Problem posing Question

1. What is the problem posing question?

Do you think the full equality of Women is detrimental to the collapse of Matriarch and Patriarch roles in the household?

2. Why are you interested in pursuing this question? 

I am interested in pursuing this question because I believe in order for women to truly find equality, the matriarch and patriarch roles in the household will have to dissolve because those positions or gender roles assimilate gender inequality.

3. What areas should you research/explore to know more about this topic?

The areas that should be researched are, gender roles, patriarchy and matriarchy. I would also do further research on the growth in change women have experienced through woman and gender studies.

4. Have we read or discussed texts that delt with your topic? What do you know about your topic?

WE have not read or discussed any texts in class that specifically talk about the question I have posed. However, We have touched on various topic within the issue.

 

Paper #2 Questions

1.      What is the problem-posing question that seems significant to you? 

Do men and women show love differently in marriage?

2.      Why are you interested in pursuing this question?

I am interested in this question because the topic has came up a few times in class that men show different ways to show love and affection differently than women do in their relationships.  I want to see if there are significant differences, along with how these differences if any affect their relationships during marriage.

3.      What areas should you research/explore to know more about this topic?

Areas that I should explore to know more about this topic are the ways that men and women both show love in their relationships.  I need to compare and contrast these two forms of affection to determine if there is a significant difference and see how it affects marriage.

4.      Have we discussed or read texts that dealt with your topic? What do you know about your topic?

There has been some discussion brought up about how men and women communicate, and show affection to each other in relationships.  Based off of the discussions in class it seems that we believe that women show their feelings of affection more freely than men, and men seen to be more hesitant to show affection and love in relationships. 

Annotated Bibliography

Drazin, Robert, and Ellen R. Auster. "Wage Differences Between Men And Women: Performance Appraisal Ratings Vs. Salary Allocation As The Locus Of Bias." Human Resource Management 26.2 (1987): 157-168. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article analyzes several different factors that have influenced the wage gap earned between men and women. Even though there have been many legal and social advances that have been made to achieve equality in the work place, women are still only earning about two-thirds of the wages that men are making. There have been studies that focus on the performance of women in the work place rather than on the general stereotypes of women. Many of the models used by researchers also analyze individual or human capital factors as the sources of wage differences between men and women. Some researchers also look at types of jobs, sexual segregation within jobs, and internal aspects of the work place to explain the wage difference among sexes.  

Tharenou, Phyllis. "The Work Of Feminists Is Not Yet Done: The Gender Pay Gap-A Stubborn Anachronism." Sex Roles 68.3/4 (2013): 198-206. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article explains the effects of societal issues will make it very difficult to overcome discrimination against women in the work force, especially in regards to the pay gap between men and women. It is stated that the issue of unequal pay wages needs to go beyond the aspects of human capital and focus more on the social psychological influences within our society. The author proceeds to explore the contributing influences of gender discrimination and stereotyping, concluding that actions at a societal level must be made in order to overcome the pay gap between men and women.

Corcoran, Mary, and Greg J. Duncan. "Work History, Labor Force Attachment, And Earnings Differences Between The Races And Sexes." Journal Of Human Resources 14.1 (1979): 3-20. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            Not only does this article focus on the differences in pay wages between the sexes, but also the effect that race has had on way wages in the work place. The author also investigates differences in work history, on-the-job training, absenteeism, and self-imposed restrictions on work hours and location to explain why there is such a significant difference in pay wages between men and women. Some arguments also take into account level of education and qualifications one holds in different jobs.

Wu, Huoying. "Can The Human Capital Approach Explain Life-Cycle Wage Differentials Between Races And Sexes?." Economic Inquiry 45.1 (2007): 24-39. EconLit. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article also talks about race along with gender to analyze the comparable difference in pay wages among men and women. The arguments within this article support human capital and labor theories to describe the evolution of pay wages among men and women, stating they have increased for women but that wages of men are still significantly higher.

