Dear Dr. Lambiase (or an advice column for your miniprojects)

QUESTION
Dear Dr. Lambiase,

So for my mini-study I have gathered 15 magazines to see how the pictures of the people of the covers differ. From families and their newborns, to stars that are "too thin for tv", and even magazines focus on fashion and new trends. My question is over a term you used in class. We were talking about the different shots like head shot with just the face, then body shots which I'm guess is from head to mid thigh and then full body. Is this the right terminology?

Thanks and see you tomorrow,
A student from JOUR 4250

ANSWER
Yes, wonderful student, you have it just right. Some people call this "facism," in terms of a fascination with women's bodies/men's faces. Here's what you are going for: does this publication show a kind of "real world" that is diverse and full of different kinds of people? Or does this publication show a world that has been narrowed down by its producers? It sounds like your publication has been narrowed to celebrities or a different subset of the "beautiful people." And are these beautiful people diverse, or just one type?

Your quantitative part of this mini study will show us whether there's equal representation between women/men and other groups. But the qualitative study might go something like this: there are equal numbers of men and women, but all of them are extremely thin or some other characteristic. It's a kind of news as dreamworld--advertising used to be the main kind of dreamworld in media, but now those "perfect lifestyle" depictions are everywhere. Some scholars would call this a kind of visual annihilation, where some types of people are never depicted.

Hope this helps a bit. Let me know if you have other questions.