Body Image

Every time you're watching television, the women seem to fit the thin "model" ideal. This makes the women watching television want to look like these woman. Studies show that black women watch more television than white women do. However, they are not as affected by the thin body ideal because they have higher self-esteems than white women. 

Rap videos have been accused of violent lyrics and imagery. The female characters shown in these videos are usually portrayed as sexual objects and carry a heavy emphasis on sexuality and physical attractiveness. These women also behave in submissive ways. In the research conducted, they found that thin females are overrepresented in videos compared to the real population. It was also found that when the video had to do with sex or materialism, the woman's body would be smaller rather than in a video of political awareness where the female would have a larger body shape. I feel like that fits the beauty ideal of society. People believe that thinner is more beautiful than a larger body size. Just like mainstream media, rap videos show a unrealistic view of the female body.

Source:

Zhang, Yuanyuan, Travis L. Dixon, and Kate Conrad. "Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis." Sex Roles 62.11-12 (2010): 787-97. ProQuest. Web. 14 May 2013.