Easton, Todd, and Mary C. King. "Differences In Wage Levels Among Metropolitan Areas: Less-Educated Workers In The United States." Regional Studies 34.1 (2000): 21-27. Sociological Collection. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article examines the education levels of men and women in metropolitan areas within the United States. The author analyzes several characteristics: the industry composition of employment for less-educated workers; union strength in the metropolitan labor market; the level of the minimum wage; the strength of labor demand; and the demographic composition of the labor market. According to research, industry composition and union strength appeared to have the most impact on the wages among those who are less educated in metropolitan areas: industry composition proved to be the most influential on wages of women. The author analyzes all of these different aspects of wage differences among men and women, and the education level of individuals.

Buckley, John E. "Pay Differences Between Men And Women In The Same Job." Monthly Labor Review 94.11 (1971): 36. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article compares the average wage earnings between men and women for establishments that employ both sexes. The main approach for this article was to analyze the wage gap between men and women who work for the same occupation and the different factors that influence the difference in pay earnings. One of the important factors discussed wage discrimination among the sexes.

Frank, Robert H. "Why Women Earn Less: The Theory And Estimation Of Differential Overqualification." American Economic Review 68.3 (1978): 360. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

            This article also supports the idea of wage discrimination between men and women to explain the wage gaps among the sexes. The average wage rate for females in the United States has been two-thirds of the average wage for males and has been that way for nearly more than two decades. The studies described in this article explored personal characteristics among individuals but still concluded that females are strongly discriminated against in regards to wage gap between sexes in the work place.

Annotated Bibliographhy

1.  Belkin, Lisa. "The Opt-Out Revolution." New York TImes. The New York TImes Company, 28 Oct. 2003. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/magazine/26WOMEN.html>.
THe article discusses how many women who graduate from top colleges and Ivy League schools tend to stall their careers after marriage to have children.   I learned that there are still problems in society concerning women in the workforce in the sense that when women try to return to the workforce after taking time off to raise their children, they find it harder to return to their old jobs or receive the success that they had before having children.  Many women in STEM career fields face similar challenges as they have high ranking jobs.  It makes me think that I should explore how motherhood can have an effect on women pursuing STEM
fields.

2.  Warner, Judith. "The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In." New York Times. The New York TImes Company, 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/magazine/the-opt-out-generation-wants-back-in.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&>.
THe article discusses how many of the women who dropped out of the workforce from high ranking jobs are having trouble reentering the workforce after taking time off for their children.  Like the first article, this relates to how women in the STEM fields face similar challenges after they leave their jobs for similar reasons.  I hope to do more reserach by comparing the careers of women who did and did not leave the workforce to raise their children

3.  Dubow, Wendy M. "Bringing Young Women into Computing Through the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Program." Communications of the ACM 56.12 (2013): 34-37. EbscoHOst. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
THis article focuses on the NCWIT and the steps they ave taken to promote women participation in computer science.  I learned about how organizations are attempting to help young girls foster their interests in STEM related fields such as computer science.  I also learned about the problems women face in the male dominated fields of computer science.  I want to use this and other articles to further my reserach into the inequality between men and women in STEM careers.

4.  United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology (2007). Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act of 2008 [electronic Resource] : Hearing before the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Second Session, May 8, 2008. Vol. 55. N.p.: Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2008, n.d. EbscoHOst. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
This article discusses a hearing before the House of Representatitves encouraging measures to be taken to encourage all women interested in Science and ENgineering to pursue careers in those fields.  I learned about possible ideas that would help fulfill this goal.  I hope to expand upon this and other ideas in my research.

5.  Wieserman, Katherine C., and Molly H. Weinburgh. Women's Experiences in Leadership in K-16 Science Education Communities, Becoming and Being. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York: Dordrecht, 2009. Ser. 1. EbscoHost. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
This book discusse the experiences of women teaching science to those in elemtary school, middle school, and college.  It shows the experiences women science teachers have engaging their students in the material, encouraging other young girls to pursue science fields, and how it is harder for them to obtain jobs teaching science.  THis could provide an interesting take on the science education and how it relates to women.

