obsession with the culture of celebrity. The criticism of modern icons for beauty creates even more unrealistic and unattainable standards for women to achieve if they wish to be accepted.

Contents Page:
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Chapter 5: Chapter 6: Bibliography Appendices Introduction Literature Review Methodology Content Analysis Results Focus Group Results Conclusions 5 7 21 29 40 59 67 73

Chapter 1: Introduction
This study aims to investigate the potential impacts of celebrity gossip magazines on womens self-constructed body image through their continual depiction of female celebrities, with special reference to how these publications vary from other female interest magazine. Unlike the majority of female interest magazine, celebrity gossip magazines not only feature articles which praise celebrities and imply the reader should aspire to emulate them and the publications ideals of feminine beauty; they also criticise celebrities who deviate from these pre-conceived notions of beauty. This study hypothesises that, due to the fact that such publications ridicule those who are considered by society to be modern icons of beauty for being less than perfect, they send a message to the reader that even if they were to achieve perfection it would not result in social acceptance: that celebrity gossip magazines are not subverting and improving the female interest genre, as post-feminist theory suggests, by showing celebrities warts and all: they are strengthening and reinforcing it, through the use of societys voyeuristic obsession with the culture of celebrity. This continuous critique by celebrity gossip magazines will reinforce and exacerbate the anxiety and unhappiness women feel with their bodies, based on the already unrealistically high standards catalogued in feminist theory. In order to prove this hypothesis, first, celebrity gossip magazines must be put in context which will be done during the Literature Review (Chapter 2; 7). The first context to understand is the format itself and their emergence, popularity and rapid market growth; focusing on the first of the UK celebrity gossip publications Heat magazine and subsequent successful publications such as Closer. The second area of importance to the study is where celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer fall in the context of media research. The majority of research surrounding female interest magazine has been based upon feminist theory, which questions the motivations and implications of such gendered texts on women and 5

their position within society. In more recent years post-feminist theory has developed as a counterpoint to this negative impression of celebrity gossip magazines. However, as they are a relatively new format, celebrity gossip magazines have yet to be investigated in depth and very little material is available on them, which is one of the main reasons for them being the focus of this study as it would provide a new aspect to the continuing research surrounding female interest publications. In order to test the hypothesis of this study, the methods of research must be developed. In the Methodology (Chapter 3; 21) the two methods of research chosen for this project, which are content analysis (to document the level of coverage given to the depiction of celebrities focusing on weight related articles) and focus groups (to examine how these depictions are interpreted by the audience), will be discussed in detail. After judging the merits of these two methods, the details of the two branches of research will be developed. Due to the amount of information likely to be gathered from these two branches of research, the results will be divided into two chapters; the first detailing the results of the content analysis (Chapter 4; 29) and the second detailing the findings from the focus groups (Chapter 5; 40). Although these results will be compared to one another throughout these chapters, they will be further detailed in the conclusions (Chapter 6; 59).

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The impacts created by celebrity gossip magazine, such as Heat and Closer, are still relatively new areas in the field of media research. This study aims to investigate the extent of coverage the two publications previously mentioned give to the depictions of celebrity images and how the audience/reader deconstruct and interpret these images in relation to their self-constructed body images with a focus on weight issues. This chapter will focus on the surrounding literature regarding the construction of self-image and body image, and feminist and post-feminist theory which debates the impact womens magazines have upon the formation of self; specifically weightrelated issues. The chapter will conclude by applying this feminist and post-feminist theory to this new magazine format.

Heat, Closer and the celebrity gossip phenomenon

Although already well-established in America, in the form of such supermarket tabloids as The National Enquirer (Bird, 1992), the extortion of celebrity across contemporary culture (Johansson, 2006: 344) has now secured a strong market in the UK. Tabloids such as the Sun and Mirror have increased their celebrity coverage (ibid: 343-358). Also, celebrity gossip magazines have carved out a niche in the UK market in recent years with a continually increasing list of publications: Heat and Closer being two of the most successful. Heat magazine was originally launched as a television and film guide in 1999, aimed at a female 18-34 year old demographic, by Emap; the company responsible for producing successful publications such as FHM. However, despite nearly 4 million in funding, Heat was failing to attract the sales it needed and was likely to close. After this initial failure, it re-positioned itself within the market in early 2000 to its current content: focusing on celebrity gossip and star fashions. Catering to this niche in the market Heat became, and has remained, the market leader of this format in 7

the UK worth over 40 million in newsstand revenues alone (Emap, 2005a: online), meaning that it is now out-selling its upmarket celebrity magazine counterparts OK and Hello . Since this re-launch, Heat has been imitated by other publications in the hope of duplicating its success; with Closer being its nearest competitor in the celebrity gossip sector. These magazines are targeted at a largely young, female audience; catering for those who are interested in celebrity gossip and scandal, often through the use of paparazzi photography (Holmes, 2005). One of the key features of these publications is critiquing celebrities for not looking at their best; whether in terms of dress or physical appearance. These magazines highlight the significance of such features within their own publications, stating that they are packed with exclusive interviews, up-to-date gossip and photos of our favourite stars (Emap, 2005b: online). In order to further investigate the impacts created by celebrity gossip magazine, such as Heat and Closer, it is important to first look at the existing literature surrounding the construction of self-image with regards to media depiction of the female body.

Construction of self-image and notions of feminine beauty

The body is not just skin and bones; its an assemblage of parts, a medical marvel The body is also, and primarily, the self. We are all embodied. (Synnott, 1993:1) According to science, the most important element defining gender differences are the physical forms they embody. The body is what defines sex and consequently plays a major part in the definition of identity, both as an individual and within society. Due to the institutional authority which science holds, and therefore social significance, the notion of the ideal or normal body has become culturally accepted.

Studies into the self-image of young women and image-altering behaviours such as dieting have suggested that people are making strenuous attempts to be thinner, which may have an impact on their well-being (Hill et al., 1992; British Youth Council, 1999). Research suggests that looks-related activity is increasing, with shopping and experimenting with new styles a favourite pastime (McRobbie, 1991). While looking good is valued by women and catered for, paradoxically, dissatisfaction with their bodies is common (Frost, 2001). In 2000 the British governments Body Summit publicly recognized that the unhealthy state of young womens bodies is now an official concern. The impact of womens body dissatisfaction and consequent body alteration behaviours on their mental well-being has been subject to considerable scrutiny within academic sociology and popular feminism since the late 1970s (Wolf, 1990; Bordo, 1993; MacSweeney, 1993). What society has defined as the ideal feminine image has changed as much as the societies which have defined it (Gilman, 1999). Historic paintings which depict feminine beauty show women as soft, voluptuous, pale and small breasted. Over time this has changed to the current ideal which depicts the feminine ideal as slender, toned, tanned, and with larger breasts than previously thought of as the ideal. This would suggest that the concept of beauty is cultural: as a culture develops so too does the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body. Therefore, the body and its functions can not be construed as just a physical phenomenon of practical function, but as a social phenomenon discerning our place within our culture as well; with our height, weight, features and form all combining to help us understand and interact with our sense of self and that our understanding and interaction with the self is socially constructed (Synnott, 1993). The relationship between the visual representation of self, and the society in which self is visually represented, received and reinforced, was first documented by Goffman (1959; 1961; 1963; 1976), focusing not on the body as the intersection between self and society, but on the interactive social self produced as a

presentation or performance. Goffman clarifies, for example, that a set of meanings such as small, passive, or fragile are created and grounded in female identity and attached to the body via social processes rather than generated internally. Goffman offers a way of understanding the visual aspects of self as integral to the production of gendered social identity, and as an interactive process in which binary oppositions such as agent/victim are avoided: [A woman] is neither the victim of, for example, consumer capitalism and/or patriarchy and/or media pressure, nor the wilful perpetrator or own worst enemy within the beauty system, but engaged in an interactive social process essential to identity formation, which she must engage with. (Frost, 2005: 67) Giddens (1991) forwards the notion of self-reflexive identity construction of both lifestyle and the body, which theorises why high levels of anxiety regarding weight, age, or any other aspect of appearance are time-dependent. Within this selfreflexivity, people remake themselves in relation to available versions of perfection, which can adapt to cater for the individuals changing notions of the ideal self-image. Giddens then goes on to suggest that having an attractive body and having a better relationship, a better family life, new career possibilities and being healthy are all interconnected in the construction of self-image. The power of beauty and ugliness in society has been reported in major studies. For example, research suggests that attractive children achieve higher grades and are more popular, and that the more unattractive a person is, the more likely they are to be perceived as mentally ill or disturbed (Synnott, 1993: 74). The distress often expressed by women who are seriously overweight connects to their self-perceived failure to fit into an expected female norm. They are seen as, and see themselves as, deviant (Bartky, 1990). This is supported by empirical research done with young women (Frost, 2001). Therefore it can be argued that deviation from the ideal body is a deviation from ideal self. It is for this reason that image and beauty is often linked with the construction of self-image: if the body

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(the physical attributes) is of the desired standards set by the current culture, then the self (the psychological attributes) also matches the desired standards.

Body-image and feminist theory

According to feminist literature, achieving this ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body is a long-standing aspiration to women in western culture (McRobbie, 1991; Hill et al., 1992; Frost, 2001). Though the perception of what constitutes beauty and the ideal female body has changed throughout history; the discipline and normalisation of the female body has remained the only gender oppression that exercises itself, although to different degrees and in different forms, across age, race, class and sexual orientation (Bordo, 1993: 166). Bordo also claims that, in accordance with modern culture, society would have people believe that the ideal of feminine beauty is intricately linked with happiness, fulfilment and control of the self. It is argued that womens magazines are perpetuating this claim through their continuous reference to celebrities and the models used in the advertising within their publications as being the feminine ideal. Feminist theorists argue that this external social control is gendered: designed to reinforce the subservience of women within society by pre-occupying women with this pursuit of beauty as a method of obtaining social acceptance while strengthening the binary opposition of gender. Female beauty pertains to sexuality and emotion (the subjective) through terminology such as svelte and dainty, whereas male beauty is represented as reasoned and neutral (the objective) through terminology such as strong and solid. Wolf gives an example of this in the different gender responses to exposure to fashion models. Men are exposed [] but do not see [models] as role models Why do [women] feel they must treat models mannequins as if they were models paradigms? Why do women react to the ideal, whatever form she takes at that moment, as if she were a non-negotiable commandment? It is not that womens identities are naturally weak.

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Ideal imagery has become obsessively important to women because it was meant to become so. (1991: 58-59) Womens magazines are accused of placing celebrities in the position of role models. Celebrity is inseparable from modern culture. The reasons for this are debated by theorists such as Schickel (1985), Marshall (1997) and Turner (2004), but one of the key factors which they all make note of is the significance of the paradoxical nature of the celebrity as a private individual and a public figure: a stranger whom the public are intimate with due to a two-way dynamic through which the celebrity is recognised in our lives, while we are anonymously in theirs through interviews, press intrusion and unsubstantiated gossip. This sense of surreal intimacy with celebrities means that their private lives will attract greater public interest than their professional lives (Turner, 2004: 4) and with celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer, and the increasing number of celebrities famous for nothing more than being famous which they endorse, this trend is likely to continue. As a result of the position of intimate stranger (Schickel, 1985) that the modern celebrity holds, celebrities have become the role models in modern culture. With celebrities being primarily a marketable commodity, one of their major marketable assets is their looks; especially female celebrities who are judged more by their looks than men. These role models for women are based on their beauty rather than their abilities. It is very rare to find women who do not fit the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body in leading or romantic roles in television and film, whereas male leads do not need to fit such a rigid framework. For example, Kirsty Alley in her early career mainly played leading or romantic roles due to her slender frame, beauty and youth. However, once she gained weight later in her career she was only given character and comedy roles implying that larger women are not strong or sexual enough to carry leading or romantic roles. By contrast, Sean Connerys popularity in leading or romantic roles has not been affected by hair loss, middle-age spread or his obvious age compared to his female counterpart (such as Entrapment with Catherine Zeta-Jones). This reinforces for women, what Chernin described as the tyranny of slenderness (1981). Bordo seems to agree with this and

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makes a good case for such visual depictions creating more rigid external controls of women by packaging femininity as a commodity to be attained: With the advent of movies and television, the rules of femininity have come to be culturally transmitted more and more through standardized visual images We are no longer given verbal descriptions or exemplars of what a lady is or of what femininity consists. (1993: 169-170) This feminine ideal which feminist theorists argue is further generated and reinforced by womens magazines through the use of such models seems to imply that the body is never feminine enough: that they must be deliberately and oftentimes painfully remade to be what nature intended (Urla & Swedlund, 1995: 240). Though cosmetic surgery was originally perceived to deal with reconstruction, which is understood to have a restoring function, the rapid growth of this field in recent years has been due to the increase in aesthetic operations which serve no medical purpose. Every year more than 150,000 women undergo breast implant surgery (Williams, 1992), despite the unnecessary health risks involved in the operation and post-operatively. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) recorded 825,000 procedures performed on the face alone in 1995 (Gilman, 1999: 4). Daviss work on cosmetic breast surgery graphically illustrates the contradictions experienced by women actively seeking to reshape their bodies by drawing on the technologies of contemporary gendered power regimes (Davis, 1995). Women are neither victims nor dupes collaborating in their own worst interests but nonetheless are caught up with processes of normalisation and homogenisation (Lovell, 2000: 341) Such incidences, along with the increasing number of reported eating disorders among young women, can be seen as the consequences of what Naomi Wolf (1991) calls the beauty myth. The ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body as

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promoted and reinforced by the cosmetic, weight-loss and fashion industries create in women a dark vein of self hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control (Wolf, 1991:10) while paradoxically offering a sense of female unity through both positive and negative representation: that popularity with men comes from the achievement of the ideal and popularity with women comes from an empathy and sense of unity in achieving the ideal. For the purposes of this study, the subject matter must be narrowed from the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body to one area of focus. The area of choice is weight in relation to the feminine ideal. Though cosmetic surgery to deal with weight is not commonplace (despite media coverage to the contrary); weight management and dieting are. Studies show that the current obsession with body size, and the sense of inadequacy in relation to it, begins at an alarmingly young age. Bordo states that as many as 80% of 9 year old suburban girls are concerned about their weight and have considered dieting (1991: 125). Increases in the numbers of women suffering from anorexia and bulimia have been condemned by society as a deviation from the norm, yet it still endorses the goal (weight loss) even if it condemns the means. This leaves very little margin for error for women to achieve the ideal body, which is why it can be argued that control is such a key issue. As stated before, the subject of control is external as well as internal, with society reinforcing the importance of control over weight, with the unremitting information given about diets (Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, etc.) and exercise (exercise videos, gyms, yoga, etc.). Although these can be construed as attempts by society to promote health and the resulting well-being, the majority of promotions for these practices are based not on the potential health benefits but on the potential of physical beautification and its benefits. For example Weight Watchers offer Friends. More Friends. Still more friends (Wolf, 1991:77). Slimming World boasts that its dieting programme is to love the way you look every day (www.slimming-world.com) which, as shown by research mentioned earlier makes the link between weight, and its impact upon our sense of social acceptance, happiness and self-worth.

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Celebrity images and womens magazines are a key factor influencing the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body in relation to the formation of self. There is evidence to suggest that body image is important to the formation of self, both in terms of gender and as an individual (Wolf, 1991, Bordo, 1993, Chow, 2001). It can be argued that satisfaction with ones physicality creates satisfaction with ones self, which in turn makes us happy. Bordo argues that increasingly, the size and shape of the body has come to operate as a marker of personal, internal order (or disorder) as a symbol for the state of the soul (1990: 94). This raises the issue of control of the body as a mechanism by which to control ones well-being, not in terms of health but in terms of self-worth. Several studies show that women are spending more and more time on their appearances. The use of terminology such as diet and workout regimes, discipline and weight management used in relation to the body all suggest that control is a key factor. However due to the small yet continuous changes in fashion the ideal feminine look and the perfect body; in order to maintain control over this ideal, women must subject themselves to external regulation, transformation and improvement. There have been several studies into the influences which magazines have upon women and the formation of gendered identity and on the importance of celebrity in modern culture. Wolf references an interview conducted with a w omens magazine reader which summarises these relationships: the young woman describes buying such magazines as a form of self-abuse. They give me a weird mixture of anticipation and dread (Wolf, 1991: 62). However, there are significant differences between womens magazines such as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan , and magazines of which the primary function is celebrity gossip as opposed to womens issues and related material. One of the major differences, it can be argued, being the critique of celebrities (especially female celebrities) deviation from the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body that occurs in celebrity gossip magazines; weight being at the forefront of most of these critiques. A study by McRobbie records how the space given in girls magazines to appearance issues has grown since the early 1980s, but importantly that girls actively engage

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with the pleasures and pains of visual identity (1991). Such studies suggest that identification, appearance, consumerism and the group are symbiotically connected, and empirical research is also beginning to support the notion that group acceptance and identification may depend on what kind of image, including body image, a young person can construct (Frosh et al., 2002; Frost, 2001). The ability or inability to produce a visual identity which conforms to the mass images circulated within consumer capitalist society and the specific demands of sub-groups and localities is dependent on cultural capital. Young women may experience their own appearance as a vital tool for establishing social acceptance. (Frost, 2005: 77) The continuous onslaught of these images, is then internalised as standard. Therefore the female notion of normal is actually based on fictitious women; created in carefully constructed environments, against whom many women may feel inadequate. Featherstone goes on to argue that such images have helped create a world in which individuals are made to feel emotionally vulnerable, constantly monitoring themselves for bodily imperfections which could no longer be regarded as natural (Featherstone, 1991: 175). Imperfections appear unnatural. The normal is becoming a fantasy against which everything real is experienced. Due to celebrity gossip magazines being a fairly recent media development, there is very little literature to be found on their impact in terms of the female formation of self and whether they reinforce this ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body. This is one of the reasons for these publications being chosen as the subject of this study as it will build upon current feminist theory regarding the formation of female body image. The glossy, perfect people shown and the glossy perfect psychologies suggested are not achievable identities but fictions. (Frost, 2005: 70).

