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There has been a shift in the depiction of women in advertising from objectifying representations of women as passive sex objects to agentic sexual representations where the women appear powerful and in control (Gill, 2007a, 2008), and there is substantial evidence that these representations have a negative impact on women's body image. However, to our knowledge, this study is the first experimental research that aims to compare passively objectifying and more recent sexually agentic representations. British undergraduate women (N = 122) participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to view sexually passive, sexually agentic, or control print advertisements. Exposure to both types of representations of women, compared to viewing control images, was associated with increased weight dissatisfaction. The sexually agentic representations were singularly associated with increased state self-objectification. Media exposure research tends to focus on the models (e.g., their thinness) shown in advertising and pay little attention to the framing of the image. Our results highlight the powerful impact different framings can have on women's body image concerns as well as suggest that recent shifts in advertising may be particularly problematic because contemporary images increased both weight concern and self-objectification. Therefore, these images may have a more powerful impact on psychological well-being and disordered eating behaviors than traditional images. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper examines the provision of primary care for young people with an eating disorder within the UK from the perspectives of three key stakeholder groups: young people with an eating disorder, carers of young people with an eating disorder and General Practitioners (GPs). Twenty‐two young people with an eating disorder (aged 16–25) and 10 carers completed qualitative questionnaires or participated in interviews about their experiences of seeking primary care from GPs. Forty‐one GPs participated in either focus groups or interviews about delivering care to young people with eating disorders. Interviews and focus groups were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. All data were then analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Our analysis indicates that GPs often felt they lacked the necessary knowledge and/or resources to provide adequate support to young people with an eating disorder who they also often viewed as a "difficult" patient group. Young people and carers expressed mixed but predominantly negative experiences; reporting that GPs often lacked adequate understanding of eating disorder, failed to take participants' concerns seriously, and delayed referring patients to specialist services. Our findings indicate a need for interventions that will improve primary care provision and access to appropriate support for young people with an eating disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women continue to be economically disadvantaged and under-represented in positions of power and leadership. A discursive disjunction between cultural and media representations of women and leadership has been implicated in these continuing inequalities. We address this issue through an analysis of the ways in which prominent women leaders were portrayed in a UK radio series, BBC Radio 4's "Profile" broadcast between July 2011 and July 2013. Verbatim transcripts of 12 broadcasts featuring women were analysed within a critical feminist framework, to explore the ways in which these women leaders were discursively constructed. Our analysis explicates three constructions of "women leaders": as "traditionally" feminine; as having to balance "masculine" and "feminine" attributes; and as exceptional women who may nevertheless fail. We conclude that the impact of equality legislation continues to be limited while androcentric norms prevail and that we therefore need more gynocentric ways of imagining women leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question on the importance of 'reproduction' in feminist theory and research is revisited in context of postmodern feminist theorising of women and of the allegedly 'post-feminist realities' of women's lives. The issues arising from the place and displacement of 'reproduction' both in women's lives and in feminist theory and research are analyzed.

Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller, and Iduna Shah-Beckley came together at the University of the West of England (UWE) in July 2017 to discuss and share their enthusiasm for the story completion method. Virginia nominally "led" the discussion to keep us on track. This is a transcript of the discussion, edited by the Special Issue editors, principally Hannah Frith, which we have all read and commented on. The discussion begins with the contributors introducing themselves and their experience of the story completion method. It then identifies a series of "knotty issues" about story completion which we explored: 1) what can stories tell us?; 2) research practicalities, comparative design, and sample size; 3) what happens when story completion doesn't go to plan?; and 4) getting published. The conversation ends by considering "future possibilities for story completion research." Our aim was not to reach consensus of definitive "answers" but to debate and gain perspective on an open issue. Hence, we reach no "conclusion" for any of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]