6.  Broadening Participation The Status of Women of Color in Computer Science

This article looks into why women of color are under represented in the STEM fields in the United States.  I learned about statistics concerning black and hispanic women and the frequency that they earned degrees in computer science.  I also learned of possible reasons why black and hispaic women do not experience the same exposure to science and technology as white women.  I would like the include the experiences of minority women of science in my reasearch

7.  Ong, Maria. "Broadening Participation The Status of Women of Color in Computer Science."Communications of the ACM 54.7 (2011): 32-34. EbscoHost. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
This article explains unconscious bias and how it could possibly be affecting the number of women students in faculty in STEM fields.  I learned of possible solutions that could overcome this bias.  I hope to include more information on unconscious bias and on these solutions in my paper.

Annotated Bibliography

Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don’t Understand. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. Print. This is a non-fiction book written by Deborah Tannen, a sociolinguistics professor at Georgetown University. Tannen discusses the differences in communication styles between men and women. More specifically, what each gender is seeking from communication. It gives insight into how these different communication styles create misunderstanding between the two sexes. This book is very relevant to my problem-posing question because it discusses in detail not only how men and women communicate differently, but why.

"Brain Connectivity Study Reveals Striking Differences Between Men and Women." Penn Medicine. University of Pennsylvania, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This article published by Penn Medicine discusses new developments on the differences between men and women’s brain biologically. An associate professor of radiology and his colleagues discovered “greater neural connectivity from front to back with one hemisphere in males” and “…in females, the wiring goes between the left and right hemispheres”. This evidence supports the general behavior difference in women, like communication. This article relates to my problem-posing question because it gives a biological and physiological standpoint on explaining the differences in communication styles between men and women.

Northwestern University. “Boys’ and Girls’ Brains Are Different: Gender Differences in Language Appear Biological”. Science Daily, 5 Mar. 2008. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This article on Science Daily discusses research found by Northwestern University. Research findings in children suggest that the area in the brain for language works harder in girls than in boys. These findings support the common theories of language barriers between sexes. These differences were found in MRI scans which measures boys and girls ages 9 to 15. This study and article is relevant to my research because it supports the hypothesis that there are biologically differences between the genders in language. It also explains shows how young these developments begin.

Burman, Douglas D., Bitan, Tali, and Booth, James R. “Sex Differences in Neural Processing of Language Among Children”. Neuropsychologia 46.5 (2008): 1349-1362. Science Direct. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This is a research study published explaining the findings on the differences in language in young children. This study is very similar to the one discussed in the other citation, but goes into more specific detail about the differences. This is relevant to my research because it is a primary source of a study and not a discussion of it. 

Berl, Rachel. “How to Improve Communication with your partner”. U.S. News. U.S. News and World Report, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This is an article published by U.S. News online that discusses the differences between the sexes in communication. It talks about how you can communication better with the opposite sex and suggests how to understand these differences. This article is relevant to my research because it gives a more general insight on the issue. It also shows how this is a relevant and important issue between men and women.

Miller, Ann. “Men and Women’s Communication is Different-Sometimes.” Communication Currents 6.1 (2011). n. pag. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This scholarly article discusses how men and women are not so different when it comes to communication styles. It describes how in certain circumstances and environments they will interact differently, but in others they will interact similarly. It also gives insight into these differences between cultures. This gives a different insight into my research, which is essential in answering it fully. Looking into the differences between cultures to better explain the communication differences between sexes is also very important.

Annotated Bibliography

Vangelisti, Anita L., and John A. Daly. "Gender Differences In Standards For Romantic Relationships." Personal Relationships 4.3 (1997): 203-219. PsycINFO. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This source is a study on standards in relationships. It compares men and women’s expectations and evaluates the degree to which they are met. The study found that men and women seem to place the same importance on different elements in a relationship, but women are less likely than to express that their standards are met by their partner. The article discusses some of the reasons behind this. It says that it may be due to the fact that women are naturally raised to place more importance on relationships because they are normalized to be codependent, while a man is raised to be independent. Therefore, a woman is more focused on relationship standards and meeting them. This article shows that men and women do experience relationships differently which confirms my question. I’d like to read more to see if there’s anything to dispute this, or to give me further reasoning for the differences in experiences between men and women.

