Monthly Archives: May 2004

Viewing Pictures of Thin Models Improves Self-Image of Young Women

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A commonly made claim about the media’s obsession with thin, young women is that such images create a poor self-image in young women who don’t measure up to that ideal. A small minority of them then turn to self-destructive behaviors to try to look like the model on the cover of the magazine, leading to eating disorders and other problems.

A new study conducted at the University of Toronto suggests, however, that the problem is the opposite — viewing pictures of thin young women actually increases young women’s self image. As summarized in a University of Toronto press release on the results,

The study, by lead author Ramona Joshi, a former U of T student supervised by [psychology professor Peter] Herman and psychology professor Janet Polivy, appears in the April International Journal of Eating Disorders. Female university students report on their self-image while viewing different types of images on a computer screen. Their most positive measures of self-image came after viewing photos of thin models taken from popular magazines. This effect was most pronounced in those who wee dieters, although it was also present to a lesser degree in non-dieters. This finding may give clinicians some insight into the motivations of people with eating disorders, suggest Herman.

According to Herman,

The idea that these thing media ideals are inspiring rather than depressing is almost necessary to account for the fact that young women — and just about everybody else — spend[s] a lot of time voluntarily exposing themselves to these images.

. . .

. . . our findings suggest that these images may actually make young women feel good about themselves because they treat that image as a fantasy goal, think, She looks great and I could look like that, too. However, although this fantasy may make them feel good initially, young women who are really super-invested in trying to emulate this image may be the ones who go on to develop a true eating disorder.

Source:

Images of thin models boost dieters’ self-image: Study. Press Release, University of Toronto, April 19, 2004.

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David Reimer, 38, Commits Suicide

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Canadian media reported this month that David Reimer, 38, committed suicide on May 4 after losing his life savings in a shady investment deal.

Reimer achieved a modicum of fame in the early 1990s when he was the subject of a book by John Colapinto, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised a Girl..

As an infant, Reimer’s penis was destroyed in a botched circumcision. After seeking help from a number of experts, Reimer’s mother ended up at the door of Dr. John Money who decided to use Reimer as part of an experiment to test his theory that gender was socially assigned rather than genetic.

Under Money’s advice, Reimer’s testicles and his remaining genitalia were removed and Reimer was raised as a girl (complete with hormone treatments), with his parents being told never to reveal the truth. Money published a number of scholarly articles comparing Reimer’s development with that of his twin brother which portrayed the reassignment as an unqualified success, but the reality was that the experiment was an utter failure. Reimer had a very difficult childhood due to the attempted gender change and threatened to kill himself rather than continue to see Dr. Money which prompted his parents to reveal the truth.

Reimer later said that he was shocked to find out that while he was experiencing a miserable childhood trying to fit in as a girl that Money’s chronicling of this “success” was being used to inflict the same nightmare on other children.

Reimer tried to kill himself at least three times and expressed a desire to kill Dr. Money. Eventually he abandoned his feminine identity, and underwent reconstructive surgery to restore his genitalia.

Money’s view that gender is assigned socially has been all-but-refuted by studies showing that prenatal exposure to hormones appears to be largely responsible for sex assignment (although it is still the prevailing view of many academic feminists for whom evidence is always a poor substitute for ideology).

Source:

Man raised as a girl commits suicide. Associated Press, May 12, 2004.

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FDA Rejects Bid to Approve Morning-After Pill for Over the Counter Sales

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Despite an independent review board’s 23-4 vote recommending that Barr Pharmaceutical’s morning-after pill, Plan B, be approved for over the counter sale, the Food and Drug Administration this month rejected the company’s plans to make the drug more easily available.

In rejecting the proposal, the FDA contended that Barr had not provided enough evidence about the ability of young women under the age of 16 to understand Plan B’s direction. In a letter faxed to Barr Pharmaceuticals explaining the rejection, the FDA noted that only 29 of 585 women in a company study of the labeling were under the age of 16.

The FDA told Barr it could either propose a system to sell the drug over the counter only to those 17 and over, or conduct another label study focusing on women under the age of 16.

Those advocating making the drug available over the counter called the FDA’s action a thinly veiled political decision in an election year. Dr. James Trussell, who was on the independent advisory board that recommended approving Barr’s plan, noted that numerous other products have been approved for sale over the counter without the FDA raising the issue of whether or not teenager will be able to adequately understand the labeling.

Whether or not the FDA’s decision was political is questionable, but it certainly was a bad decision that appeared to grasp at straws to keep Plan B prescription-only.

Source:

U.S. rules morning-after pill can’t be sold over the counter. Gardiner Harris, New York Times, May 7, 2004.

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DNA Test Clears Colorado Athletes of Rapes

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Almost as quickly as the multiple accusations of rape by University of Colorado athletes emerged, the set of charges appeared to crash and burn due to lack of evidence and, in some cases, positive evidence of innocence.

Following the school’s recruiting scandal, a woman came forward an accused two University of Colorado football players of raping her after she supposedly met them in a tavern in August 2002.

But both DNA tests excluded both football players as the rapist, and the attorney for one of the players said the police were racial profiling. According to attorney Nancy Holton, the woman did not remember anything about the identities of the men who raped her except for the fact that they were black.

In total, eight cases of alleged sexual assault were reported as a result of the recruiting scandal, and prosecutors have set all of them aside due to lack of evidence.

Source:

Woman reported she was raped in 2002. Associated Press, May 13, 2004.

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IOC Approves Transsexual Olympic Athletes

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The International Olympic Committee executive board this month approved a measure that will allow athletes who have undergone sex change surgery to compete in Olympic events under their reassigned gender.

The new policy goes into effect in time for this summer’s Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Athletes who want to compete as transsexuals will have to prove that they have undergone at least a minimum two-year regimen of hormones following sexual reassignment surgery.

The IOC and transsexual activists argue that the fear of men who have sex change operations having an unfair advantage competing in women’s sports will never materialize because the hormone therapy causes testosterone levels and muscle mass to decline. But they conveniently forget that men have other advantages, including increased average heart and lung capacity.

Besides, this is just the foot in the door. At the Gay Games V in Amsterdam, for example, the organizers of that event were accused of bigotry for requiring the sort of proof of completion of the sex change operation that the IOC is requiring. Look for that sort of accusation to be directed at the IOC down the road.

Source:

Committee clears transsexuals for Olympics. Associated Press, May 17, 2004.

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