The possible effect of media on cosmetic procedures among Lebanese women : case study : Helwe El Hayet (LBCI) - Ana Emra'a (MTV), 2013-2014

Abstract

In the current of plastic surgery, and the increasing number of women who undergo cosmetic procedures in the Arab world in general and in Lebanon specifically, it is important to study one of the reasons that make women think of these procedures; media figures. For that reason, it is essential to highlight how media figures are affecting women to undertake cosmetic procedures through analyzing the top two women TV shows "Ana Emraa" on MTV Lebanon and "Helwe El Hayet" on LBCI. These shows promote the image of perfect women that will be discussed through analysis and focus groups. These shows transmit the physical appearance of a woman setting new standards of beauty. Through content analysis, women applying cosmetic procedures were examined by watching, describing and analyzing the two shows aired on Lebanese local channels. "Ana Emraa" show tackles the physical appearance of women in 75% of episode time and women interests in 25% of the time. In "Helwe El Hayet" 29.34% of the episode time tackles directly the physical appearance of women, 29.12% highlights the social and family life of women while the rest of the episode time goes to various and social topics that target both genders. In the focus groups, the first 20 women do not watch the shows and the second 20 women watch the shows; the women describe how influenced they are by these shows and how much they want to look like these women who appear in the shows, 98% of women would like to undergo plastic surgery after watching these shows. Therefore, this thesis aims at describing how women are affected by what they see on TV. At the end of my thesis, I will be able to show that the Media Celebrities in these two shows are one of the reasons that affect women and lead them to do cosmetic procedures.