Herzog, A. Regula, Jerald G. Bachman, and Ann Arbor. Inst. for Social Research. Michigan Univ. "Sex Role Attitudes Among High School Seniors: Views About Work And Family Roles. Final Report." (1981): ERIC. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This article is a study which interviewed high school seniors on relationships between men and women. This article interested me because I wanted to know young people’s responses to questions about their own future. This was a large study, but the part that related to my topic had some interesting findings. It found that the boys and girls agreed on gender equality in the workforce and such, but reverted back to traditional views on domestic responsibility. Most students believe that men should be the primary bread-winners and women should take on household responsibilities. These findings are more of a general answer to my question.

DAHL, DARREN W., JAIDEEP SENGUPTA, and KATHLEEN D. VOHS. "Sex In Advertising: Gender Differences And The Role Of Relationship Commitment." Journal Of Consumer Research 36.2 (2009): 215-231. Business Source Complete. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This article helped me to understand the differences in sexual motivations for men and women and the reasons for these differences. The author explains that there is an evolutionary and a socialization component to these differences. In the evolutionary approach, it is found that since women must devote more of themselves to raising and nurturing of children, they take sex more seriously. They are particular in finding partners who they believe will benefit them long-term for the sake of offspring. This is why women don’t often sleep around with many guys. On the other hand, men don’t have as much invested in the nurturing of offspring in the biological and evolutionary sense, so they often seize any opportunities to have sex.  The socialization aspect explains that the two sex’s experiences effect their views on sex. It is more frowned upon in society for girls to engage in any sexual activities than it is for men. Also it is socialized by experience for girls to relate sex to emotional involvement and relationships.

Jaramillo-Sierra, Ana L., and Katherine R. Allen. "Who Pays After The First Date? Young Men’S Discourses Of The Male-Provider Role." Psychology Of Men & Masculinity 14.4 (2013): 389-399. PsycARTICLES. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article described the man’s point of view on dating. It describes 4 different categories of men’s thinking when it comes to paying for dates and then for everything thereafter the dating phase. Most men believed the man should pay for the dates. The 3 main reasons behind this were “to give a good impression, to show how much they care, and to do what is socially acceptable”. After the dating phase, men had a range of views when it came to paying, from paying for everything and spoiling their significant other, to completely withdrawing from paying for anything. I thought getting this male point of view was an interesting addition to my question but I’d like to hopefully find this same discussion from women’s point of view. Would women want men to pay for them, or do they want to be more independent?

Armstrong, Elizabeth A., Paula England, and Alison C. K. Fogarty. "Accounting For Women’S Orgasm And Sexual Enjoyment In College Hookups And Relationships." American Sociological Review 77.3 (2012): 435-462. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article explained the differences in women’s sexual pleasure and orgasm in casual sex versus sex in a relationship. It was found that women more often are pleasured in relationships than in casual sex. Men were interviewed and admitted that in casual sex, the woman’s pleasure was not of their concern while in a relationship both sex’s wanted to pleasure their partner. The article further discussed the double standard that is a woman’s right to be pleasured in a relationship but not in casual sex. Since men aren’t interested in pleasuring their partner in casual sex, women are not reaching orgasm and are only pleasuring the man. It is more difficult for a woman to reach orgasm simply from intercourse and no other sexual activities. In casual sex, the man hasn’t had much time to even try to become acquainted with his partner’s body as to pleasure her. This may be why women don’t often seek to engage in sex outside of a relationship. This was a great addition to answer my question.

McGinty, Kristen, David Knox, and Marty E. Zusman. "Friends With Benefits: Women Want "Friends," Men Want "Benefits.." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 1128-1131. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article was a study of college student’s involvement in “friends with benefits” relationships. It compared the differences in how men and women viewed the relationship. It was found that the women mostly viewed the relationship as a mostly friends relationship. They were found to be more invested emotionally than men, who viewed the relationship as mostly sex. It is assumed that the reasons for these view differences come from evolutionary and social effects. It explained similar reasons to the other article I read. This was just what I was looking for to help answer my question. I think most people assume this is how men and women feel in these types of casual sexual relationships, and this study shows that it is true.