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As previously discussed in this chapter, the female notion of normal is actually based on fictitious women created in carefully constructed environments. Therefore celebrity can be defined in these terms, as the package (fictitious woman) constructed in such environments is separate from the true woman. However the true women behind the celebrity packaging are actually as flawed as the women that are made to feel inadequate by their fictitious representation. A celebrity gossip magazine such as Heat and Closers main commodity is their use of unauthorised paparazzi photography of celebrities. However without lighting set-ups, professional dressing and airbrushing, the celebrities flaws are revealed. The magazines then point out and extenuate these flaws and critique them. This could be argued to create a stronger link with these celebrities; by showing that they are less than perfect and can be more easily related to by the average woman and by giving an increased sense of intimacy with the celebrity by showing them at the worst as well as their best. However, another potential outcome is that when those deemed as perfect are then ridiculed for being less than, it sends the message to the average woman that even if they achieve perfection it will not be good enough. Coupled with the reported increasing anxiety and unhappiness women feel with their bodies, based on already unrealistically high standards, it is within reason to argue that this continuous critique will reinforce and exacerbate these feelings.

Post-feminist theory and interpretation

One of the major criticisms of feminist literature concerning womens magazines is the assumption that their function is to control womens self-image. Most feminist work regarding womens magazines focuses on the reason why women should avoid what they consider to be extremely gendered texts which promote and reinforce unattainable standards of wealth and beauty (Douglas, 1995: 9).

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This is a very limited view to have on such a wide range of sources and when applied to celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer, whose main commodity is critiquing the same celebrities which other womens magazines laud, it seems that feminist theory tars all publications with the same brush despite the content of these publications being vastly different from the majority of other womens magazines. However, recent studies have begun to contradict this view : rather than seeing celebrity gossip magazines as a form of oppression of modern women, they can be seen as a means of liberation which put the emphasis on womens sexual confidence and independence (Gough-Yates, 2003: 137). Therefore it can be argued that such publications are helping to validate feminine meanings and competence. For example, rather than condemning such magazines use of gossip and scandal for their excessive focus on the personal (Bird, 1992) they can be applauded for their ability to cater to womens interest in each others lives (Brown, 1994: 31). Another assumption made by feminist theory is that such publications are all interpreted by the reader in the same way. Despite stating that the ideal images portrayed within magazines are fictitious; they do not seem to credit the general reader with the same ability to deconstruct such images and come to this conclusion themselves. Feminist works routinely revolve around concern rather than respect for those who read womens magazine (Hermes, 1997: 1). In the wake of feminist theory, post-feminism has developed to accommodate the modern woman, allowing her to be enthusiastic about fashion and beauty; not as a means of control, but as a means of expression of her femininity. Charlotte Brunsdon highlights the ways in which feminism has developed and adapted to contemporary culture, and no longer sees those who are interested in womens genres as being against feminist ideals: 1970s feminism arose partly out of the New Left and Civil Rights and anti-war movement. Ideas of identity were marked by notions of sincerity, expression, truth-telling. 1990s feminism, in contrast, partly

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through the 1980s feminist defence of womens genres such as womens magazines, is permissive and even enthusiastic about consumption. Wearing lipstick is no longer wicked, and notions of identity have moved away from a rational/moral axis and are much more profoundly informed by ideas of performance, style and desire. (Brunsdon, 1997: 85) Celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer, despite showing the same glossy images most readers are familiar with, also appear to be showing the identities of the real women behind such fictitious identities through their use of unauthorised paparazzi photography, revealing that without lighting set-ups, professional dressing and airbrushing, the celebrities often put forward as the ideal have the same flaws and issues with their appearances as the average female reader (Holmes, 2005: 26). Heat and Closer can be seen to be challenging the existing notions of celebrity worship (Stacey, 1994: 142-3). As Feasey suggests, celebrity gossip magazines both resist and subvert the carefully choreographed photo shoots often produced. This allows the reader the opportunity to understand and negotiate the images which are so commonplace in other fashion publications: Heat demonstrates that todays film stars, supermodels and television personalities should not simply be admired as flawless fashion icons. Instead, the magazine makes it clear that such celebrities should be seen as ordinary women with extraordinary wardrobes. (Feasey, 2006: 85) This indicates the polysemic nature of the images produced: as Wolf notes, they can both inspire - Wow! I can be better starting from right this minute - and depress right afterward, I feel like throwing out all my clothes and everything in my refrigerator and telling my boyfriend never to call me again and blowtorching my whole life (1991: 62). Post-feminist theory focuses on the positive connotations of these images as opposed to the negative focus of feminist theory. The duality of

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these images of physical imperfection means that the reader could interpret them as a reassuring sight which can reinforce satisfaction with the readers self-image rather than as a personal critique to undermine it. Another feature, common to most womens magazines, is the articles on and related to body-shaping (such as diets, workouts and beauty regimes). Post-feminist theory suggest that the reader may not see these as instructions which must be followed in order to create the ideal self-image, but as an indication of the amount of time, effort and money which celebrities have to expend in order to meet the high standards and present themselves as flawless figures: showing that contemporary stars are not effortless beauties with naturally perfect figures, but instead that they are women who make sacrifices to look the way they do (Feasey, 2006: 86). This could suggest that the reader is liberated from feelings of inadequacy regarding their appearance and for failing to create their own celebrity body. Celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer can also be argued to offer a more serious commentary on the recent trend of dramatic weight loss among celebrities (Nicole Richie and Victoria Beckham are often cited in the media as examples of this trend). As well as articles on celebrities who have gained weight there are articles produced regarding these stars who are considered to be too thin, which it can be argued, caution the readers about the potential dangers of drastic weight loss to discourage them from emulating this particular celebrity trend. Both feminist and post-feminist literatures are dependent on how the reader interprets the images and corresponding articles in celebrity gossip magazines and how this impacts upon their self-image. In order to research this, there are two areas of focus. The first focus is the level of coverage given by these magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities (both negative and positive), which can be done through the use of content analysis. The second is how meaning is created and/or interpreted by the reader of such publications, which can be achieved through the use of focus groups. These methods will be discussed in greater detail in the next chapter.

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Chapter 3: Methodology
Content Analysis
The first area of focus, which is the level of coverage given by celebrity gossip magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities, needs to be accurately measured in order to give a detailed empirical account of the amount and type of coverage that is given. The method chosen to measure this is content analysis. Content analysis may be defined as a methodology by which the researcher seeks to determine the manifest content of written, spoken, or published communications by systematic, objective and quantitative analysis. (Zito, 1975: 27) Content analysis a quantitative method, which allows for the analysis of the text or texts in question over a pre-determined period of time. If well-designed and carried out correctly, content analysis holds a sense of legitimacy in academic debate due to its quantitative nature; as it is concerned with the analysis of observable facts rather than subjective questions of meaning. This allows, arguably, for more objective results as they are hard facts which have strong academic roots. Also, due to the high levels of validity and reliability created by the rigorous statistical analysis, content analysis produces clear, empirical evidence for research which allow for replication and generalisation. An advantage of content analysis for this study is that it is an unobtrusive method, meaning that the presence of a researcher will not have an impact upon the data: it will not change due to the researchers presence as it can during interviews and focus groups. Also, as content analysis is relatively easy to conduct, it allows the sample to be as contemporary as possible. This method is the most suitable for this area of focus within the research as it allows for a large-scale and comparative study of textual data which will enable the amounts of information required to be gathered from the texts. For the purposes of 21

this research the sample will be nine editions of Heat and nine editions of Closer published between 1st April and 2nd June 2006. This allows for generalisation across celebrity gossip magazines as more than one publication will be analysed over the same period, and nine publications from each magazine so that results can be generalised across the particular magazine. In order to code the raw data for this research, the unit of analysis is weight-specific articles (text and image) regarding celebrities within the sample (celebrity gossip magazines). The descriptive measurements for coding will be the magazine in question (Heat or Closer for statistical comparison), placement of the unit of analysis (the page on which the image is placed in order to determine its prevalence within the publication) and size (space taken by the image to indicate impact within the publication). The researcher himself is a variable in the research design. He influences the course of any research he undertakes, and his actions are in turn structured by the broader society in which he lives. (Sjoberg & Nett, 1968: 2-3) The more complex area for coding purposes are the substantive measurements, due to the possibility of coder bias; as previously mentioned, the researchers interpretation of data may be subjective impacting upon the results collected. In order to avoid this problem the researcher must be aware of their subjectivity and form a rigorous coding system and remain reflexive. In order to analyse the level of coverage given by celebrity gossip magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities and the meanings created by the publications, there have to be several questions or categories through which data can be collected. Once these coding categories such as the number of images and type of celebrities have been set, it is important that all information is recorded and catalogued

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correctly, which requires a coding sheet1, in order to avoid data loss or corruption. The coding categories will be: 1. 2. 3. Publication: Heat or Closer magazine Celebrity name Celebrity type: Film - High profile or Other, TV High profile, Soap stars, Reality stars (famous prior), Reality stars (not famous), Presenter or Other, Music High profile or Other, Model High profile, Glamour or Other, Sports star High profile or Other, Dating celebrity, Related to celebrity or famous for a Scandal 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Number of images Size of largest image: or < of page, or < of page, or < of page, 1 or < of page, 2 or < of page Article type: Cover Story, Editorial (health & beauty, fashion, or gossip), Interview, TV guide/Review , Star signs, or Advertisement Amount of coverage: < 50 words, < 200 words, < 500 words, < 1000 words, > 1000 words Weight of celebrity depicted: Overweight, Healthy weight (high), Healthy weight (low), or Underweight If the article is weight-related: Weight-related or Non weight-related Type of weight-relation: Gain, Loss, or Neutral Style of coverage: Positive, Negative, or Neutral

It is also important to maintain simplicity so as not to over-complicate coding and collect confused and useless data. For this content analysis the substantive measurements are the celebritys weight issue (overweight, underweight, of a healthy high weight or a healthy low weight; which can be determined from descriptive language such as bulging, thin and looking good), and the nature of coverage (positive, negative, neutral; which can also be determined from descriptive language).

1 See Appendix 1 Content Analysis Coding Sheet, pg 74.

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In order to create high levels of validity and reliability content analysis must be coded specifically to maintain accuracy of results. The first factor of importance is the definitions by which the data will be coded, as these must be maintained for any results to be legitimate. Berger gives an example of this: how do we define violence? Researchers of violent content in the media have to offer their definitions of the term, and there is a great deal of disagreement among researchers about what violence is and how it should be defined. Should intention to commit harm be classified as violence?... (1998: 25) For this study, the main areas which require definition are; what constitutes negative and positive coverage, and estimating whether the celebrity in question is overweight, a healthy high weight, a healthy low weight or underweight. So that there was no researcher bias created by there only being one researcher, thirty members of the public, selected at random, will be asked to fill out questionnaires in which they will be asked to define whether terminology is positive or negative2 and state what weight they consider a series of celebrities to be3. This allows definition to be based upon negotiated meanings rather than one opinion. Based upon the results of the questionnaires, a coding terminology sheet4 will be created for reference during the content analysis. Once the content analysis definitions are clearly planned out, the data can be processed. During coding it is most likely that definitions will have to be developed; however, these will be compared to the findings of the questionnaire to maintain consistency, and as there is only one coder there will be no alterations between data sets which may cause anomalies. Content analysis has been accused of being unable to capture the complexities of media output and for how it does not account for the ways in which readers will interpret the texts analysed. As stated previously (see literature review) the images
2 See Appendix 2 Content Analysis Terminology Questionnaire, pg 76. 3 See Appendix 4 Content Analysis Weight Depiction Questionnaire, pg 77. 4 See Appendix 4 Content Analysis Coding Terminology, pg 79.

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in question are polysemic and may therefore be interpreted differently by different readers. For this reason a second method has been chosen as a qualitative counterpart to content analysis in order to compare the empirical findings to the opinions of readers through the use of focus groups. This allows the research to use both objective and subjective methods to produce results.

Focus Groups
The focus group technique involves interviewing two or more people simultaneously, with a moderator or facilitator leading the respondents in a relatively free discussion about the topic under consideration. (Wimmer & Dominick, 1983; 100) The second area of focus for research is how meaning is created and/or interpreted by the reader of such publications, by supplying example articles for group members to read and discuss how they interpret such articles and how these interpretations impact upon their sense of self. This can be achieved through the use of focus groups: a small group participating in an interactive interview facilitated by the researcher in order to determine and explore issues of audience reception. Focus groups alone are an insecure basis for generalisation as they do not meet conventional standards of reliability in research, as the results are not necessarily as representative of views as more systematic methods of research are. However, they do hold a level of validity and therefore, for the purposes of this research, focus groups are a supportive method to help clarify and refine concepts raised within the study regarding the interpretation of weight-related issues published in celebrity gossip magazines. This method has been chosen as it works well in tandem with quantitative research such as content analysis to enhance the data collected or provide a counterpoint which adds interpretive weight to results by integrating participants views into the research process.

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Focus groups allow for more generalisation of results, as they do not access individual opinions or individual accounts (as is the case with interviews) but allows for accounts to emerge through interaction. As interpretation of the unit of analysis by the reader is important to this research, the views expressed by the participants may help to give further insight to the data gathered and analysed and for researchers to explore the reasoning behind peoples responses. For this research, there will be five focus groups which will consist of five members each, as this will allow the researcher to control the group more easily and therefore guide the discussion so as not to deviate from the chosen topic. There is also, arguably, an increased risk that what people say in focus groups is not a real reflection of their behaviour and attitude towards the subject due to need for acceptance and dominance of opinion within the group (where one member is outspoken, causing others to withdraw from interaction and expression). Smaller groups will allow for all members to be involved and give their own opinions without the potential problems of discussion dominance by specific group members. As this research is focused on how women interpret the unit of analysis, the chosen sample is female so that the data collected is relevant to the topic of research. Those selected for focus group research also need to be aware of and sensitive to weight-related issues. Even though the majority of women have dieted, a portion of the sample will be members of a South Wales-based Slimming World group as the members will definitely be sensitive to weight-related issues. Regular contact has been maintained with the Slimming World group in order to develop trust with those involved so that focus group members will feel comfortable participating. This means that the sample is purposive as it has a significant relation to the research topic and is broadly reflective (if not strictly representative) of the population of interest. There is the potential for bias due to the limited nature of the sample, so in order to combat this only two of the five focus groups will consist of Slimming World members, with the other groups acting as a form of control group by which to compare the results from the Slimming World groups in order to decipher whether results can be generalised.

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Despite the sample being purposive, due to the nature of those attending and participating in Slimming World meetings, the sample will cover a wide age range, varied background and varied weight issues (as not all members are overweight and their reasons for membership vary greatly: from losing large amounts, to just 3lbs for an upcoming wedding, or simply to maintain a healthy eating regime with the help of others). This makes the sample quite generalised despite the samples significant relation to the research topic. When using focus group s, there are the ethical implications of meetings with people and discussing sensitive issues to be considered and formalities need to be observed (introductions to the topic of discussion5, and notification of confidentiality 6) so that the participants rights are respected. Oral permission has already been gained from those participating, and written permission will also be expected before members can participate and at this time the relevant details about the participants can be gathered. However, the study deals with nothing that can be considered damaging or harmful in its topic so the ethical implications are limited. The researchers role is integral to this method. Discussion must be monitored appropriately and the non-judgemental stance of interviewer maintained, so as not to bias the results from the focus group. Using a range of articles will keep the group to the topic of study; allowing the researcher to detach from the discussion and avoid leading the group interaction and biasing any data gathered. The moderator of a focus group lets the discussion range while it is moving productively and producing useful comment. Tasks include making certain that main points are covered, being receptive to new points that arise, and making sure that each respondent has a chance to talk. (Ward & Hansen, 1987; 178)

5 See Appendix 5 Focus Group Introductions, pg 80. 6 See Appendix 6 Focus Group Consent Form, pg 81.

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The question for the focus groups will revolve around the major three weight-related article types7. These will consist of the basic elements which set celebrity gossip magazines apart from other female interest publications: articles which praise celebrity weight loss, praise celebrity weight gain and criticise extreme weight loss8. Pre-determined questions will allow for replication for each focus group and for potential further research. The questions will focus on whether the participants agree with the labels given to the celebrities depicted by the chosen celebrity gossip magazines, and the meanings the participants derive from the selected images. Due to familiarity with the participants there is a potential for participants to assume the researcher understands feelings and situations without explanation. However, if the researchers need for detachment is stated during the introductions, this should combat potential problems that may arise from going native. There are problems with the use of focus groups. There is less control over the data that can emerge resulting in a loss of power on the part of the researcher which can lead to unneeded and inadmissible data of no use. However, if the questions are well planned and the researcher can moderate the discussion correctly, group dynamics will allow participants to become deeply involved in the discussion and stimulate others to contribute more; offering up a wide variety of information which may be insightful and will facilitate the research.

