Author : Nena Sechler Craven
Publisher : ProQuest
ISBN 13 : 9780549181682
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (816 download)
Book Synopsis Chubby Puppies and Fat Cats by : Nena Sechler Craven
Download or read book Chubby Puppies and Fat Cats written by Nena Sechler Craven and published by ProQuest. This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objective of this thesis is to research whether advertisements for pet weight loss products and services systematically target women as consumers because women's fears of acquiring the stigma associated with being overweight could compel them to act in a certain way or to buy certain products. A systematic content analysis of articles and advertisements dealing with pet weight loss in the industry's two leading pet magazines, Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy, is employed in this study in order to address these questions. Two hypotheses are tested: first, that the materials will both portray and target women as consumers of weight loss products for themselves, as well as for their pets and second, that the advertisements and articles discussing weight and weight loss will portray and target women as primary caretakers of dependent family members, especially the pets in question. Although a few exceptions do exist, both hypotheses are upheld by the bulk of the evidence collected. Women appear more often than men in articles and advertisements relating to pet weight and weight loss, and women are portrayed as caretakers while men are portrayed as playmates. These findings establish a strong correlation between human weight loss efforts, which are more likely to be gendered feminine than masculine, and articles and advertisements related to pet weight and weight loss.