The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful.

Every day, millions of children, tweens, and teenagers sit down and watch their favorite television shows on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. A large segment of this audience is female, and many of them are reaching an age where they are developing an awareness of self and comparing that self to the ideals presented in the media. While this comparison is well-documented, little research has looked specifically at the beauty ideal messages of live-action television shows specifically targeting this group. Through a content analysis of nine Disney and Nickelodeon shows, beauty ideal messages were analyzed, with results suggesting that the thin, white beauty ideal that is present in adult programming is also alive and well in programming for a younger audience. Furthermore, the idea that “beauty is good” is reinforced through verbal messages to thin characters. These results and implications are discussed in the context of Social Comparison Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]