7 See Appendix 10 Focus Group Questions, pg 85. 8 See Appendix 7, 8 and 9 Focus Group Articles, pgs 82, 83 and 84.

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Chapter 4: Content Analysis Results

Raw Data
In order to catalogue all of the celebrity related articles in both publications, certain restrictions were made on what was considered to be an admissible entry. As all articles were accompanied by at least one picture, images were used to decide an articles significance. The first restriction was to discount any composite or mock ups as they did not depict the celebrity in question, as well as discounting images which did not allow the celebritys weight to be estimated (this was decided to be any image which did not include the waist of the celebrity in question). There are large volumes of images within these publications and not all can be considered relevant; for example images as fillers9 in areas such as the TV guide. In order to limit the impacts of these images on the overall result, images which measured under 4cm x 4cm were disregarded unless accompanied by text and at least one larger image. Another feature of the publications which was not included in the content analysis, where specialised columns written by celebrities. This was due to the fact that these features are actually diary entries and all depictions of the celebrities involved are not based on the general editorial of the magazine, but on the personal views of the celebrity which will distort the results of the content analysis. For example, the images and articles regarding Coleen Mcloughlin which appear within her column have been chosen by her and not the publication. Therefore these particular articles are not consistent with the overall depictions of celebrity, as the celebrity is unlikely to criticise themselves or the friends they feature in their articles.

9 Filler images which have no accompanying text and only serves to bulk up or colour a page.

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For the purposes of this research, both Heat and Closer magazine were analysed over a nine week period. This resulted in a total of 810 celebrity related articles, which means that such publications are averaging 45 celebrity related articles per edition. When the raw data was compared, Heat had a slightly higher quota of celebrity-related articles than Closer did, which contained more human interest/real life stories such as we married our kidnappers (issue 184: 29-5 May, 2006) or our sex life got us an ASBO (issue 188: 27-2 June, 2006). 1.1 Publication Heat Closer Total Frequency 467 343 810 Percent 57.7 42.3 100.0

However, as table 1.1 shows; this was not a significant difference (as it is less than a 60/40 % divide). After further analysis of the raw data 10 it was found that there were no significant differences between the two publications throughout and therefore the two were combined for analysis in this study. Article Type Cover story Editorial (health and beauty) Editorial (fashion) Editorial (gossip) Interview TV guide/review Star signs Advertisement Total Frequency 62 66 385 185 31 36 13 32 810 Percent 7.7 8.1 47.6 22.8 3.8 4.4 1.6 4.0 100.0

1.2

The first significant finding is that, despite being promoted primarily on their celebrity gossip, both Heat and Closers most frequent article types are fashionbased editorials which account for 47.6 % of all celebrity-related articles, compared to the 22.8 % which gossip accounts for (see table 1.2). This is interesting as it shows that the primary function of these publications, with relation to celebrity, is to comment upon celebrity appearances rather than what
10 See Appendix 16 Content Analysis Raw Data, pg 126.

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the celebrities are doing or who they are involved with, i.e. gossip, which is their secondary function, despite promoting this feature above others. In terms of the celebrities depicted, both publications favour those who have a high visual recognition with the public, for example, celebrities who are well-known through wide circulation of their image such as TV and film personalities as opposed to sports personalities who are better known by name and action to a more select audience. This concept of high visual recognition is reinforced by the number of images present with each article: there were no articles without a supporting image. While the 810 articles analysed all had at least one supporting image, regardless of the size of the article in terms of word count, there were images without any supporting words. This shows the significance of the publications need for visual stimuli for the readers to recognise the celebrity involved and engage with the article. This, in turn, influences the ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body in relation to the formation of self (Wolf, 1991, Bordo, 1993, Chow, 2001) due to the strength and repetition of such images. There was one exception to this, which was the limited inclusion of those famous for scandals in the publications (highlighted in table 1.3): due to tabloid and TV coverage (such as Rebecca Loos for her supposed involvement with David Beckham) those famous for scandals have a high visual recognition among the general public. However this anomaly can be attributed to a lack of current scandal during the time period covered by the content analysis, involving people who were not previously famous to the apparent scandal.

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1.3

Weight of Celebrity Depicted Film (high profile) Film (other) TV (high profile) TV (soap star) TV (reality: famous) TV (reality: non-famous) TV (presenter) TV (other) Music (high profile) Music (other) Model (high profile) Model (glamour) Model (other) Sport (high profile) Dating celebrity Related to celebrity Scandal Total

Frequency 71 64 73 77 78 57 61 18 42 105 21 20 10 5 86 21 1 810

Percent 8.8 7.9 9.0 9.5 9.6 7.1 7.5 2.2 5.2 13.0 2.6 2.5 1.2 .6 10.6 2.6 .1 100.0

Another interesting frequency statistic was the overall attitude of the coverage towards the appearance of the celebrity in question. Despite the majority belief that most of the coverage in celebrity gossip magazines is critical or negative11 of the celebrities that they depict, only 19.4 % of the overall coverage was negative about them. Nearly half of the overall coverage (49.8 %) was positive about the celebrities portrayed. This indicates the polysemic nature of the images produced: as Wolf notes, they can both inspire and depress (1991). The duality of these images means that the focus group members can interpret the articles as negative for any number of reasons; such as bias against such publications or the celebrities which they represent.

Depictions of celebrity weight

Although celebrity appearance seems to be of key importance to both publications, only 13 % of the articles (regardless of the type of article) made mention of weight as an issue or were in some way weight related (see table 1.4). On surface analysis
11 See Chapter 5: Focus Group Results, pg 40.

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this could suggest that weight is not considered to be an issue as only 13 % of coverage is dedicated to this, however the presence of weight related articles at all suggests that it is considered an issue. 1.4 Article's Weight-relation weight-related non weight-related Total Frequency 105 705 810 Percent 13.0 87.0 100.0

As stated previously, the majority of coverage is positive about the appearances of the celebrities portrayed. It is also true that the majority of the celebrities portrayed in the publications are of a healthy weight: either a low healthy weight (62.1 %) or a high healthy weight (19.9 %), which can be used to support the views of focus group members in favour of such publications who claim that the magazines promote health above appearance 12, along with statistics that show the attitude of the weight related articles (discussed in further detail later: see table 1.6). However, this argument is invalidated by the magazines depictions of those who can not be considered of a healthy weight. The representation of celebrities who are not of a healthy weight constitutes 18 % of the overall coverage, and while those who are under a healthy weight have 16.5 % of that coverage (134 out of a total 810 images), those who are over a healthy weight receive only 1.5 % of coverage (a mere 12 images out of 810). This shows that, of those celebrities who are not of a healthy weight, there is a clear preference to coverage of celebrities who are underweight. There is also a preference, overall, to celebrities who are of a low healthy weight or underweight (with a combined percentage of 78.6 over of all celebrity coverage) than those who are of a high healthy weight or overweight (just 21.4 %). This wide disparity can be seen clearly below:

12 See Chapter 5: Focus Group Results, pg 40.

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1.5

overweight healthy weight (high) healthy weight (low) underweight

This could indicate one of two things: either that the majority of female celebrities are of a low healthy weight or under, which the publications in turn reflect, or that as image-based publications Heat and Closer favour those of a low healthy weight or under. Regardless of the motivations this reinforces the work of Featherstone (1991) which claims that the female body, as represented by the media (Heat and Closer in this instance), creates a fictitious form that does not reflect the realities of society. Studies suggest that identification, appearance, consumerism and the group are symbiotically connected, and support the notion that group acceptance and identification may depend on what kind of image, including body image, can be constructed (Frosh et al., 2002) which is based upon the fictitious form represented through these images. 1.6 Article's Weight-relation weight-related non weight-related Total Attitude of Coverage positive negative neutral 72 21 12 331 136 238 403 157 250

Total 105 705 810

There appears to be a similar distribution of attitudes towards the appearances of celebrities in the publications weight related articles as there are in the non weight related articles, which appears to suggest an overall positive attitude towards weight issues (see table 1.6).

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When broken down into their weight classifications, cross tabulation shows that although 82.9 % of these articles involved celebrities who are of a healthy weight (see table 1.7) only 68.6 % of weight related coverage is positive. This could suggest that not all of the celebrities of a healthy weight have been rewarded with positive coverage and therefore the articles are not promoting a healthy weight, but an ideal appearance. However, anomalies, such as negative coverage of Jade Goodys weight loss (overweight to a high healthy weight) due to bulimia and diet pill addiction, mean that this claim can not be quantified. 1.7 Weight of Celebrity Depicted overweight healthy weight (high) healthy weight (low) underweight Total Article's Weight-relation weight-related non weight 2 10 41 120 46 457 16 118 105 705

Total 12 161 503 134 810

Bartky writes of the distress expressed by women who are overweight and how it seems to connect to their self-perceived failure to fit into an expected female norm: They feel they are seen as, and consequently see themselves as, deviant (1990). Therefore, it is for this reason that image and beauty is often linked with the construction of self-image: if the body (the physical attributes) is of the desired standards set by the current culture, then the self (the psychological attributes) also matches the desired standards. It is argued by feminist theorists that women are led to believe that deviation from the ideal body is a deviation from ideal self. 1.8 Weight Depicted overweight healthy weight (high) healthy weight (low) underweight Total Attitude of Coverage positive negative neutral 0 8 4 67 39 55 272 79 152 64 31 39 403 157 250

Total 12 161 503 134 810

This is supported by the content analysis (see table 1.8) which shows that there is an overall preference to those who are of a low healthy weight or underweight in terms of the attitude of coverage. As previously stated there is an overall preference in the

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amount of coverage given to celebrities who are of a low healthy weight or underweight (with a combined 78.6 % of celebrity coverage) than those who are of a high healthy weight or overweight. This preference is further reinforced by the attitude of the overall coverage towards the different weight groupings: 70 % of positive coverage is given to celebrities who are of a low healthy weight or underweight, and 70.1 % of negative coverage is devoted to celebrities who are of a high healthy weight or overweight. It is also interesting to note that, despite post feminist theorists praising articles which criticise celebrities who have taken weight loss too far as a backlash to the thinner is better mentality of other female interest magazines, the majority of coverage of the underweight is actually positive (47.8 % of the 134 articles regarding celebrities who are underweight). Only 23.1 % of underweight coverage is negative, compared with the coverage of those who are overweight: a massive 66.7 % of this coverage was negative and there was absolutely no positive coverage of the overweight. This indicates that there is still a negative stigma towards those who are overweight and therefore deviate from the accepted norm portrayed by the magazines, as this is the group which receives the least coverage and the most criticism from the publications and reinforces Bordos argument that increasingly, the size and shape of the body has come to operate as a marker of personal, internal order (or disorder) (1990: 94). The use of articles which criticise celebrities who have taken weight loss too far seems to act as a qualifier; justifying the continuation of the bias towards those who are of a low healthy weight or underweight in the publication overall. 1.9 Weight-relation gain loss neutral Total Attitude of Coverage positive negative neutral 10 6 1 29 10 2 33 5 9 72 21 12

Total 17 41 47 105

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This qualifier is further detailed in the cross tabulation of the type of weight relation to the attitude of the coverage. As table 1.9 shows, there is a large percentage of positive coverage given to celebrity weight gains (58.8 %) as well as losses (70.7 %), which could be argued to indicate support for celebrities of a larger size. However, the majority of these documented weight gains are for celebrities who were be deemed dangerously underweight prior to the weight gain and after the weight gain could only be considered of a low healthy weight if not, in some instances, still underweight; as is the case in the Heat article regarding celebrities who have beaten anorexia (issue 372: 13-19 May, 2006), such as Calista Flockhart, Portia de Rosi and Kate Winslet. When the celebrity in question is of a low or high healthy weight prior to the weight gain, the attitude of the coverage is either neutral or negative, as is the case for celebrities such as Charlotte Church, Britney Spears and Jessie Wallace who were all criticised for weight increases even though none of these weight gains resulted in the celebrity being overweight. This gives the impression that
Calista Flockhart Portia de Rosi

health and happiness concerns are secondary to image.

Data gathered also points to the fickle nature of the publications attitudes towards the celebrities they depict: criticising one week and praising the next based on the same images and appearance. An example of this found during the content analysis was the Closer s depiction of Charlotte Church during the period of analysis. At first Charlotte Church was criticised for her weight gain, which took her from a low healthy weight to a high healthy weight (issue 182: 15-21 April, 2006). However, two editions later the magazine was praising her for the curves which she had developed as a result of this gain (issue 184: 29-5 May, 2006). This gives the reader a mixed

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message, as members of the focus group confirmed 13, which sets an unattainable standard for the readers to aspire to since it is not only limited but is transient as well. This mixed message is further reinforced by incidents where certain celebrities will be criticised for their size and a later article, within the same magazine edition, will criticise another celebrity for losing too much weight. These facts make the magazines appear to be very
Critique of the underweight for going too far

hypocritical; as in the same issue that they ask why a celebrity has become so thin, they will feature an article on fat celebrities in their bikinis on the beach. For example, one edition of Heat featured on the front cover truly horrific Nicole Richie picture which depicts how dangerously thin the star has become, along with an article dedicated to photos of celebrities with big bums (issue 371: 6-12 May, 2006).

Followed by a critique of those of a high healthy weight

Basically the reader can not win; no matter what the body shape or size, at some point the publications will attack them. When those deemed as perfect are then ridiculed for being less than, it sends the message to the average woman that even if they achieve perfection it will not be good enough. The ideal of feminine beauty and the perfect body; promoted and reinforced by the cosmetic, weight-loss and fashion industries, as stated previously, creates in women a dark vein of self hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control (Wolf, 1991:10). Based on these already unrealistically high standards, it is within reason to

13 See Chapter 5: Focus Group Results, pg 40.

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argue that the continuous critiques created by these publications will reinforce and exacerbate these feelings. The findings of the content analysis indicate that the depiction of celebrities with relation to weight issues is detrimental to the formation of female self-image due to its bias towards the slim and underweight and their continuous critique of any and all celebrities, but especially those of a higher weight. However, as previously stated, the polysemic nature of the images produced: as Wolf notes, can both inspire and depress (1991). Therefore it is not enough to come to any conclusions on the content analysis alone as this only represents the level of coverage given by these magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities (both negative and positive) and was based upon one researchers interpretation of the articles. The duality of these images of physical imperfection means that other readers could interpret these same articles and images differently. Some could see the critiquing the weight issues of celebrities as a reassuring sight which reinforces satisfaction with the readers self-image rather than seeing it as a personal critique to undermine it. For example it could be argued that there is no positive coverage of overweight female celebrities such as Kinga Karolczak (of Big Brother), due to their personal lack of fashion sense degrading their appearance rather than their weight being the deciding factor. In order to investigate how meaning is created and/or interpreted by the reader of such publications, a focus group was also conducted.

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Chapter 5: Focus Groups Results

Consent form data
Based on information gathered from the consent forms prior to the focus groups, the random nature of the sample could be tested. Five focus groups consisting of five participants each were performed, making a total of twenty-five people interviewed. These people were consistent with a random sample as they were from various areas across the country (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales) and various backgrounds (based upon current occupation, which included unemployed, retired, students, lawyers, doctors, cleaners, etc.). There were also a range of ages (between 18 and 60 years old), weights (between 8 and 16 stone) and heights (between 5 ft 2 in and 6 ft tall); all of which maintains the random nature of the sample. 2.1 Number of people that read Heat -style magazines: Weekly 3 Often 6 Occasionally 7 Rarely 5 Never 4

As table 2.1 shows the amount which participants of the focus groups read the celebrity gossip magazines is also varied, which should help avoid obvious bias towards or against the publications in question. However, those who claim to have never read celebrity gossip magazines seemed very familiar with the format and very negative towards it, which suggests that they read at least rarely, but due to their distaste for the format would rather say never as they believe any interest in this type of magazine will reflect poorly on them. Another section which held information of great interest was how the participants felt about their weight. Despite only two of the focus groups consisting of Slimming World members (groups 1 and 5), the majority of participants considered themselves to be overweight. As table 2.2 shows, 21 out of 25 participants believed themselves to be overweight or very overweight. Of the 25, only 2 participants considered

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themselves to be of an average weight whereas the other 23 considered themselves a deviation from what is deemed to be the average weight. Also, 24 out of the 25 admitted to dieting or having been on a diet at some point in time: only 1 participant (highlighted in table 2.2) claimed to have never dieted before. Even if the focus groups consisting of Slimming World members are discounted this leaves 14 out of 15 having dieted at some point, which is a significant number.

2.2

How participants feel about their weight: () indicate focus group number underweight14 Olivia (3) Andrea (4) average Eirwen (2) Hiroko (3) overweight Samantha (1) Sian (2) Beverley (2) Maureen (2) Sabrina (3) Cheryl (3) Jennifer (4) Karen (5) Daria (5) very overweight Rachel (1) Louise (1) Claire (1) Melissa (1) Alison (2) Caroline (3) Christine (4) Sharon (4) Sophie (4) Felicity (5) Gemma (5) Isabelle (5)

However, due to the height and weight data also gathered on the consent forms, participants BMI (body mass index: a method of calculating body mass used by government and health officials 15) could be calculated. Using the BMI, Slimming World has created a weight-range chart for their members, which can be seen below; with white representing underweight, yellow representing average weight, red representing overweight and purple representing very overweight. Using this BMI based weight range chart to chart participants weight ranges and decipher whether the participants representations of their size were accurate, as shown in table 2.4, led to several interesting findings; most significant being that only 7 of the 25 participant were the size that they felt they were and that all of the 7 who were correct were at the extreme ends of the spectrum (under 9 stone or
14 There was also an option very underweight on the consent form. As no participants chose this option it was omitted from results tables. See Appendix 6 Focus Group Consent Form, pg 81. 15 The BMI method is not completely accurate as it does not account for those with high muscle mass.

