A Media Literacy Study for Hatoum and Belle

Although the same media evaluation lessons—regarding advertisers’ use of computer-modified or -generated images and their intent to persuade people to buy products to fulfill emotions—could apply if Hatoum and Belle were to turn their study into a media literacy program for men, the media participants evaluated would have to be different. The researchers could use their data on the men’s magazines that each participant selected as an initial resource for advertisements to be analyzed in a media literacy program. Although it would have been helpful for the researchers to have also asked participants to provide shows that they watched and music that they listened to in addition to the amount of media consumed, the researchers could use previous research regarding media stereotypes of the male body to find television, film, and music video artifacts for the program as well.

The researchers could then use these artifacts to have the participants consider advertisers’ intent and persuasive appeals by educating them on use of computer-modified images to create the media messages that consumers see. Then, the researchers could talk about the reality of what body types most men have, like Jean Kilbourne did in the video we watched in class, as well as the problems that arise from unhealthy habits such as skipping meals when people skip the gym and taking dietary supplements to reduce weight or build muscle. This combination of media literacy and health education lessons will help participants learn that media representations are not reality but that the reality behind some of their habits is dangerous.

The final part of the study could then explore the importance of maintaining a positive body image and self-esteem in spite of the misrepresentations they will encounter through their media consumption. The men in Hatoum and Belle’s study reported that they were unsatisfied with numerous parts of their bodies, some of which correlated to the body parts they noticed first when looking at pictures of male models. This data reinforces the benefits of not only educating the participants on advertisers’ constructions of negative body image but also reinforcing within the participants a positive body image, as other researchers have done in their media literacy programs about body image.