@article { , title = {Deconstructing “real” women: Young women's readings of advertising images of “plus-size” models in the UK}, abstract = {© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Critical feminist researchers and others have amply elucidated the perniciousness of contemporary Western beauty ideals and, particularly, the near-ubiquitous idealisations of slenderness. In this context, the advent of media images featuring “plus-size” models has been rightly heralded as a welcome challenge to this hegemony. Yet, little attention has been given to women's interpretations of these images. In this brief report, we outline a preliminary exploration of young women's views about advertising images featuring “plus-size” models in the UK. We used a discourse analytic method to analyse 35 young women's responses to a qualitative questionnaire asking for their views and feelings about three adverts featuring “plus-size” models. Our analysis suggests that, while the models were positively construed, participants also drew on distinctly conservative notions of femininity such that romanticised constructions of a “plus-sized”, traditional and domestic femininity were contrasted with a highly pejorative framing of “stick thin” women as vain, vindictive and self-obsessed. Our analysis thus indicates how representations of women focusing on body weight and shape can, even when reclaiming “fat” or “plus-size” bodies, mobilise derogatory and constricting rather than empowering constructions of femininity.}, doi = {10.1177/0959353516639616}, eissn = {1461-7161}, issn = {0959-3535}, issue = {3}, journal = {Feminism and Psychology}, pages = {378-386}, publicationstatus = {Published}, publisher = {SAGE Publications}, url = {https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/908194}, volume = {26}, keyword = {Centre for Appearance Research, Social Science Research Group, Formerly Health & Social Sciences, plus-size models, media images, young women, discourse analysis, body image}, year = {2016}, author = {Beale, Katie and Malson, Helen and Tischner, Irmgard} }