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above 14 stone). This could indicate that it is only those with genuine health concerns caused by their weight that are aware of their size in medical terms. 2.3

Another significant finding was that all of the 18 participants who were incorrect in the estimation of their size believed themselves to be heavier than the BMI based weight range chart indicated. This shows that the majority of participants perceptions of the average weight are not based on scientific health findings. When compared to the findings of the content analysis, which shows that the average female size depicted in Heat and Closer is healthy (low)16: lower than indicated by government and health officials, it reinforces the theory that female perceptions of body image, with relation to weight, is based upon media perceptions of the average female body size (Frost, 2001; 2003; 2004; 2005).

16 See Chapter 4: Content Analysis Results, pg 29.

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2.4

Participants actual weight range based on Slimming World BMI based weight range chart: () indicate focus group number very underweight17 average overweight overweight Eirwen (2) Samantha (1) Louise (1) Rachel (1) Olivia (3) Sian (2) Melissa (1) Claire (1) Sabrina (3) Beverley (2) Alison (2) Caroline (4) Hiroko (3) Maureen (2) Sharon (4) Felicity (5) Andrea (4) Cheryl (3) Sophie (4) Gemma (5) Christine (4) Isabelle (5) Jennifer (4) Daria (5) Karen (5)

Another question on the consent form was whether participants were satisfied or dissatisfied with their size. Of the 25, only 2 members claimed they were satisfied with their size, Eirwen and Hiroko, and these were the 2 participants who believed themselves to be of an average weight, and both measured as underweight according to the BMI based weight range chart, but fell into the healthy (low) range of the content analysis18. This suggests that those who consider themselves to be average, based upon media perceptions, are satisfied with their size as it is the norm (Featherstone, 1991). One area of the consent form which yielded unexpected results was whether or not participants wished for their names to be changed for transcription. All of those who considered themselves to be overweight and very overweight wished for their names to be changed19. This suggests that those who feel the need to remain anonymous are who see themselves as a deviation from the norm, when compared to media representations of body size, which the content analysis shows that the overweight and very overweight are the least represented by Heat and Closer (12 out of 810 images20).
17 There was also an option very underweight according to the BMI based weight range chart. As no participants fell into this category it was omitted from results tables. See Appendix 6 Focus Group Consent Form, pg 81. 18 See Chapter 3: Methodology Content Analysis, pg 21. 19 Despite a number of participants being unconcerned with maintaining their anonymity, all names were changed for transcription. 20 See Chapter 4: Content Analysis Results, 29 pg.

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Question 1: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case?
There was a great deal more negativity to example one than was expected; two thirds of the participants had an overall negative impression of the weight loss article, as is indicated by table 2.5. 2.5 Feeling towards weight loss article (example 1) Positive Negative Group 1: 5 Group 2: 3 2 Group 3: 2 3 Group 4: 2 3 Group 5: 1 4 Total: 8 17

There was a great deal of cynicism regarding the authenticity/accuracy of the diets mentioned in the article, with many participants claiming that there is not enough detail about the diets listed which could be followed by readers to test if they are effective. Some even suggest that the diets could be entirely false: But she may be eating potato chips and beer all the time, and has just said she eats this stuff for the sake of the magazine. Just because she says that shes been eating that stuff doesnt mean she actually has... Hiroko, Group 3. Indicating a media sensitivity on the part of the participants: they are aware that there is no proof of the facts stated in such articles. This gives the reader a sense of knowledge based authority, as they feel that they can see through what they consider to be PR, allowing them to discount these options for their desired weight loss as no more than false hope.

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Another way in which many of the participants discounted these articles as an option for themselves is to use the status of celebrity to indicate that such methods can not be imitated; claiming that most celebrities involved will have nutritionists to keep them on their diets and personal trainers to help them maintain their fitness regimes. This sentiment was expressed by many participants including Louise: When theyve got the money and the time to get their food cooked for them or whatever. Its not really fair to compare that to a real life situation. We have things to do. Louise, Group 1. Other participants argued that they would not follow a celebrity diet due to their lack of specialist authority in the area of health, nutrition and fitness. why would a celebritys diet be any better than one that a doctor or nutritionist could give you. Just because they can act doesnt mean they know the first thing about nutrition! Caroline, Group 3 Although 17 out of 25 expressed a general distaste for article one, the majority of these women had listed their choice of preferred magazines on the consent forms were general female interest such as Bella, Cosmopolitan , New Woman , Take a Break and Marie Claire. All of these publications contain similar articles regarding celebrity diets and fitness regimes. One participant commented on the fact: I admit Im drawn to these features in the magazines I normally read, hopefully because theyre more balanced, but the general message is still the same: lose weight. Christine, Group 4.

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This suggests that the negative feeling towards the weight loss article is due to general feeling for the format or for the celebrities in question. If there is no positive feeling for the star, the reader will feel no interest in their success. I wouldnt bother mainly because I dont know who most of the celebrities in these magazines are half of the time. Im not up to speed with whos who anymore: Im beyond caring these days! Eirwen, Group 2. Those who were positive about the article and were generally positive about the celebrities in question claimed that the articles, although they lacked the detail to imitate the diet, were inspirational and claimed that they could help motivate them to lose weight with the introduction of new ideas which may not have occurred to the reader. There is also a tendency to associate with the celebrities of a comparative body type, allowing them to project their own weight battles onto the celebrity so that their successes can potentially be the readers successes. They hold some interest for me because I am always trying to find new ways, you know ideas to lose weight. And it gives me hope [] It makes it seem more possible that Ill be able to do it Cheryl, Group 3. Also, due to their celebrity status, the readers view those mentioned in these articles as people they know: as the intimate stranger (Schickel, 1985) which celebrities have become in modern culture. Its nice to see how other people diet and whether its worked for them or not. Celebrities just mean you have seen them during, rather than just some before and after of a stranger. Alison, Group 2.

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This allows the reader to see their enjoyment of the article as an association or relationship with the celebrity and therefore alleviates or removes any sense of guilt created by what can be considered voyeuristic behaviour on the part of the reader. Those who are positive about the articles argue that the involvement of nutritionists and personal trainers, show how much effort is involved to maintain these figures. There are a lot of people out there who have dieting issues, myself included, and its nice to see that these celebrities have to work to get their figures. Theyre not naturally perfect Daria, Group 5. This confirms, as Feasey suggested, that this demonstrates that todays [celebrities] should not simply be admired as flawless fashion icons. Instead, [its] clear that such celebrities should be seen as ordinary women with extraordinary wardrobes (2006: 85) and that the reader is aware of this, whether they are negative or positive about it.

Question 2: What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this?
Once again the majority of participants were negative, as can be seen in table 2.6. What was interesting was that most participants focused on the images as opposed to the accompanying captions. Even participants who were positive about the article seemed to view the celebrities as being caught eating.

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2.6

Feeling towards weight gain article (example 2) Positive Negative Group 1: 5 Group 2: 3 2 Group 3: 2 3 Group 4: 1 4 Group 5: 1 4 Total: 7 18

Despite the positive terminology used throughout the article (with the possible exception of Vanessa Feltz who will be discussed later) such as too thin is no fun and enjoying meals out, all the participants tended to use negative terminology to describe the celebrities as stuffing themselves and pigging out. This suggests that participants are projecting their negative impressions of eating onto the article and justifying it by arguing that this was the magazines true message to readers. This kind of critique is vicious. And the kicker is that theyre being really nice about it. Its like look: were saying that its ok and that celebrities like to eat too. Isabelle, Group 5. Seeing the celebrities as being caught eating shows a negative stigma towards eating on the part of the participants; as if the celebrities have been photographed cheating or sinning. It can be argued that participants are projecting their fear of being caught in this negative act onto the celebrities in question, which is why the majority of participants are sympathetic towards them and against the publication. Gemma: Karen: Felicity: If I was them, Id just want to go home and cry. Youd stop eating out, wouldnt you? If youre larger, like me [] youre worried that every time you put something into your mouth someone will see it and think Christ! No wonder shes so fat. Group 5.

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Even those who were positive and used the article as an example of normalising celebrities, saw it as strengthening their bond with celebrities through a shared weakness: it shows that theyre human. This can be empowering to the reader as it is a justification for breaking their own diets; knowing that if the celebrities are human and can indulge, they can too without fear of social rejection. Those who were positive about the article also argued that because such images normalise celebrities, it discredits celebrities as role models for their appearances alone; that this means that it will make those who wish to imitate the stars less inclined to resort to drastic diets in order to do so. Andrea: Sharon: Andrea: it knocks them off their pedestal a bit. Thats only if you put them on one to begin with But you cant deny that there are people out there that do, like if someone wanted to be like Mischa Barton they might think you have to starve yourself. But this picture shows that she eats like everyone else does Group 4. Many justified their negative response to the celebrities eating by claiming that it purposefully captures the celebrity at the worst possible moment. Despite several participants, who argued that such photographs were an invasion of privacy, expressing distaste for the article there was a tendency to focus on how bad they believed the celebrities looked. This indicates that the participants alleviate their guilt at indulging in such images by having a negative response to them. I think the photographers do it on purpose, to make them look ugly or something. I mean look at this one [indicating Mischa Barton]: she looks like she hasnt eaten for months, but the photo makes it look like shes stuffing her face. I feel guilty for looking at her like this. Sabrina, Group 3.

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Other participants dismiss the article by focusing on the financial implications; that the magazine articles existence was down to making use of paparazzi photographs for which there was no use. This, again, gives the reader a sense of superiority, as they feel that they can see through what they consider to be the surface meaning. it looks like theyve just taken a load of random shots of celebrities and thought What feature can we make out of this lot this week? Like theyre making money out of nothing. Melissa, Group 1. Despite the positive terminology used in the article, many participants focused on the one photo and caption which could be perceived as negative. Even those who were positive about the article overall questioned why Vanessa Feltz had been singled out by highlighting her with a yellow border as opposed to the green border surrounding all the other pictures. Participants argue that this sets a double standard and gives people reading the article a mixed message. Samantha (negative about the article) and Olivia (positive about the article) commented on this fact. youve got all these skinny people and its like Great!. But when Vanessa puts something in her mouth, cos shes big, shes criticised Samantha, Group 1. The only thing I do find weird is that Vanessa Feltz is, for some reason, in a big yellow box to highlight her, and saying that she likes a good feed like shes an animal or something. Olivia, Group 3.

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Question 3: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this?
As table 2.7 shows opinion was very divided on whether the third article type was a positive or negative development, which was unexpected as this article was considered to be a positive development when compared to the findings of the content analysis.

2.7

Feeling towards negative weight loss article (example 3) Positive Negative Group 1: 2 3 Group 2: 5 Group 3: 4 1 Group 4: 2 3 Group 5: 1 4 Total: 14 11

Rather than seeing the article as a swing away from magazines tendency towards the slim and underweight, several participants were very cynical about the motivations for publishing the article; seeing it as a way of covering themselves morally for their continued publication of positive coverage of the underweight, or that such articles were in such a minority as to be rendered irrelevant when compared to the excessive amounts of criticism made about those who have gained or are overweight. they had to address it at some point. I gue ss in the short term its a good thing to show [] us that losing too much weight in a short space of time is not healthy for you. But these magazines are more likely to criticise people for gaining weight and praise people for losing weight than the other way round Sabrina, Group 3.

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Another general criticism of the article is that by criticising celebrities for losing too much weight as well as gaining too much weight, the magazines are setting even higher standards for women to aspire to. The outcome is that when the celebrities the reader is told to aspire to are ridiculed for being flawed, it sends the message to the reader that even if they achieve perfection it will be open to criticism. This theory was reinforced by Samantha:

theyre setting an ideal. Not even a midway point If youre too thin theres something wrong, if youre too fat theres something wrong, which is hypocritical. Samantha, Group 1. Many claimed that this was also hypocritical because the magazine has probably used the same pictures, used in the article to criticise the celebrity for their weight loss, to praise the celebrity at another point. This is backed up by the content analysis which saw the reproduction of several pictures in different contexts, such as photographs of Victoria Beckham which were used to help readers steal her style were re-used in a later edition to criticise her weight loss. This can be argued to be another example of the mixed message which such magazines give to their readers, creating unachievable standards as suggested by Wolf (1990). This view was reinforced by one of the participants: Id bet any money that these pictures where shes deemed dangerously thin have been used in the same magazine months ago as an example of how great she looks! Sharon, Group 4. This was expanded to incorporate the pictures in which the celebrity is deemed to be looking at her best, many participants claiming that these pictures where the celebrity is called plump may have been the inspiration for her dramatic weight

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loss in the first place and that the magazine is highlighting the issues which they have created by the original criticism and invasion of privacy. This article disgusts me, that poor girls being hounded by the very same magazines who told her she needed to lose weight in the first place!... Christine, Group 4.

However, those who are positive about the article point out that the main crux of the piece is to highlight the potential health risks that can be incurred with excessive weight loss and that the celebrity is an example rather than the focus. Even those who were negative about the article felt more informed about the dangers of dramatic weight loss after reading the article such as osteoporosis. Ive never read anything like this before. But I didnt realise [] the effect it had on your kidneys and things like that. Eirwen, Group 2. The article was also used to reinforce and strengthen their previous point that such articles discredit celebrities as role models for their appearances alone: that it will make those who wish to imitate the stars even less inclined to resort to drastic diets as they can see how dangerous such things are. It also shows, as nearly all of the participants agreed, that becoming too thin looks very unattractive when compared to the earlier photographs where the celebrity was a healthier weight. This seems to indicate that visual example is very potent in transmitting a message to the reader: that seeing the celebrity wasting away through the series photos brings her weight loss into clear focus. In a sense this is a good thing, because we all agree she looks ugly. Hiroko, Group 3.

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Those who were positive about the article also stated that they had never seen a similar type of article in any of the other female interest publications which they read and that therefore, by contrast to these publications, it is responsible behaviour for a magazine. They also point out that the article has used medical experts to give the piece knowledge and authority. However other participants point out that the experts involved have no personal knowledge of the celebrity they are talking about and therefore can not make the assumptions that they do regarding the state of her health. youve got the so-called experts whove probably never met her let alone discussed it with her, so how dare they! How dare they give an opinion on [] a person they know nothing about? They [] have no right to pass judgement at all! Gemma, Group 5.

Question 4: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of selfimage and why?
Despite opinion being divided on all of the example articles, overall the participants were negative about the impact which celebrity gossip magazine have on womens creation of self-image. However, when referring to the potential impacts of such magazines, very few referred to themselves in the first person; preferring terms such as you and talking about the implications on younger readers regardless of the age of the participant. This distances the participants from both the magazines and their potential impacts as if they are above or separate from them. Another technique used was to use the term we in order to make themselves part of a collective, so that they feel less vulnerable to the impacts which they are discussing. When the term I was used the 54

body language of the participant became defensive. Such defensive positions suggest personal insecurities on the part of the participants in relation to self-image. As table 2.8 shows, 22 out of 25 claimed that these types of publications have a negative impact. This seems to be due to how the coverage of celebrities is weighted overall towards coverage in favour of the slender and beautiful over the larger and (by implication) less attractive and that criticism such as those in article 3 are too few and far between. Another interesting point was that the 3 who were positive about the format and defended it were those who read the magazines weekly.

2.8

Feeling towards celebrity gossip magazine overall Positive Negative Group 1: 5 Group 2: 5 Group 3: 1 4 Group 4: 1 4 Group 5: 1 4 Total: 3 22

Many of the participants expanded on this by pointing out that it is negative to focus purely on image rather than taking into account the abilities of the celebrity in question. There is a general distaste for this continuous focus with participants arguing that it distorts womens perceptions of themselves; making them believe that they are judged solely on their appearances rather than what they have achieved(Featherstone, 1991). They always seem to focus on physical appearance, and if its not about weight then its about surgery or cellulite or something else Everything is purely image. Melissa, Group 1. This means that the participants are sent the message by such magazines that to be of the correct size and beauty is to be accepted and, consequently, be happy. This is

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reinforced by several of the participants who continued on from this point to mental health issues and weight disorders and illness: People need to realise that weight issues can be the result of genuine illnesses: some of these celebrities and the readers are ill and they are just encouraging it Claire, Group 1. There were a few participants who were negative towards the power and pull of celebrity in modern society. A major concern of these participants is that this focus on image as opposed to the abilities of the celebrity in question means that the celebrities being put forward as potential role models are usually famous for their headline-grabbing public antics. This in turn means that the role models for readers are negative. This was a point expressed in detail by Cheryl. They dont give positive role models. It is filled with drunks, sexually permissive people, swearing, bitching and women that havent done anything worth being praised for unless you count being attractive and skinny. It encourages other women that its ok to be like that because theyre always shown having a good time. The self-image of women [] will go down because we are encouraging behaviour that cheapens us as women. Cheryl, Group 3. The participants are also very aware of the media as an industry rather than a social forum, and therefore know that health concerns are not their key concern, since it is unauthorised photos of celebrities and related stories that create their profit. Some participants go as far as to say that these industries are self-perpetuating: that they profit by creating the problems which they later reveal and then profit from further. This view shows that the participants are media sensitive and it gives them a sense of power through knowledge. Although others argued that the status of celebrity is boosted by publicity and therefore they benefit from such magazines existence.

