| dc.description.abstract | Representations of the female body in media have been widely researched in the field of cultural studies, but also in communication studies, gender studies, fashion studies, history, psychology and sociology. Throughout the researches in this interdisciplinary field, current understandings of representing this female body can be found. So-called side-by-side images on the social media platform Instagram are a form of these representations. However, these appear to be seen as new and ground-breaking by some reporters and news websites. In this thesis, therefore, these specific images will be analysed using a semiotic research approach in order to find out whether the meanings these images convey are as ground-breaking as they seem.
The findings suggest that new meanings are indeed conveyed by these side-by-side images. However, there are also meanings present which are similar to or even completely the same as other representations. Similar connotations lie, amongst others, within the use of gazes, the use of the format of a so-called before-after image, and the ‘core messages’ of the images: women compare themselves with an ideal image and beauty from within comes from changing the outer-self. The new connotations found can be described as 1) progress towards non-idealistic images, 2) insight into how portrayals of the body are always constructions, 3) focus on the different possible portrayals of the body in images, 4) specific combinations of different gazes which connote either that ideal and non ideal are equal or that the non-ideal is actually the ideal, and 5) the idea that binaries have small steps which make them continuums. When summarising these five new connotations I conclude that by combining existing image formats the fit blogger’s Instagram pictures provide new meanings about differences within the self (progress, constructions, portrayals and gazes) and the, what I would like to call, ‘grey areas’ within certain continuums.
In light of these findings, this thesis provides new insights on and adds to the interdisciplinary dialogue about how representations of the female body nowadays occur in the new media environment. It shows that existing meanings and connotations are conveyed in these specific representations but that these also convey slightly changed meanings. With these ‘new’ portrayals and constructions of the female body, it seems relevant to conduct further research within several disciplines. This future research should not only focus on the specific side-by-side format researched in this thesis but also on other apparently ‘new’ representations of the female body. | |
