Resources for Teachers - Body Image

Talking to kids about gender stereotypes

Images of men and women in the media are often based on stereotypical roles of males and females in our society. Because stereotyping can affect how children feel about themselves and how they relate to others, it's important that they learn to recognize and understand gender stereotypes in different media.

Body Image, Gender Representation, Movies, Music, Stereotyping, Television, Video Games

Image Gap - Lesson

This lesson helps students understand how self-image can influence lifestyle choices.

Body Image, Marketing & Consumerism, Tobacco Marketing

Advertising and Male Violence

To make students aware of the ways in which male violence is used and promoted in advertising.

Body Image, Gender Representation, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Marketing, Violence

Representing Ourselves Online

In this lesson, students talk about dressing up and taking on identities that are similar to or different from them. They are then introduced to the idea of avatars as a kind of “dressing up” inside video games and consider the ways in which the technical, generic and aesthetic limitations on avatar creation and customization affect their choices and their ability to represent themselves online.

Body Image, Digital Health, Internet & Mobile, Video Games

Body Positive Ads

This lesson helps students understand the relationship between body image and marketing by exploring Aerie and Dove’s body positive advertising campaigns. Students begin by reading about the impact that body positive advertising campaigns have on companies, as well as on their consumers. Students will then look at body positive ads aimed towards men and read research about how there is a lack of representation in this field. They will then deconstruct a series of traditional ads compared to body positive ones and discuss how marketers target "ideal beauty" messages to both men and women and whether they are effective. Finally, students will evaluate whether body positive ads are effective in general or not through discussion.
Body Image, Marketing & Consumerism