Hey Voluptuous Panic! Please email me at shula.melamed@gmail.com. I would love to hear about the ideas you have been kicking around especially from a sociological perspective…
Hi there! I popped over from Feministing to answer your question about my soc of the body research, so as not to derail a thread. I figure the easiest thing is just to copy in my abstract. It’s unpublished at the moment, but I’m working on getting it out there. I’d be happy to send more or discuss if you’re interested!
CHUBBY PUPPIES AND FAT CATS: GENDERED DEVIANCE THROUGH OVERWEIGHT PETS
The objective of this thesis is to research whether advertisements for pet weight loss products and services systematically target women as consumers because women’s fears of acquiring the stigma associated with being overweight could compel them to act in a certain way or to buy certain products. A systematic content analysis of articles and advertisements dealing with pet weight loss in the industry’s two leading pet magazines, Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy, is employed in this study in order to address these questions. Two hypotheses are tested: first, that the materials will both portray and target women as consumers of weight loss products for themselves, as well as for their pets and second, that the advertisements and articles discussing weight and weight loss will portray and target women as primary caretakers of dependent family members, especially the pets in question. Although a few exceptions do exist, both hypotheses are upheld by the bulk of the evidence collected. Women appear more often than men in articles and advertisements relating to pet weight and weight loss, and women are portrayed as caretakers while men are portrayed as playmates. These findings establish a strong correlation between human weight loss efforts, which are more likely to be gendered feminine than masculine, and articles and advertisements related to pet weight and weight loss.
Hey Voluptuous Panic! Please email me at shula.melamed@gmail.com. I would love to hear about the ideas you have been kicking around especially from a sociological perspective…
Best,
Shula
Great site! You are very funny. I’m loving it!
BSN
Hi there! I popped over from Feministing to answer your question about my soc of the body research, so as not to derail a thread. I figure the easiest thing is just to copy in my abstract. It’s unpublished at the moment, but I’m working on getting it out there. I’d be happy to send more or discuss if you’re interested!
CHUBBY PUPPIES AND FAT CATS: GENDERED DEVIANCE THROUGH OVERWEIGHT PETS
The objective of this thesis is to research whether advertisements for pet weight loss products and services systematically target women as consumers because women’s fears of acquiring the stigma associated with being overweight could compel them to act in a certain way or to buy certain products. A systematic content analysis of articles and advertisements dealing with pet weight loss in the industry’s two leading pet magazines, Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy, is employed in this study in order to address these questions. Two hypotheses are tested: first, that the materials will both portray and target women as consumers of weight loss products for themselves, as well as for their pets and second, that the advertisements and articles discussing weight and weight loss will portray and target women as primary caretakers of dependent family members, especially the pets in question. Although a few exceptions do exist, both hypotheses are upheld by the bulk of the evidence collected. Women appear more often than men in articles and advertisements relating to pet weight and weight loss, and women are portrayed as caretakers while men are portrayed as playmates. These findings establish a strong correlation between human weight loss efforts, which are more likely to be gendered feminine than masculine, and articles and advertisements related to pet weight and weight loss.