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I read that Jordan gets to look through all of hers and decides which ones theyre allowed to print and how much to airbrush them. So I know it does happen Beverley, Group 2. Those who are positive about the format argue that despite their need for profit the magazines main message is to be healthy and take pride in your appearance and that, subsequently, the reader will be happy. They also argue that by showing celebrities performing everyday tasks such as eating and shopping, this normalises celebrities and they become less credible as role models and more credible as human beings to the reader; who will in turn relate to the celebrity instead of aspiring to be them. As previously stated, the three focus group members who were positive about the format and defended it were those who read the magazines weekly. However this was made note of by those participants, claiming that the negative impressions that the other participants had of the publications was due to a limited knowledge of the format overall: that it is the negative articles which attract the attention of the occasional reader and therefore they do not see these magazines in their entirety. Rather than seeing celebrity gossip magazines as a form of oppression of modern women, they can be seen as a means of liberation which put the emphasis on womens sexual confidence and independence (Gough-Yates, 2003: 137). personally I think the people who find them damaging to womens self esteems dont read magazines like Heat regularly. Andrea, Group 4. Also they argued that, compared to other female interest publications, celebrity gossip magazines are honest about what they are and give a more realistic representation of life.

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 celebrity magazines are less of a problem than magazines like Cosmopolitan which imply that you can, and should, be able to do it all: That you can be on a six figure salary whilst throwing continuous dinner parties, bringing up four kids, taking yoga classes, re-painting the house and doing up the garden in your spare time [that] lifestyle is too much to maintain. Daria, Group 5. However, those who were negative about the magazine format claimed that those who believed that the overall message was positive, were nave not to see the cynical side of such publications which they saw: focusing on the reason why women should avoid what they consider to be extremely gendered texts which promote and reinforce unattainable standards of wealth and beauty (Douglas, 1995: 9).

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Chapter 6: Conclusions
Celebrity gossip, feminism and post-feminism
Most feminist work regarding womens magazines focuses on the reason why women should avoid what theorists consider to be extremely gendered texts which promote and reinforce unattainable standards of wealth and beauty (Douglas, 1995: 9). Theorists seem to regard those who read such texts with concern rather than respect (Hermes, 1997: 1) and believe that female interest magazines can only have negative impacts upon womens formation of self-constructed body image due to the standards that they set for their readers. However, in the wake of feminist theory, post-feminism has arguably developed to accommodate the modern woman, allowing them to be enthusiastic about fashion and beauty; claiming that it is not a means of control, but a positive form of expression of femininity. Such publications can be seen as a means of liberation for women, as they put an emphasis on womens sexual confidence and independence (Gough-Yates, 2003: 137): female interest magazine are helping to validate feminine meanings and competence. As previously stated, celebrity gossip magazine such as Heat and Closer are very different from the majority of female interest magazines as their main commodity is critiquing the same celebrities which other womens magazines put forward as role models for the readers to look up to as well as giving coverage to those who other magazines would not deem as celebrities (such as Big Brother contestants, footballers girlfriends, etc.). Also, these publications are still a relatively new medium in the UK market. Consequently there has been very little discussion or research into their impacts upon their readership when compared to these other forms of womens magazines. This study originally hypothesised that celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer, had a negative impact upon womens formation of self-constructed body image with a focus on weight issues; due to the fact that when those deemed as 59

perfect by society, such as celebrities, are then ridiculed for being less than, it sends a message to the reader that even if they achieve perfection it will not be good enough. This continuous critique will reinforce and exacerbate the anxiety and unhappiness women feel with their bodies, based on already unrealistically high standards. This hypothesis has been proven to be the case through the findings of the content analysis and the focus groups:

Findings
First of all this study investigated the extent of coverage the two publications give to the depictions of celebrities and how the reader deconstructs and interprets these images in relation to their self-constructed body images with a focus on weight issues. This hypothesis has been supported by the findings of the content analysis which focuses on the level of coverage given by these magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities (both negative and positive). The content analysis showed that the primary function of these publications, with relation to celebrity, is to comment upon celebrity appearances rather than what the celebrities are doing or who they are involved with, i.e. gossip, despite promoting themselves for this feature. The depiction of celebrities with relation to weight issues is biased towards the slim and underweight as it not only favours these celebrities with the majority of the coverage, but also favours them with the majority of the positive coverage. There was absolutely no positive coverage of the overweight, indicating that there is still a negative stigma towards those who are overweight and therefore deviate from

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the accepted norm portrayed by the magazines, as this is the group which receives the least coverage and the most criticism from the publications. Despite post feminist theorists praising articles which criticise celebrities who have taken weight loss too far and praise those who have gained weight, these articles are nothing more than qualifiers. The majority of coverage of the underweight is actually positive and the majority of the articles which praise weight gains are for celebrities who were dangerously underweight prior to the weight gain and could only be considered of a low healthy weight if not, in some instances, still underweight after the weight gain. Data gathered also points to the fickle nature of the publications attitudes towards the celebrities they depict: criticising one week and praising the next based on the same images and appearance, giving the reader a mixed message which sets an unattainable standard for the readers to aspire to; since it is not only limited to a specific weight and general appearance but is also continuously changing as well. Both feminist and post-feminist literatures are dependent on how the reader interprets the articles and corresponding images in celebrity gossip magazines and how this impacts upon their self-constructed body image. The focus groups investigated how meaning is created and/or interpreted by the reader of such publications by asking what women thought and felt about the various types of articles produced by celebrity gossip magazines. A significant finding of the focus group was that nearly all of the participants believed themselves to be heavier than the BMI based weight range chart indicated, which shows that the majoritys perceptions of the average weight was not based on medical information. When compared to the findings of the content analysis, which shows that the average female size depicted in Heat and Closer is healthy (low): lower than indicated by health officials, it reinforces the theory that female perceptions of body image, with relation to weight, is based upon media perceptions of the average female body size (Frost, 2001; 2003; 2004; 2005).

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Overall the participants were negative about the impact which celebrity gossip magazine have on womens creation of self-image, claiming that they profit from misery and insecurity by setting unattainable standards for women to aspire to: There are very exacting standards to be maintained to be beautiful. This view was based upon how the coverage of celebrities was perceived as being weighted towards coverage in favour of the slender and beautiful and how to become more like them, in terms of appearance, with articles such as steal her style and get the look. The focus group members noted their tendency to criticise the larger and (by implication) less attractive, whereas criticism of the celebrities who have gone to dangerous extremes to achieve beauty and set a bad example to those wishing to emulate them are too few and far between. The publications offer up no positive role models for women due to the focus on appearance over substance; they are filled with drunks, the sexually permissive, and aggressive who have done nothing worth being praised for unless being attractive and skinny is counted. This gives the impression that all of this behaviour is socially acceptable, but that deviation from the ideal body is not. The publications also treat the achievement and maintenance of a particular body type as if they were announcing a new, must-have fashion accessory, negating the importance of health and focusing purely on image. This implies that happiness can be achieved through social acceptance which is created by staying in touch with what is perceived as the correct look. Therefore, those who can not achieve these standards will not be accepted and as a result can not be happy. In essence the relationship between the reader and the producer is an abusive one. The reader has their self-confidence destroyed, and is then told what to do, wear, buy and be in order to gain acceptance. The producer receives the recognition and loyalty of the readers, as they are grateful for this source of information with which they can potentially achieve this acceptance. In turn the readers are rewarded with

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images and articles depicting the failings of the celebrities who they consider to be their superiors in this search for acceptance. The reader indulges in this, as it shows that even celebrities fall short of these standards. The reader can therefore be excused from not achieving these standards and can not be picked on for this perceived failure, which is what they fear the most. Meanwhile they are able to indulge in this voyeurism without guilt due to the way in which the articles are used as a comparative to the reader. And so the cycle continues with the magazines creating their own self-sufficient market where they help solve the problems which they have created and reinforced: the abuser is also the comforter who can tell the reader how to make things better. While participants claimed that they are very aware of this relationship, as they referenced various aspects of it during the focus groups, and the media as an industry rather than a social forum; the amount of emotion evoked within all of the focus groups by the articles viewed suggests that there is still an internalised impact as it provoked such a strong negative reaction from those reading the articles which were provided. This came across very clearly during the focus groups as can be seen in comments made by Christine: The role models they tell us to aspire to, they pick apart. They tell you to diet, but show you when celebrities slip up on their diets so you dont feel so bad that you have. They mock the overly thin so that you dont feel so bad that youre not. And the best part is they cant mock you, so its ok to enjoy trashing someone else with no repercussions. (Group 5) Therefore it can be concluded that, despite post-feminist theorists suggesting the positive potentials of such publications, celebrity gossip magazines are not subverting and improving the female interest genre by showing celebrities warts and all: they are strengthening and reinforcing it, through the use of societys voyeuristic obsession with the culture of celebrity, by criticising the modern icons for beauty and thereby creating even more unrealistic and unattainable standards for women to achieve if they wish to be accepted.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

One of the major strengths of this study was the use of both a quantitative and a qualitative method of research; one to complement the other. The content analysis accurately measured the level of coverage allotted by celebrity gossip magazines to critiquing the weight issues of celebrities in order to give a detailed empirical account of the amount and type of coverage that is given, whilst the focus groups help define how meaning is created and/or interpreted by the reader of such publications through the members understandings of such publications and the resulting discussions. Due to the lack of other researchers, there was a potential for the results of the content analysis to be biased by the personal views of the researcher conducting the coding. However, this potential weakness became a strength as it led to the production of both terminology and weight definition questionnaires filled out by a random sample in order to avoid this bias. These findings formed the basis of the coding and created a far more negotiated list of definitions than would be possible from just a small group of researchers working together. Also, as the content analysis involved storing and cataloguing celebrity gossip magazines, this provided a wide base of current source material for the focus group articles to be chosen from. This meant that the articles were the best possible to reflect the article types that were the focus of the questions as well as keeping the sources up-to-date in order to help members who were less familiar with the format to identify those involved and recall their significance within a time context. However, there were areas which, upon reflection, could have improved the validity of the conclusions drawn by this study; the major area being the amount of research conducted. The content analysis would have benefited from taking place over a longer time period to see if results from this were impacted on by the time period which was

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covered. For example, due to the time of the analysed editions covering the introduction of summer, there was a great deal of celebrities in bikinis articles which may not be present at any other time of year and may therefore have distorted the results. Also, due to time considerations and original concerns about the amount of data that would be gathered, restrictions had to be made on the content analysis. These restrictions could be removed if the study were to be repeated, to see if the subsequent extra data collected would impact upon the research findings. For example, due to the studys focus on weight, images which did not allow the weight of the celebrity to be calculated were omitted (as there were no articles which mentioned appearance or weight without a full picture of the celebrity in question). A larger number of focus groups would also have benefited the research, as it would have given a more extensive range of opinions on which to base the generalisations made. For example, there were very few who were positive about the format, however Heat is worth over 40 million in newsstand revenues alone (Emap, 2005a: online) and therefore one of the top selling magazines in the country meaning that, statistically, there must be more people who read such publications regularly and are likely to defend it. Another flaw of the study was the tendency of certain focus groups to digress from the questions and topic at hand. With hindsight, the position of mediator during the focus groups would have benefited from a series of trial focus groups in order to develop a stronger understanding of how to conduct and direct focus groups.

Future Research
Whilst research into the impacts of womens magazines has developed to incorporate post-feminist theory, there has been very little done to incorporate the changing face of womens magazines. Similar studies could be conducted with other specialised forms of female interest magazines such as gay-orientated womens

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magazines such as Minx, or the worrying trend of adult-styled teen magazines to see if these types of publications vary in their depiction of celebrities in relation to the self-construction of body image. There is potential to continue research in this area of study. Many of the focus groups members made mention of the potential impacts of this magazine format upon a younger readership. Although this could be perceived as a distancing mechanism used by the focus group members to avoid speaking of personal experiences, it would be very interesting to see if limiting the age range the study was concerned with to a younger audience/readership would yield different results, or further reinforce them. Whilst this study focuses specifically on celebrity gossip magazine and their impacts, the research could be developed to include and compare other types of female interest magazines for their coverage of celebrities and how the audience/reader deconstructs and interprets these images in relation to their self-constructed body images with a focus on weight issues. Another possible extension of this study is to focus on another aspect of celebrity in relation to self-constructed body images such as cosmetic surgery and fear of ageing. As was briefly mentioned in the literature review, the rapid growth of this field in recent years has been due to the increase in aesthetic operations which serve no medical or reconstructive purpose; and celebrities have been highlighted by some as a reason for this. Using a similar research technique, the depictions and attitudes displayed towards cosmetic surgery by such publications could be measured and their impact interpreted.

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Bibliography
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Appendices:
Index
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Content Analysis: Coding Sheet Content Analysis: Terminology Questionnaire Content Analysis: Celebrity Weight Depiction Questionnaire Content Analysis: Coding Terminology Focus Group: Introduction Focus Group: Consent Form Focus Group: Article 1 Focus Group: Article 2 Focus Group: Article 3 74 76 77 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 92 100 107 115 126

10) Focus Group: Questions 11) Focus Group: Transcript 1 12) Focus Group: Transcript 2 13) Focus Group: Transcript 3 14) Focus Group: Transcript 4 15) Focus Group: Transcript 5 16) Content Analysis: Raw Data

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Appendix 1
Content Analysis: Coding Sheet
Publication: Heat magazine Celebrity name: Celebrity type: Film High profile Film Other TV High profile TV Soap stars TV Reality stars (famous prior) TV Reality stars (not famous) TV Presenter TV - Other Music High profile Number of images: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Music Other Model High profile Model Other Model Glamour Sports star High profile Sports star Other Dating celebrity Related to celebrity Scandal 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 Closer magazine 2

__________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Size of largest image: or < of page or < of page or < of page Article type: Cover Story Editorial (health & beauty) Editorial (fashion) Editorial (gossip) Article word count: < 50 words < 200 words < 500 words 2 3 4 < 1000 words > 1000 words 5 6 1 2 3 4 Interview TV guide/Review Star signs Advertisement 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 1 or < of page 2 or < of page 4 5

Weight of celebrity depicted: Overweight Healthy weight (high) 1 2 Healthy weight (low) Underweight 3 4

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If the article is weight-related Weight-related Type of weight issue Gain Loss Attitude of coverage: Positive Negative 1 2 Neutral 3 1 2 Neutral 3 1 Non weight-related 2

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Appendix 2
Content Analysis: Terminology Questionnaire
Please tick the appropriate box:
Fit: Svelte: Chubby: Rough: Toned: Obese: Gorgeous: Slender: Skin-and-bone: Heavy: Plump: Looking good: Skinny: Flabby: Perfect: Ugly: Fat: Underweight: Big: Slim: Healthy: Large: Ok: Small: Alright: Overweight: Not bad: Lithe: Graceful: Sexy: Beautiful: Curvaceous: In good shape: Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive Positive 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

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Appendix 3
Content Analysis: Celebrity Weight Depiction Questionnaire

1) Paris Hilton

2) Charlotte Church

3) Kirstie Alley

4) Oprah Winfrey

5) Nicole Richie

6) Jessica Alba

7) Billie Piper

8) Janet Jackson

9) Keira Knightley

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Based on the pictures provided, estimate the weight range of the following celebrities:
Paris Hilton:
Overweight Healthy weight (high) 1 2 Healthy weight (low) Underweight 3 4

Charlotte Church:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight Healthy weight (low) Underweight

3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4

Kirstie Alley:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Oprah Winfrey:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Nicole Richie:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Jessica Alba:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Billie Piper:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Janet Jackson:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

Keira Knightley:

Overweight Healthy weight (high)

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Appendix 4
Content Analysis: Coding Terminology
Positive Fit Toned Perfect Looking good Gorgeous Svelte Slim Slender Lithe Graceful Beautiful Sexy Curvaceous Negative Skinny Skin-and-bone Scrawny Half-starved Emaciated Plump Heavy Fat Flabby Obese Chubby Stocky Ugly Rough Neutral Underweight Small Too thin Overweight Large Big Healthy Alright In good shape Not bad Ok

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Appendix 5
Focus Group: Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this group interview. The purpose of this session is to hear your opinions regarding the depiction of weight issues in celebrity gossip magazines such as Heat and Closer. These sessions are for use in dissertation research regarding this subject. You will be shown a series of articles taken from these two publications; depicting celebrities deemed overweight, underweight and of a healthy weight, and then you will be asked questions about them. Before we start please remember: That there are no right or wrong answers. To please give everyone a chance to speak. That I am here to mediate discussion, rather than participate. Despite recording your names at the beginning of the session this will be omitted later as it is for voice recognition purposes.

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Appendix 6
Focus Group: Consent Form
I agree to participate in a group interview for a research project regarding the portrayal of weight issues in celebrity gossip magazines and their impacts on female self-image that is being conducted by Sarah Baker for her MA dissertation. I understand: That participation is entirely voluntary and I may leave at any time. That I can have a pseudonym in order to maintain my privacy if I wish. That the session will be recorded (tape will be destroyed after transcription). That all information given during the group interview will be available in Cardiff University Library in the dissertation and will NOT be used for any other purpose. That I must respect the views and privacy of other members involved in the group interview. That if I have any concerns or questions, the researcher will be happy to answer. All of the following information will NOT be included in the dissertation and will be destroyed later. Name (Please Print): ___________________________________________________ Age: _________________________ Weight: _________________________ I feel I am: v. underweight o Place of birth: _______________________ Height: _____________________________

underweight o

Average o overweight o Yes o No o

v. overweight o

Are you satisfied with your

weight/size:

Occupation: ____________________________________________________________ Preferred magazine/s: ___________________________________________________ I read Heat style magazines: Date: Signature: Weekly o Often o Occasionally o Rarely o Never o

________________________________________ ________________________________________

I wish for my name to be changed for transcription: o

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Appendix 7
Focus Group: Article 1

82

Appendix 8
Focus Group: Article 2

83

Appendix 9
Focus Group: Article 3

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Appendix 10
Focus Group: Questions
1) Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? 2) What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? 3) Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? 4) As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why?