Green, Katie J., and Mark T. Morman. "The Perceived Benefits Of The Friends With Benefits Relationship." Human Communication 14.4 (2011): 327-346. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article examined the actual “benefits” of a “friends with benefits relationship”. The article discussed how men’s sex drive is more fixed and indifferent due to evolution, while women’s sex drive can easily be altered or changed by social constructions and experience. It claimed that women were less favorable of FWB relationships than men. Due to men’s greater sex drive, women in FWB relationships are forced to adapt. Women were found to place significance on the meaning of sex as opposed to men who viewed it as simply sex. It was also found that the benefits were different for men and women. Women wanted protection, men wanted sex. Both, however, gained the experience with no strings attached in order to gain information for choosing future long-term partners. This article helped expand the answer from the last article into further detail and even a different view on the topic of FWB.

Annotated Bibliography

Rydell, Ellen, and Minha Esther Kim. "Getting Girls De-Stereotyped for SAT 

Exams." The Journal of College Admissions: 43-47. Print.

This journal talks about how the stereotypes female face
when taking the ACT, and what they can do to make them not so stereotyped
towards males. I believe this article can help me because the ACT is part of
the educational system and I think it would be interesting to add this into the
paper to talk about a certain test and how even a nation wide test is generalized
in favor the males to do better. 




Gentry, Ruben, and Jessica L. Buck. Reframing Schools to Enhance Gender Access.
     Print.
This paper touches upon reasons why students may not perform as well as each other as a whole, but the huge focus is on if gender plays a role in the classroom or school setting. This report will really help me when trying to see which one does better and why this may be the reason. This will give me a lot of research to back up my main topic on if their are gender issues in the educational system.

Robinson, Joseph P., Sara T. Lubienski, and Yasemin Copur. "The effects of teachers’ 
gender-stereotypical expectations on the development of the math gender gap." Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
This journal is talking about teachers favoring males in the mathematics concentration in theclassroom. I think this article will be helpful because we always hear that males always do better in math than girls do, and this journal did some research in the actual classroom to see if they notice it. This will help me when talking about the the subjects that are taught inschool and will be helpful with my paper and making certain points.

Moss-Racusin, Corinne A., et al. "Science Faculty's Subtle Gender Bias Favor Male Students." 
     National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
This journal is the opposite of the journal I stated before and this one touches upon scienceand how it favor males. I think this will be helpful with my paper findings because math and science are said to be favored when it comes to males students and this one also does a studythat I can touch upon in the paper and compare the gender issues.

Ms, Sumi. Education and Gender Discrimination.
This report talks about how women are treated in the education system. This will help me whencomparing male and female bias in the education system. I will be able to compare my findingsand see the differences that are happening in the education system. This will also be good for the reader to realize what is happening to both genders in education. 

Potvin, Geoff, et al. "Unraveling Bias from Students Evaluations of Their High School Students." Wiley Interscience
This journal talks about students being biased towards who is teaching their classes. This could be interesting to include in my paper to see both sides of the situations. Do students do better because of the gender of their teacher? Or do they do better because their teachers are biased towards them. This is also for high school students so we get to look at a different age of students.

Hannon, James, et al. "Gender Stereotyping and the Influence of Race in Sport Among Adolescents." Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
This journal talks about the gender bias you see in physical education mostly focused on the masculinity. I think this will be good to add to the paper because physical education is partof the school system and definitely is a class that teachers are more biased towards the males.

Annotated Bibliography

*Question: Do we have agency when it comes to what we perceive as attractive or appealing in terms of beauty and physical appearance, or do we automatically desire what the media promotes to us enough times?

Berry, John W., Ype H. Poortinga, Marshall H. Segall, and Pierre R. Dasen. Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print. This source is not argumentative; rather, it is a general textbook that covers the basics of cross-cultural psychology, including individual development, social behavior, personality, language, emotion, and many other topics. From what I have read from this source so far, I learned that “all human behavior is cultural to some extent,” as humans are very social (53). Also, girls and boys are socialized differently as children: boys are taught to be independent and assertive, whereas girls are raised to be obedient and compliant (73). All of this is relevant to my problem-posing question in that I am researching how deeply media and culture influence human perceptions of beauty. I feel that this source will provide a basic foundation for the rest of my paper––a general context for how culture affects human behavior. In terms of how this source is shaping my thinking regarding my problem-posing question, I again feel as though it is providing me with a basic understanding of my topic. For instance, knowing that girls are socialized to be obedient helps me to understand why many women are willing to acquiesce to harmful beauty standards.