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Appendix 11
Focus Group: Transcript 1
[Introductions and voice recognition test ] Researcher: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? Rachel: Rachel: Rachel: [Pulling a face of disgust ] No! [Laughter from the entire group] Im going to be real opinionated here [] Well, theyve got the money, theyve got the fitness trainers, theyve got the people coming in to cook for them... Theyre not real. Its not real. This whole idea of getting a celebrity body using a celebrity diet is so stupid, cos its all fake. Samantha: I mean, the pictures they are showing where they have their tummies in the first place, they havent got much of a stomach on them anyway. Theres nothing there for them to lose in the first place I dont know Its just annoying. Melissa: They dont really actually give you any advice on how to lose weight: How they lost their tums. Most of them just say how they went with personal trainers and you think yeah, like I can do that . [Laughter from the entire group] Melissa: Not really! And this one here [indicating Joss Stone ] says she doesnt really care; she just eats and does whatever she wants and never puts on weight. Thats real helpful too. Claire: I agree with Rachel. They have got the money so they can afford to have personal trainers, whereas most normal people cant. I think its unfair of these celebrities to brag about it: that theyre so wonderful when theyre not normal. Researcher: Thats perfectly ok.

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Louise:

I agree too. When theyve got the money and the time to get their food cooked for them or whatever. Its not really fair to compare that to a real life situation. We have things to do.

Researcher: Ok. What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Rachel: Theyve taken these pictures to criticise. Theyre not helping: its not as if, like you know, Oh! So-and-so looks fantastic. Shes eating What a good thing to be doing. Its criticising. Theres this one there with Vanessa Feltz where shes got a spoon and a fork and theyre saying Ooh! Ones not enough. Shes got to have two to stuff it into her mouth. Its not funny, its not fair, its degrading and thats why I dont buy these kind of magazines Ill stop there before I start swearing! Researcher: Swearing is allowed. Rachel: Samantha: But Ill never stop! [Laughter from the entire group] Whats really annoying to me is about that article is the very fact youve got all these skinny people and its like Great! Theyre stuffing themselves: Theyre eating. But when Vanessa Feltz puts something in her mouth, cos shes big, shes criticised. So its good that the skinny people are eating, but its really bad that the fat people are eating. Theyre setting a double standard. Melissa: To me, it looks like theyve just taken a load of random shots of celebrities and thought What feature can we make out of this lot this week? I know well do something on people eating out: Like theyre making money out of nothing. Samantha: Rachel: Samantha: What are they actually eating though? It looks like I dont know pizza or something? They were probably out for a snack when some photographer turned up. Its probably not that bad food anyway. Some of them look like theyre eating salad!

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Rachel:

Well, Vanessa Feltz is eating spaghetti Bolognese, and I eat that with a fork and a spoon cos it goes everywhere otherwise! [laughs] Its nothing to do with her being greedy. She probably just doesnt want to end up messy!

Melissa:

Shes just sitting there having an innocent lunch and someone comes up and takes a picture of her at the worst moment possible, and then she looks like a pig!

Claire:

I think its very negative Its not fair again. Its not fair that theyre being shown eating. I mean, its up to them if they want to eat: Let them eat. Dont make a big thing of the fact that theyre eating. Like Vanessa Feltz: we all know shes got a weight problem and she lost a lot of weight, unfortunately she put it all back on again, but why should she be singled out because shes a big person, you know?

Rachel: Samantha: Melissa: Louise:

Theres even a yellow box round her picture, which isnt round any of the others. And shes apart from everyone else. Thats right. [] I dont want to appear stupid but what was the question again? [Laughter from the entire group]

Researcher: What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Louise: I think that its negative. But I really dont know why I feel that way about it. I just cant explain it. I guess cause they tells us to be like celebrities, then they tell us how crap they are. What are you supposed to think? [] Researcher: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this?

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Melissa:

Well I guess its good that they highlight that you can lose too much weight and that there are health issues that can be caused by being too thin, like osteoporosis.

Rachel: Melissa: Rachel: Louise: Rachel: Samantha:

It affects your fertility too. But even the pictures where she [indicating Nicole Ritchie] is supposed to be overweight she looks fine though. What theyre doing with her is what theyre doing with Beckham. Whats her name? Posh? Victoria Is that, because shes gone too far, theyre like Ooh, now: we better start saying this is bad. It seems like theyre setting an ideal. Not even a midway point, but its like you cant be too fat and you cant b too thin. If youre too thin theres something wrong, if youre to fat theres something wrong, which is hypocritical.

Rachel:

Yeah. When she [indicating Nicole Ritchie] was plump they were like she could do with losing weight, blah, blah, blah, but now shes gone to the extreme other end its like The magazines are getting criticised for it, so theyre kind of like oh no. She really should gain a bit of weight. Shes gotten too thin. This, that and the other but its already set in teenagers minds that thats the ideal, cos every time you open a magazine shes that thin.

Samantha:

Theyre trying to cover their own arses, arent they? These magazines glorify thin people and now theyre thinking shit. Perhaps we should say that thin people arent that good.

Claire:

I think that a lot of models are seen as role models and, unfortunately, teenagers Theyre put up on pedestals as a role model in a teenagers mind, and they cut a very dangerous precedent, cos teenagers aspire to be like them and in aspiring to be like them they cause pain to themselves, pain to the parents: to everyone And theyre damaging themselves for the future.

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Louise:

I think it has a positive function, cos it shows you that too thin is scary compared to where she looked healthy and happy to show off her curves.

Samantha: Rachel: Claire:

Yeah. She cant have been that happy, otherwise she wouldnt have lost the rest. But all it takes is a slight comment, that might not be meant to criticise but can be taken in the wrong way All it needs is just that one comment. Especially models, when they are so conditioned that theyve got to be super thin and they are criticised for being overweight.

Rachel: Melissa: Rachel: Louise:

I read an article that said Topshop: the smallest size they used to do was size four; theyve now started stocking size two! Size two?! Size two. Thats shocking. I mean, size four to me is for kids and now theyre stocking size two. Its ridiculous! Jesus you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why?

Researcher: And the last question: As a womens magazine format, what impact do

Rachel:

Its all about image. Appalling. Image rather than mental health and physical health and if they focused on what makes us feel unhappy in the first place. Ok. Someone puts on excess weight: why? Its not just down to being greedy. There are emotional issues behind that, and Im talking from experience. Rather than go Shes lost a lot of weight. She looks fantastic but never mind how it effects her mentally, and I think need to focus more on that kind of thing rather than just the physical.

Samantha:

I just think that they set an ideal and young girls can be really influenced by that which is dangerous. I guess its getting better now because theyre criticising people like her [indicating Nicole Ritchie ] for going too far the other way.

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Melissa:

They always seem to focus on physical appearance, and if its not about weight then its about surgery or cellulite or something else, never whats going on in their minds or their lives. Everything is purely image.

Claire:

It really is just about image. Theres noting on what the person is like. It has no depth. I think it sets a dangerous precedent because teenagers are at that age, and I can remember being like it myself. Actually when I was a teenager I was a size eight [laughs], hard to believe, but even then back in the seventies you were at that age when you were very conscious of what people thought of you. These magazines are just enforcing that idea, and I think this constant enforcement is wrong and its dangerous.

Louise:

They definitely focus too much on physical appearance because people are constantly comparing themselves to pop stars and models and the like, and when all they show is thin pop stars, there have been cases where people have made themselves ill trying to copy celebrities and stuff. Its bad.

Rachel:

There are websites now about how to become anorexic and its all spurred on by articles people have seen. Posh Becks is actually one of their idols because they see her as anorexic and thats what they aim to be.

Samantha: Claire:

They seem to associate being thin and attractive with being successful as well, which is unrealistic. People need to realise that weight issues can be the result of genuine illnesses: some of these celebrities and the readers are ill and they are just encouraging it. It doesnt matter what you look like if you think you are ugly or fat; you still have these images in your head []

Researcher: Thank you.

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Appendix 12
Focus Group: Transcript 2
[Introductions and voice recognition test ] Researcher: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? Maureen: Eirwen: Beverley: Sian: Alison: Beverley: Sian: Alison: Maureen: Eirwen: No. Not really } } Yes! } I read them all the time because I like to see how they look and how much they weigh. I find it interesting, even though it shouldnt matter. Yeah. I would find this interesting. I would as well. Its just not something that appeals to me. I wouldnt bother to buy them generally: mainly because I dont know who most of the celebrities in these magazines are half of the time. Im not up to speed with whos who anymore: Im beyond caring these days! [Laughter from the entire group] Maureen: But its that age group, isnt it? I think its because were [indicating to Eirwen] older, and I think that its more for the thirty-somethings and under, rather than the older group. Sian: I would deliberately buy a magazine if it had an article like that [indicating to article 1] on the front cover: if that was what the main headline was, I would buy it. Alison: Its nice to see how other people diet and whether its worked for them or not. Celebrities just mean you have seen them during, rather than just some before and after of a stranger. 92

Eirwen: Sian:

I just think that the main reason for making articles like this is making money, not because they want to help us be healthier. I know that theyre not about good diets. I know its to make money, but Id still buy it. They can be motivating if you want to lose weight. []

Researcher: Ok. What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Maureen: I think its awful: mainly because these people have rights. Its such an invasion of their [] privacy. They should be allowed some privacy. Ok, its natural for them to be eating, but they should be allowed to do it without it being a topic of discussion. Alison: Sian: Alison: Yeah. But on the other hand, I think, in another way it shows that theyre human Yeah. and it shows that they can eat a doughnut; and it might be only once a year that they eat it, but it showing the young people who read these magazines that they do eat and that its alright. Sian: Eirwen: Yeah. It makes you feel good, knowing that even celebrities enjoy their food and that they dont all starve themselves. I just dont care. So what if they eat: everyone does. You kind of have to! [Laughter from the entire group] Eirwen: Beverley: Again, I guess, its because I dont really know who most of these people are in these pictures. I dont know who all of them are, but I still find it interesting for some reason. I suppose its just simple curiosity. I didnt really look to see what theyre all eating: some of its probably healthy anyway. I didnt even check, to be honest. Maureen: But thats the point. We have no idea what they eat most of the time. We just have this one snapshot of them at a restaurant or something: not at home.

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Eirwen: Sian:

Yeah. Who wants a salad if youre eating out a restaurant? [Laughter from the entire group] Good point. []

Researcher: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Beverley: I think theyre positive because too many youngsters read todays magazines and they think that theyve got to be, you know, a certain weight and that. And by showing how dangerous it can be, I think its got to have a positive impact on the way they look at these celebrities, because they are essentially role models to a lot of people. Eirwen: I was thinking: Ive just read this [indicating to article 3], and Ive never read anything like this before. But I didnt realise [] I knew that if you lost so much weight your periods and things like that would go, you know, but I didnt realise the effect it had on your kidneys and things like that. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Eirwen: Alison: Maureen: Sian: Eirwen: Youd really have to go anorexic for that, wouldnt you? It makes you think. God yeah! Well yeah, because thats how Karen Carpenter died, isnt it? Her kidneys and her heart gave out in the end: because she was anorexic. She was a big fan of the bottle as well as that, but thats beside the point! [Laughter from the entire group] Alison: I didnt realise, personally. I thought they just lost the weight, you know. Youd have to go down a hell of a lot to look like that [indicating to article 3]. Maureen: But they do. Some of them go down to five stone or something stupid like that. No matter how thin they get, they still think theyre fat. I mean; Ive watched programmes on the anorexic thing.

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Alison: Sian:

It says here [indicating to article 3] that she thinks shes got a healthy diet. Well, the minute someone like that puts on a pound Oh my God: Shes fat! isnt it? [Sounds of confirmation and agreement]

Beverley: Eirwen: Sian: Alison: Eirwen: Beverley:

They cant win. I wish theyd show more of these: the skinny pictures like these. Make it look, like, that looks [] Her head looks too big: like a nodding doll. She looks ev en worse in this one, because of her face: how ill she looks [] Awful. Her eyes are so dark and sunken. She looks so skinny! Shes a stick! I wouldnt want to look like that. Well, she does that show with the other one um Paris Hilton, and she [indicating to Nicole Richie] was always know as the fat one wasnt she?

Eirwen: Maureen: Eirwen: Sian: Eirwen:

Right. Well no wonder! Thats the problem with kids today, isnt it? Its all about image, isnt it? And it start when theyre very young: thirteen, fourteen. Even younger than that nowadays. But some people, no matter what they do, they still because you cant change your frame and its disgusting when some youngsters will go overboard instead of being happy with the way they are. Im not saying about being obese, but just keeping yourself tidy21.

Alison: Eirwen: Sian: Eirwen: Sian:

What? Like being comfortable? No. Theyre not in themselves, are they? Are you comfortable [indicating to Sian ]? No. Why? I would like to lose some more weight. But my issue with that is that I was lighter before and thats always in the back of my head: that I can do it if I want to because I lost a lot of weight before and I got down to

21 Tidy is a Welsh colloquialism meaning: good, well, happy and various positive fillers

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a smaller size. But now its creeping back up and Im thinking Errr! cos I want to get it back down. Thats why Im uncomfortable: because I know Ive been slimmer. Maureen: Beverley: Maureen: Sian: Eirwen: But then, I think we all have at one point or another. Well, the majority of us have. Yeah. Im not comfortable with my weight. Yeah. It makes a difference on Your family, you know? I mean, sometime families that are bigger. Youre quite a big girl [indicating to Alison] but then your whole family probably are. Alison: Eirwen: Alison: Eirwen: Alison: Eirwen: You think it makes a difference? Your genes? Oh, I do. I do. It does. Definitely does. Im not sure that You can see family resemblances. Like, if I look at my family and you look at your family. There are traits. I guess, but thats not to say my whole familys the same shape. But theres still the traits. Like with my family: theyre not all the same, but they have a tendency to be smaller framed. You cant change your skeleton, can you? Beverley: Eirwen: Beverley: Eirwen: Alison: But you dont know what theyre [indicating to the articles] parents are like, do you? Its just that theyre constantly dieting to stay slim. But your bones stay the same. You cant change the structure of your bones. But it does. Look at the difference in that one there [indicating to Nicole Richie]! But your bones cant change! Yeah they can. Like osteoporosis. Her parent might be really obese, but because shes gone to the other extreme her bone structure would change too. Sian: Beverley: Yeah. Thats why you can be five foot six when youre in your thirties and you can be five foot by the time youre fifty.

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Eirwen: Maureen:

I just mean that, individually, we cant all be the same weight. Oh! I get what you mean now. Right. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement]

Researcher: And the last question: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why? Eirwen: Say that one again? gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why? Beverley: Maureen: Eirwen: Beverley: Alison: Sian: Maureen: Oh, huge! Yeah. Thats probably why Nicole Richie, because shes seen that shes been described as the fatter. Yeah. I dont care who you are; thats got to be upsetting to have people say that about you Whether you are or not. Dont forget that the television puts weight on Yeah. Whether shes seen it or not; shes still got people around her telling her shes fat all the time, its got to have an impact. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Maureen: Eirwen: The other thing is, I think it has a bigger impact on younger girls. Yeah. Like this one here [indicating to Joss Stone] is like nineteen and shes thin-ish. But when you think when they get to twenty-nine, thirty, whatever: theyll be more comfortable with themselves, and theyre not that bothered. I think its the younger element. Maureen: Its like, theyve got Cindy Crawford in that one over there [indicating to article 2]. I mean shes what: Thirty-nine now? And shes not in magazines as much now as she was ten years ago Beverley: Eirwen: And shes had a child and everything now, so shes not as bothered anymore Yeah. But these young ones want to really, really slim down and look like this because they think its the in thing. Some of them look lovely, but some of them look bloody awful. Researcher: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity

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Maureen: Sian: Eirwen: Maureen: Aliso n: Eirwen:

Its like that picture of Vanessa Feltz: shes just a different body build, and shes older. Do you think that this is going to effect her? She did lose weight, though. But shes not naturally that size. Im saying that, for her, having her picture in here is just free publicity: it brings her back into prominence. Shes probably not bothered by it. I think it would still upset you, though, if someone was making fun of how you looked regardless of all that. But its the younger element these magazine are aiming at, to get them to lose weight and wear the right clothes or whatever: To look tidy. You see some of them out now, and theyve got nothing on half the time.

Maureen: Alison: Sian: Eirwen: Sian: Beverley: Sian: Eirwen:

Its like models. Most of the magazines nowadays have models and theyre nearly all stick-thin. Yeah. Its what youre happy with though that really counts, isn t it? Yeah. I think youve got to get a balance. I mean, saying all of this, it can be suggesting that its better to be overweight. Comfortable Well, not overweight but they could be implying that youve got to be healthy. Yeah. Its like oh my god! You shouldnt get that thin but you shouldnt get that fat either. But it shouldnt be about that and the fact that theyre dieting all the time. Its just getting a routine; eating the right things at the right time.

Beverley: Alison:

And they have all of this time to work on their dieting. I work, Ive got kids; I dont have the time to be doing all of that. Also, they dont tell you how Nicole Richie lost all that weight, do you? It could have been from being ill for all we know. And you dont know if shes happy that way or not, do you?

Beverley: Eirwen:

Yeah. She might not be happy being that thin, but she has to be because of what people say about her when she isnt.

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Maureen: Sian:

I wouldnt be. But when it comes to how they do it I work, I cant afford a personal trainer and I havent got the time, whereas you feel that a lot of them do and can. Theyve got the money.

Alison: Eirwen: Sian: Beverley: Alison: Beverley: Sian: Beverley:

But what personal trainer, if he was doing his job, would let her [indicating to Nicole Richie] get down to that size? Why would you want a personal trainer? To show you how to do everything. And to make you keep you doing it. Vanessa Feltz had a personal trainer: thats how she lost the weight in the first place. But I dont think any personal trainer would let her [indicating to Nicole Richie] get like that! A lot of that could be down to airbrushing. But most of the pictures are like paparazzi ones, so theyre not airbrushed: its just them as they are. I dont know, because I read that Jordan gets to look through all of hers and decides which ones theyre allowed to print and how much to airbrush them. So I know it does happen; that they do it. I mean, everyones got flaws.

Eirwen: Beverley:

Speak for yourself love! [Laughter from the entire group] I got plenty! [Laughter from the entire group]

Researcher: Thank you.

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Appendix 13
Focus Group: Transcript 3
[Introductions and voice recognition test ] Researcher: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? Cheryl: They hold some interest for me because I am always trying to find new ways, you know ideas to lose weight. And it gives me hope when I see someone like Charlie Brooks and others that have the same sort of body shape as me actually end up with the body shape that Id like to have. It makes it seem more possible that Ill be able to do it If I ever get round to it! [Laughter from the entire group] Olivia: Yeah. I think these articles are quite insightful. I mean, I look at this and see that they look good, and then I read the article and you can see how they did it. Like this one [indicating to Joss Stone ] is talking about what she ate, and its all healthy, but she says about what her diet used to be like and shows the difference that a few changes in diet can make. It makes me think if I eat those things, the weight will just fall off me to, and Ill be more healthy. Hiroko: But she may be eating potato chips and beer all the time, and has just said she eats this stuff for the sake of the magazine. Just because she says that shes been eating that stuff doesnt mean she actually has. Plus which, shes [indicating to Joss Stone ], what, nineteen? You shouldnt be trying to lose weight at that age. Its not good. Olivia: Hiroko: What do you mean? Shes too young or the readers are too young? Both. Young girls are more easily affected by these sort of things. They look up to these celebrities as role models: for inspiration. If these celebrities are constantly dieting and saying that they are happier

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because of it, young people get it in their heads that you have be thin to be happy. Cheryl: Sabrina: But being healthier can make you happier, and thats what they seem to be promoting; being healthier. I just dont think they lost the weight this way. They make out that if you eat like this the weight will fall off, but I bet they put a lot more effort in than they say here: lots of time and energy, but the people reading this arent told about that bit, and theyll get upset when it doesnt work for them. Caroline: Personally, I dont really read or take any notice of these kind of articles. I mean, there are so many diets and fitness regimes nowadays that I dont see how one can be any better than the next. Also, in all honesty, I dont think its anyones business except the star themselves what they eat and how they lose weight, and why would a celebritys diet be any better than one that a doctor or nutritionist could give you. Just because they can act doesnt mean they know the first thing about nutrition! Researcher: Ok. What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Caroline: Pointing out weight gain is a positive thing because it shows the young people that pay attention to these kind of magazines that even famous people have a bit of weight and arent stick insects. Although, I feel that magazines show weight gain to be a bad thing rather than something that happens to all of us; even celebrities, and they need to change this. Olivia: I think its good. For me, it makes them in to actual people. Like Mischa Barton; shes really famous, and is known for being thin, and here she is pigging out on sandwiches, and its ok to do that. Everyone does it, even these people who are stick thin. And Cindy Crawford is a model, but inhere shes eating, whats that, pizza or something? And its no problem; shes just a person too. The only thing I do find weird is that

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Vanessa Feltz is, for some reason, in a big yellow box to highlight her, and saying that she likes a good feed like shes an animal or something. Cheryl: I think that it is definitely a negative development. When I was in my teens early twenties I seem to remember all the pictures were of thin girls weight loss etc but a lot of these magazines today are just trying to catch people out when they are looking at their worst. I dont really want to see a picture of people eating like its a miracle that they are actually human beings. We all have to go the bog after all! Sabrina: They chose these kind of photos on purpose, so that they dont look very good. I think the photographers do it on purpose, to make them look ugly or something. I mean look at this one [indicating to Mischa Barton]: she looks like she hasnt eaten for months, but the photo makes it look like shes stuffing her face. I feel guilty for looking at her like this. Cheryl: I would really like to see the pictures of the success that a woman has when it is to do with their weight so that it makes me feel likes its attainable. I would love to see more articles that show some celebrities that actually work to get the bodies that they want. Its not rocket science that we have to eat less and exercise more: there is no miracle cure, just hard graft. Hiroko: Personally, I dont see any purpose to these kind of articles. What are they trying to show? That celebrities eat? I dont get it. I dont know what theyre trying to say to us. Sabrina: Olivia: All the pictures show people eating junk food, so I guess theyre trying to say that junk food is no good for you. I wouldnt say that theyre trying to tell us its bad to eat. I think well People get the impression that these celebrities would never eat pizza and that sort of stuff. These magazines show that they do: theyre not on a pedestal somewhere only eating salad once a month, smoking and drinking coffee. They eat junk food too: everybody eats junk food, so theyre a regular person too. Theyre not there to be idolised for eating nothing.

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Hiroko: Sabrina: Caroline: Olivia: Sabrina: Caroline: Sabrina: Olivia:

Of course they eat though, but they are probably thinking about nutrition all the time. Even though these pictures show them eating; in reality they probably only do this like once or twice a month. But thats all youre supposed to eat out. Id say most regular people do that too. I dont eat junk food that often, but I do eat it. I actually bought this one [Heat edition] because the cover said something like lets eat and I knew the pictures would be ugly. So you think eating is an ugly thing? Well its not pretty, in my opinion. I see lets eat and I think hmm. Its probably not very good to do that. [noise of acknowledgement but disagreement] I guess its all down to how you perceive this sort of stuff more than anything else. They [the magazine] might have meant the article one way: they cant help it if people interpret it differently.

Researcher: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests Hiroko: God yeah! Shes ugly! [Laughter from the entire group] Researcher: Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Cheryl: I have to say that for Nicole that it can only do good to show her story. Shes obviously is too thin and would be a warning to other women what can happen if we get too obsessed. We all have heard about anoxia but to actually see the before during and after really hit me. Caroline: I think that these magazines have a negative impact for the young readers who are impressionable and want to look like their favourite stars.

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Cheryl:

But the overall article is saying how bad it is to lose this much weight. Under the last picture it says just when you think it cant get any worse: Nicole looks even thinner. Theyre not praising her, are they?

Caroline:

Yeah, but under the first one it says a plump Nicole bares some flesh as if its appalling that shes showing her body off at her size: like large people shouldnt show off their weight.

Olivia:

But the next picture along from that says how she looks happy and healthy I guess theyre saying you should aim for a weight that suits your body type and you as a person Even the main quote is about how worried this doctor is for her mental and physical health.

Sabrina:

With the number of people who are getting too thin now, they [the magazines] had to address it at some point. I guess in the short term its a good thing to show these kind of articles: to show us that losing too much weight in a short space of time is not healthy for you. But these magazines are more likely to criticise people for gaining weight and praise people for losing weight than the other way round In general.

Hiroko:

In a sense this [indicating the article ] is a good thing, because we all agree she looks ugly. [Laughter from the entire group]

Hiroko: Olivia:

But we learn that losing too much weight is an ugly thing, so I think its good in that sense. The main point through all of this articles seems to be that being healthy is the most important thing. Both of the extremes are criticised. When shes [indicating to Nicole Richie] at a weight that suits her, she gets praised.

Cheryl:

Yeah. Its not saying be skinny its saying be at a body weight that means that youre healthy and happy. Thats got to be a good thing.

Researcher: And the last question: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why? Hiroko: It would make me eat more gracefully when Im out at a restaurant! [Laughter from the entire group]

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Caroline:

In this day and age self-image is based a lot on what celebrities look like. If the hottest star of the moment has a belly then that summer a little belly is in! If they are stick thin then so should you be. More and more children are becoming anorexic because they think they should look a certain way. Nowadays image goes a long way in getting what you want.

Olivia:

Well, I think its a good thing. To me, its about being healthy, not skinny. I think itll help people to become more healthy and well if youre more healthy, I think youll be more happy as a person. All of these articles are showing celebrities as regular people who have to eat healthy to stay looking the way they do, and that if they go overboard there are consequence; like in the Nicole Richie article.

Cheryl:

I think that celebrity gossip can only do damage in the end. They dont give positive role models. It is filled with drunks, sexually permissive people, swearing, bitching and women that havent done anything worth being praised for unless you count being attractive and skinny. It encourages other women that its ok to be like that because theyre always shown having a good time. The self-image of women who read these things will go down because we are encouraging behaviour that cheapens us as women. If we have no respect for ourselves how can we expect men anyone to treat us the way we want?

Hiroko: Sabrina: Hiroko: Sabrina: Hiroko: Caroline: Hiroko:

Since these are English magazines it is mainly the images that attract me than the words because this isnt my mother language. Yeah. So, first of all, I focus on the photos. Since they take up most of the page anyway! [Laughter from the entire group] But I look at her [indicating to Joss Stones before picture] belly and think her belly looks like my belly. You dont have one! I do! Its like that one exactly. But it makes me think that most people who read these magazines must compare themselves to the celebrities

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the way Im doing. I dont know how it will make them feel, but it must be doing something to what they think. Olivia: I guess that some people will look at this [indicating Joss Stones before picture] and feel bad: if they look like this and the magazine is showing it as the bad picture, they may feel bad because the magazine says they should want to look like this [indicating to Joss Stones after picture]. Sabrina: Cheryl: Olivia: Theyre at least saying that you have to change your lifestyle, I guess, rather than saying about fad diets. Its better than talking about the wonders of Atkins [diet] or something stupid like that. I would have a problem with them [the magazine] if they were saying do it to be thin, but they dont seem to be saying that to me: they seem to be saying do it to be healthy. Researcher: Thank you.

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Appendix 14
Focus Group: Transcript 4
[Introductions and voice recognition test ] Researcher: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? Jennifer: I might glance at them, but normally I just ignore them as nonsense. I dont think Im, you know, a perfect weight and so I do look at them occasionally, but I know Im not going to do anything about it, and normally the celebrity diets are bloody ridiculous! The fact that a celebrity did it is probably more likely to put me off a diet than make me want to do it. Christine: At most, this article looks like a quick fix; that you too can learn the secrets of how your favourite celebs have achieved their figures. I mean, you feel pressured to and want to know how to do it, but what upsets me is the celebs before and after pictures show how theyre pressured into losing weight too. By saying that you can achieve a trim tum by summer they talk the same as if they were announcing a new, must-have fashion accessory. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Christine: Fad diets are no good for you, but health doesnt seem to get a look in with that if they can do it, you can too mentality. Like, theres no mention of the hours more spare time, money, they have compared to us: not to mention personal trainers, spa treatments and the rest of it. I find these articles negative, especially when there is a different diet plan featured every week! Andrea: Christine: So you dont read them at all? I admit Im drawn to these features in the magazines I normally read, hopefully because theyre more balanced, but the general message is still the same: lose weight. 107

Sharon:

I would never follow a diet from a magazine because it gives you false hope. By placing a picture of a celebrity next to it and then promising you that youll look like that in two weeks, or whatever. Id turn the page without reading it.

Sophie:

Well, Im always attracted to magazines that have stories on weight loss and I usually do buy them, purely out of interest. It is always fascinating to see how celebrities lose weight and I always find myself comparing weight loss attempts with the stars to see what they did differently to make it work for them.

Andrea:

Im always interested in the eating habits of the celebrities; basically because it encourages me to eat more healthy. In this one [indicating to article 1] Joss Stone mentions how she has started to eat avocados, plantain, and sweet potatoes more often and it gave the impression shes happy and healthy. So I am more tempted now to eat more avocados and sweet potatoes and find out what a plantain is.

Jennifer: Andrea:

Its a type of small banana. See! The article has helped me already! [Laughter from the entire group]

Researcher: Ok. What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Sharon: The problem with celebrity stories is that most of us like to see and hear things about them. The articles contradict themselves; one minute they say someone is too thin and then the next week they show pictures of them eating too much! Personally, I think it's negative as it's giving out mixed messages. Christine: I hate articles like this, which is w hy I refuse to read these things! Why do these magazines, run and written by women Id imagine, feel the need to criticise and bitch about other women so much? Sophie: I guess they probably are pretty negative, as even celebrities who have lost weight and were portrayed as overweight were probably no more

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than a size 12 in the beginning! Other magazines often have more realistic examples of real women. Andrea: Christine: I wouldnt say that Looking at these pictures makes me view eating as something repulsive. The whole way the article is laid out makes it seem as if the celebs have been caught doing something wrong. The photos get all of them at the most unflattering point: when they are just about to put the food in their mouth. I mean, in reality it doesnt look wrong, but in a still it looks as if theyre gorging themselves. It makes food look evil, which makes more women want to avoid it. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Christine: Jennifer: Food is not evil, its good and our bodies need it, they may as well be criticised for breathing! I totally agree! It makes fun of people doing a simple thing like eating a burger. Everyone eats! Its not some illicit sin that deserves covert photography to expose it! Andrea: Id disagree. It turns the celebrity into a real human being for me. Then you can see its not so hard to have a body like theirs; that you are allowed to treat yourself every now and then without the threat of becoming really fat overnight. So I think its a positive development, it makes celebrities into normal people and it knocks them off their pedestal a bit. Sharon: Andrea: Thats only if you put them on one to begin with But you cant deny that there are people out there that do, like these people who have surgery to look like Pamela Anderson or whoever. Like for example if someone wanted to be like Mischa Barton, whose really skinny, they might think you have to starve yourself. But this picture shows that she eats like everyone else does: thats a positive message to those people, isnt it? Jennifer: Yeah, but theres a double standard. Theyre taking the piss out of Vanessa Feltz for doing exactly the same thing. That might be sending the message that you can only eat like that if youre as skinny as whatsaface [indicating Mischa Barton].

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Sharon: Christine:

Id say that more people read it as a negative thing than a positive thing overall. Definitely! []

Researcher: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Christine: This article disgusts me, that poor girls been hounded by the very same magazines who told her she needed to lose weight in the first place! The pressure on celebrities to lose weight is too extreme, and now she has lost weight they criticise her for it. Sharon: Same here. I think it gives women a mixed message: one minute these magazines are praising her, saying how good she looks, how stylish she is, then theyre warning you that you shouldnt want to do what she has done to look that way. I mean, Id bet any money that these pictures where shes deemed dangerously thin have been used in the same magazine months ago as an example of how great she looks! Christine: Its dangerous the celebrity ends up hating her body so much she develops an eating disorder, and then they slam her for it. Its like saying this is what your body must look like for you to be deemed beautiful, and after achieving it after a lot of hard work, and no doubt tears, being told that you are now ugly in a different way. The standards to be maintained to be beautiful a certain level of thinness, going too far either way and you are again ugly. No wonder the poor cow looks ill! Sophie: Very thin celebrities arent an ideal role model for young people. Articles like this can be positive as they can, in certain circumstances, draw attention to the dangers of illnesses such as anorexia, but negative as well since they can encourage these types of illnesses in people who want to become like their favourite celebrities. Christine: The sad thing is I think the reader likes this: theyre hooked on a magazine that constantly tells them theyre too fat, too ugly, and need

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to buy different clothes, but it rewards their loyalty by slamming the celebrities for any tiny mistake they make; cheating on their diet, having cellulite, letting themselves go, being too thin Andrea: Christine: But that just shows that celebrities have problems too That these role models, well, theyre human. But thats the point! The role models they tell us to aspire to, they pick apart. They tell you to diet, but show you when celebrities slip up on their diets so you dont feel so bad that you have. They mock the overly thin so that you dont feel so bad that your not. And the best part is they cant mock you, so its ok to enjoy trashing someone else with no repercussions. Jennifer: In a way I suppose it could be seen as positive because its at least admitting that weight loss becomes dangerous at a certain point, but like you [indicating to Christine] said, it means that women, particularly celebrities, cant win. If youre the right weight or above and seen to eat youre too fat, but if you actually lose the weight these magazines are asking you to, youll kill yourself and theyll make fun of you for it. Andrea: Id have to go against the general consensus here again and say that I think this kind of article is definitely positive Although these magazines are useful to pick up tips and hints on how to stay slim and healthy, they also makes it perfectly clear that the aim isnt to lose weight, its to get to a weight, you know, that youre comfortable at. Sharon: Jennifer: Andrea: Really?!? You really think it has anything to do with health? To be perfectly frank I think these magazines, especially Heat, have got the balance pretty right. They congratulate people like Kelly Brook on her curves or, like, Jessica Alba for her slim physique and that; the reason being that their weight suits their body size. Take, for instance, Keira Knightly. She has always been portrayed as having a wonderful figure, but the second she lost a bit too much weight it was slapped over all the headlines saying she was too thin: same as theyre doing

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here [indicating to article 3] with Nicole Richie. I think thats responsible behaviour for a magazine. Sharon: Andrea: Sharon: Andrea: Sharon: But only now: when its gotten to the point that they cant ignore it any more. You [indicating to Andrea] read these things all the time, right? Yeah Well, were they talking about how good she looked before this: even if it was just what she was wearing? Well, yeah, but But the times on these pictures show that she has been severely underweight for about [checks article ] four months at least. The only reason the magazine is addressing it is because they probably had no choice. Andrea: But praising someone for having a nice outfit on is very different from praising them for being anorexic, isnt it? [] Researcher: And the last question: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why? Sharon: Well I think, personally, that women are made to feel pressured too much by the images that they see in these sort of magazines. They forget that the pictures are touched up and most celebrities have personal trainers, make up artists and hairdressers and the like, whose job is to make them look perfect all if the time. It has to have a negative impact on womens self-image, as it is impossible to achieve that perfect look without all of that stuff on call 24/7. Andrea: But surely thats the point! It shows that without all of that, celebrities are normal women. They just have extraordinary resources that make them look the way they do in every other type of magazine. Sophie: People generally believe things printed in newspapers and magazines, especially young people. I think magazines like this have a significant impact on self-image and self-perception and in some cases they can have a detrimental effect on peoples lives. As long as the articles and stories are taken with a pinch of salt and not entirely believed,

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then the impact will probably less, but then it very much depends on the person reading the article, I guess. Jennifer: I cant imagine how anybody could read this kind of magazine and not have their self-image affected. Almost every article is about weight or image, and while they tell you whats wrong with how everyone looks I cant remember a time when Ive ever seen them say what is the right way to look. The way real women look, and should look, is completely side-stepped theres nothing for the women who read these magazines to base their self-image on and surely looking for the right image must be the reason behind reading article after article on body image in the first place? Christine: I believe they encourage women to bitch, and doubt themselves and lose sight of what they think is beautiful. Theyre designed to make you conform because the people writing them are as insecure as the rest of us and want to fit in too. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Christine: No one wants to stand out and get picked on, so if we all aim to achieve the same idea of beauty, we wont be. The magazines are very hypocritical, in the same issue that they ask why a celebritys become so thin they will feature an article on fat celebrities in their bikinis on the beach or something. Basically you cant win, no matter what body shape you are, at some point theyll attack you Ill give them credit for creating their own self-sufficient market; they help cause the problems that they later feature and profit from, which is exactly why I wont buy them! Andrea: Andrea: It looks like Ive been out-voted again! [Laughter from the entire group] Well. Ok. I guess some of that is true, but I also think that these sort of womens magazines are designed to help womens self-esteem. And personally I think the people who find them damaging to womens self esteems dont read magazines like heat regularly. These magazines make celebrities real people and as real people they eat and put on weight and lose weight. But more importantly give a information

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source; telling their dieting secrets of how they discovered healthy foods, that are generally easily accessible, but really good for you. Things like that help readers to become healthier and feel good about themselves; knowing they just ate something that it was healthy and nutritious. Researcher: Thank you.