Jeffreys, Sheila. Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print. Sheila Jeffreys poses this question in her book: “[Do] western beauty practices represent women’s subordinate status or can [they] be seen as the expression of women’s choice or agency” (5)? Ultimately, she argues that the majority of mainstream beauty practices are damaging for women because they are a form of psychological oppression (7). Besides this, I learned about many other feminists’ critiques of beauty. For example, Jeffrey quotes Andrea Dworkin, a 70’s feminist who views beauty practices as “the dimensions of [a woman’s] physical freedom…psychological development, intellectual possibility, and creative potential” (7). All of this relates to my problem-posing question, although I feel that Sheila focuses more on the harmfulness of these beauty practices than the media and the psychological processes that cause women to perceive these practices as desirable in the first place. I might use some information from this source, but I think I will focus more on the other sources I have found in my paper.

Perlmutter, Dawn. “Miss America: Whose Ideal?” Beauty Matters. Ed. Peg Zeglin Brand. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2000. 155-68. Print. In this piece, Dawn Perlmutter exposes the sexist, racist, and classist nature of the annual crowning of Miss America. As she explains, this idealized version of women represents the values of white, upper class culture––a narrow, albeit dominant, portion of our country’s population (157). I learned a great deal about the history of the competition from this piece, including the fact that “one out of three Miss America contestants has been blonde” and that a previous winner, Alicia Machado, was “given an ultimatum to lose 27 pounds in two weeks or risk losing her title” when she gained weight after the competition (159). In general, this essay is relevant to my problem-posing question in that Perlmutter shows how white, patriarchal, capitalist values control the images of beauty that American women are meant to idealize. This makes me feel as though women have even less agency than I previously thought when it comes to what they perceive as attractive in terms of aesthetics.

Savacool, Julia. The World Has Curves: The Global Quest for the Perfect Body. New York: Rodale, 2009. Print. In this book, Julia Savacool argues that body ideals vary from country to country and are directly related to the economics of a culture (xiii). From this source, I learned that skinniness is mainly idealized in well-developed nations (xi). Though much of this information is common sense, this source will still prove useful for my paper, as it will allow me to also show how location affects women’s perceptions of themselves. 

Thesander, Marianne. The Feminine Ideal. London: Reaktion, 1997. Print. Marianne Thesander argues in this book that “women have been made synonymous with their bodies [for centuries]” and that the “female body has…been endowed with specific cultural symbolic significance” (9). From this source, I learned about female beauty ideals throughout history––from the eighteen century onward––such as the “slimming propaganda” that has dominated women’s magazines since the 1950’s (30). This information will be incredibly helpful as I write my own paper, as it is a direct example of how women have assimilated to various beauty ideals throughout history. It will also provide my paper with a historical context for my topic.

Vandenbosch, Laura, and Steven Eggermont. "Understanding Sexual Objectification: A Comprehensive Approach Toward Media Exposure and Girls' Internalization of Beauty Ideals, Self-Objectification, and Body Surveillance." Journal of Communication 62.5 (2012): 869-87. Business Source Complete. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. In this study, Laura Vandenbosch and Steven Eggermont analyze the relationship between sexually objectifying media images and self-objectification for adolescent girls. As I learned from the source, levels of self-objectification increase as girls view sexually objectifying magazines, TV shows, and images on social media more often (881). This is relevant to my problem-posing question in that this study shows how deeply teenage girls are affected by the images they see in the media. Though I am still not sure yet, I think it might be a good idea for me to specify my paper for teenage girls to narrow down my topic. As of right now, I am addressing how all women are affected by beauty ideals promoted in the media.

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: Morrow, 1991. Print. In this book, Naomi Wolf argues that, as women have become more successful professionally, they have also become increasingly subjected to impossible standards of beauty. I learned from this source that women lack role models––strong female leaders and revolutionaries––and thus idolize those whom they see in magazines and other media outlets (58). This, combined with the fact that women are valued mainly for their beauty in our patriarchal culture, encourages women to imitate “attractive” models and celebrities when it comes to their own personal appearance (59). This information partially answers my problem-posing question––that women imitate what the media promotes as “attractive” at the time so that they can try to take advantage of the cultural privilege associated with these physical traits.