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Appendix 15
Focus Group: Transcript 5
[Introductions and voice recognition test ] Researcher: Many womens magazines contain celebrity diet and fitness regimes. Celebrity gossip magazines, such as Heat and Closer are no exception as can be seen in example 1. Do these articles hold any interest for you and why is this the case? Gemma: I get extremely angry with them because you get people whove got no qualifications and theyre handing out quite badly informed advice about diets that do god knows what to people, so I get really angry about it. Felicity: Felicity: I think I think they draw you in like a traffic accident [Laughter from the entire group] You know; you dont want to read them, but if you see them in a doctors office or something. I mean, I never buy these kind of magazines but if Im sitting in a waiting room or something I end up reading them. Isabelle: Yeah. I always think Im not going to read that crap but you end up reading it, even though half the people in them you dont bloody recognise. Felicity: Plus which, theyre showing how big these people used to be, and youre thinking theres nothing wrong with them. I think they create the problems that they write about. Gemma: Isabelle: Karen: Its like they make a point of finding the worst photo possible, saying the most vicious thing possible. Its also interesting that at least two of them in this article are flogging a fitness video now: Nothing like a bit of free publicity. At least this article has a before and an after. Rather than just criticising them, they also show them looking good. But even those pictures are biased, since, you take Angela Griffin: in her after picture

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shes got her arms up and shes sucking in. Even if shes lost weight shed look thinner doing that. Daria: Id have to disagree. There are a lot of people out there who have dieting issues, myself included, and its nice to see that these celebrities have to work to get their figures. Theyre not naturally perfect: there has been some form of effort involved. Its doesnt just happen by magic. Karen: Well, its like Angela Griffin says; she went to the gym three times a week, but as the weight comes off she only goes once a week and then less. Daria: Felicity: That just shows that keeping the weight off is easier than losing it in the first place, if anything. But the other thing is with these magazines is that we dont know what of these photos is real and whats not because if they want someone to look good Look at that one in the paper: Sophie Dahl, whose legs were about four inches longer and she was so much thinner because they had airbrushed everything away! Gemma: Daria: And whats to say that they cant do it the other way round: make them look dumpier and stockier for the before pictures in here. But thats another thing about these kind of magazines. Most of the photos they use are paparazzi ones, so at least youre seeing the real person and its showing you: this is what they really look like without all the airbrushing and stuff. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement] Daria: With the facilities and resources these celebrities have at their disposal Of course they can look perfect, and if you [indicating to Gemma] had the same facilities and resources; personal trainer, nutritionists and the like, you could look like that too. Its not that theyre extraordinary women: theyre ordinary women with extraordinary bank balances to finance this stuff. Isabelle: But they must be very aware of that themselves, and that must be very difficult: knowing that you do have the paparazzi trying to find the worst side of you possible.

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Felicity:

Theyre also aware that every time they walk out the door they have to look as perfect as they possibly can because if they dont this is whats going to happen.

Karen:

And when it does happen, thats when they resort to plastic surgery, fad diets because they know that the tiniest flaw will be picked up on and highlighted. Its a vicious cycle.

Gemma: Daria: Felicity:

Theyre constantly seeking perfection because of magazines like this. But part of that is because we expect too much from them as well. Were both to blame. Its like a self-perpetuating cycle. Its like the second theyre in the public eye theyre open game: its like they put themselves up on a pedestal so they deserve everything they get, which is just unfair.

Gemma:

Celebrities are like anyone else; theyre going to have good days, theyre going to have bad days. [Sounds of confirmation and agreement]

Researcher: Ok. What sets celebrity gossip magazines apart from other womens magazines is their critiquing of celebrity appearance, including weight gains, as example 2 shows. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Gemma: Isabelle: Felicity: Theyre just plain vicious. Definitely a negative development: I dont think any of us need magazines to tell us what we should look like. Its like I said earlier: youre drawn in by them, but this particular article is appalling because every single one of them shows someone stuffing their face. It makes them look unattractive, doesnt it? Karen: Isabelle: Its like theyve done their best to find the worst pictures possible. This kind of critique is vicious. And the kicker is that theyre being really nice about it. Its like look: were saying that its ok and that celebrities like to eat too. They have their moments when they lose control of their diets. But right at the end they have [ indicating to Vanessa Feltz] oh and this one likes her food too so much so that she needs two forks to do it!

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Felicity: Gemma: Karen: Felicity:

Yeah. Shes [indicating to Vanessa Feltz] the big fat one at the end in a different colour box: its the implications of it. If I was them, Id just want to go home and cry. Youd stop eating out, wouldnt you? I mean, where do you go? What do you do? Who can you trust? If youre larger, like me, and youre at a party you dont want to eat because youre worried that every time you put something into your mouth someone will see it and think Christ! No wonder shes so fat. So you end up starving yourself in public and stuffing your face once you get home.

Gemma: Daria:

I think wev e all done that. I know I have. [] Im going to have to argue again and say that well It depends on how you read it, doesnt it? Youre reading it and saying oh my god, theyre criticising these people for eating but then Im reading it and seeing this is great: these people do eat. Theyre human, just like the rest of us: they like crisps and pizza too. Like Mischa Barton and Nicole Richie [indicating to their pictures] are known for being really underweight. And Victoria Beckham, even though shes not here; there are websites dedicated to her which use her as a pro-anorexia poster girl. Pictures like these show that these people do eat.

Gemma:

But theyre not showing them for that reason. Theyre doing it to make them look like gluttons and making me think that if I eat out thats what people will think about me.

Felicity:

And to me its saying about how these people lose control: that eating is to lose control. Its almost like theyve been caught out: that its a sin.

Karen:

To me its presented as something good on the surface, but thats the underlying message. Maybe its because Im overweight that I see it in that light. Maybe if I was thinner I would be seeing it differently, like you [indicating to Daria] do, but I just see it as nasty.

Daria:

But surely that shows how subjective these sort of things are. Even though you guys think its negative, its for different reasons. How do

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you know that what youre saying the article means matches what the person who put the article together was thinking? Gemma: But it does try to make out that theyve been caught. That theyre being dishonest: saying one thing and doing another and that the magazine have caught them out and this is what they really do. Thats what these magazine are about. Daria: Gemma: Daria: Thats a bit presumptuous, dont you think? And its nave not to see the cynical side of these sort of magazine. You know, I dont think were going to agree on much. Do you? [Laughter from the entire group] Researcher: Not all of these articles critiquing celebrity weight issues are about celebrities gaining weight, but also about celebrities losing too much weight, as example 3 suggests. Are these articles a positive or negative development in womens magazines and why do you believe this? Felicity: Gemma: Isabelle: Theyre the worst of the lot as far as Im concerned because this one is even more hypocritical than the others. I couldnt agree with you more. In the first one [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her heaviest] it says [reads caption directly] a plump Nicole bears some flesh. It wouldnt surprise me if she had seen that or something similar in October and thought oh my god! What did I look like? Look at those roles of flab: Im plump or fat, or whatever it said at the time. And before you know it, shes there [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her middle phase] and theyre saying how great she looks until she gets to there [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her lightest] and they decide shes gone too far. Karen: Like she cant win. She was probably aiming for there [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her middle phase] and didnt see a photo where she had achieved it, so kept going. Gemma: Felicity: Gemma: They didnt want her to achieve it. Well, thats the whole point. And youve got the so-called experts whove probably never met her let alone discussed it with her, so how dare they! How dare they give an

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opinion on something they know nothing about: on a person they know nothing about? They dont know whats going through that girls head, and they have no right to pass judgement at all! Eat or youll die: how the hell do they know thats true!? Karen: In the other hand, for her to feel that that [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her lightest] is right, when shes so painfully thin Something has made her feel that this is how she needs to be. Gemma: Daria: Daria: People saying things like this [indicating to all of the articles]! [] Well, I think theyre a positive development. [Laughter from the entire group] Well, yeah I mean Obviously I disagree with the idea that shes plump in that picture [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her heaviest]. Its like we were saying about the first article: a lot of its to do with the angle shes at. She probably the same weight in the second picture as she is in the first. But at least this article, even if they are being over-dramatic about it, they are pointing out the health problems that can arise from it like osteoporosis, hepatitis. I mean, a lot of these thing never get mentioned to the young girls who read these magazines. A lot of womens magazines have celebrities going this is my new diet or detox plan this, that, and the other. They never actually tell you about the health risks of going too far. We constantly hear about the risk of being overweight: you never hear about the ones for being underweight and what damage that can do. So its nice to actually have, for a change, the counterpoint that says we know that being overweight is bad for you, but so is being under: you want to aim for a healthy balance. Karen: Daria: Yeah. But you can argue about the way they go about it. Yes: its over the top and they havent interviewed her personally for the article, but at least they are talking to a doctor or medic rather than asking some random fashion expert who says yeah, shes underweight because the new Prada line doesnt look right on her. At least theyre talking to someone who is qualified.

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Gemma:

Well, I cant argue that this is a modern problem. You just have to look back to people like Nancy Reagan: you could never be too rich or to thin. And it goes back further than that. For me though, I have to say, its the vindictive nasty way they go about getting these pictures.

Karen: Felicity: Isabelle: Felicity: Gemma:

Generally, but all of these ones [indicating article 3] are posed. Like red carpet stuff. But these photos and stuff are big business. Exactly! Weight is in general. I know. Even though I know theyre a con, and most of the tips they give you are common sense stuff anyway, Ill still be drawn to magazines like this when Im out shopping. What I dont like about these sort of magazines is how they go about presenting it all.

Felicity:

I just go with what Jo Brand said: I must be anorexic, because every time I look in mirror I see a fat woman looking back! [Laughter from the entire group]

Gemma: Karen: Isabelle: Karen: Gemma:

Well, Im tall and slim with long, red hair! [Laughter from the entire group] I think Darias right about how a lot of it is down to how you perceive it, isnt it. But I get upset on their behalf. I mean, theyre not necessarily bad people; theyre not doing anything awful. I have to say though, if there was somebody there that you didnt like you cant help it: youd be there thinking yeah, look at her. The cow!. Well I dont like Vanessa Feltz, but shes only like the rest of us: shes fought to lose her weight, she has the occasional binge. Why shouldnt she?!

Felicity:

I mean, I dont like having my photo taken because I dont want to look like that. Imagine how it must be when you dont get a choice in the matter.

Isabelle:

And these picture where theyre saying how plump she is [indicating picture of Nicole Richie at her heaviest] I wouldnt mind looking like that!

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[Laughter from the entire group] Researcher: And the last question: As a womens magazine format, what impact do you believe celebrity gossip magazines have on womens creation of self-image and why? Felicity: I wouldnt be surprised if the women who read these sort of magazines regularly spend most of the time comparing themselves to the people that they supposedly look up to. So I think it probably has a very negative impact on their image because theyre trying to measure up and they find themselves wanting every time. Karen: Although articles like this [indicating article 3] are probably good because the readers can say well, at least I dont look as bad as her, I just think that the negative outweighs any positives that there might be. Gemma: I think, on the whole, they only influence the slightly overweight. The very overweight like me know exactly what we look like and we know that theres no way on Earth we can ever compare to these people and their problems. I think it has more scope with the slightly overweight because it seems like these diets and stuff could possibly help them be like these celebrities. Isabelle: Even really young people are striving to be right, and they think that these are what people should look like and so that is what they should look like. I mean, 80 or more percent of the women you talk to are on a diet or are unhappy about some part of their body. Well, where do they get that from? Most of them must get it from what they see and what they read: That you have to look like this to be accepted. Felicity: Also, everyone these days is led to believe that they can become famous in some way. And if they think the only way to become famous is to be thinner, talent doesnt seem to matter; its what you look like that seems to get you there, then theyre going to strive to try and be what they see in these magazines. Gemma: And even forty year olds, whether its gullibility or whatever; I dont know, think that if you read and if you do it you will become it. You can

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understand kids but forty year olds, and I know them who do it, whereas I know theres no chance. Karen: Gemma: Daria: But its like these bride and home magazines that people buy: no can really have homes like that. Exactly! This is reality we live in. Well, then Id say that these celebrity magazines are less of a problem than magazines like Cosmopolitan which imply that you can, and should, be able to do it all: That you can be on a six figure salary whilst throwing continuous dinner parties, bringing up four kids, taking yoga classes, re-painting the house and doing up the garden in your spare time. At least these magazines in some way, whether you agree with it or not, are showing that its impossible to do all of this and that are some kind of repercussions; some stress or strain involved. Even these perfect people screw up occasionally. That they cant keep it up: the lifestyle is too much to maintain. Gemma: Felicity: Daria: Isabelle: Gemma: And that well be there to laugh at them when they fall of their pedestals! Yeah. We put them up there, but we want the right to see them fall off. But thats our relationship with them. The magazine cant be held responsible: its just profiting from that relationship weve created. And you think thats a good thing? Its the angle they put on it. People are very gullible. They think if they read it, its true which never ceases to amaze me. They have a responsibility to there readers and the people they are portraying. Daria: But thats what they do. These things make no bones about what they are: it says celebrity gossip all over it. People who buy it know exactly what it is. The Sun and the Mirror do exactly the same thing and claim to be news! Gemma: Karen: Youre wrong Daria. We may realise, but most of the people who buy these magazines will believe every word they read. I suppose a lot of it is down to your self-image and how you perceive yourself. I mean, regardless of whether you feel overweight or

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whatever, its about whether youre confident. Even if youre overweight, you can still be very strong and confident: you know who you are and what you want. Daria: Yeah. You accept yourself. And of you have a strong self-image, youre probably going to glaze over things like this: take them with a pinch of salt. Karen: Its a case of which comes first, poor self-image or reinforcement of that self-image by these sort of magazines. Do they reinforce them or create them? Its like the chicken and the egg: you cant really pin it down. Daria: Felicity: Maybe. But to hold them wholly responsible is unfair. Its the media in general. Everyone you see on TV, in films and that goes back to when they started. Its the push to look good and be special. Daria: But is that because the producers said she doesnt look good enough or because the people at home watching did? Arent we just as responsible for buying into it? Gemma: Who says you cant be beautiful and overweight? Nine times out of ten fat people on telly are the butt of the jokes: the comic relief. You very rarely see them in serious stuff and thats usually weight-related. Felicity: Isabelle: And certainly never the romantic leads! Even that film I havent seen it Shallow Hal: its a thin woman in a fat suit. I dont know if she ends up slim or he stays with her regardless I should really watch it shouldnt I? [Laughter from the entire group] Isabelle: But you knew it wasnt really a fat person. I think theyre perpetuating this stereotype. Im not saying they started it, but they keep it going strong. We have to break the cycle. Like the Dove adverts are doing by showing real women. They even have a campaign for real models to do their adverts. Karen: But that comes back to self-image, because youd have to have the confidence to put yourself forward. I never would!

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Daria:

But does it come from a positive place? You could argue that its all about shock value: that it will grab peoples attention because people arent used to seeing those sort of pictures. Its just a new gimmick. If you ever actually read these magazines youd see that there are a lot of articles that praise celebrities for gaining weight and saying how much healthier , and sexually appealing, they look.

Felicity:

This could go on all night! [Laughter from the entire group]

Researcher: Thank you.

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Appendix 16
Content Analysis: Raw Data
Shorthand: Edit. (gos) Edit. (h & b) Edit. (fashion) Wr Nwr TV (reality: nf) 99 = Editorial (gossip) = Editorial (health and beauty) = Editorial (fashion) = Weight related = Non weight related = TV (reality: non famous) = no entry

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