{"id":52,"date":"2025-11-17T14:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/?p=52"},"modified":"2025-11-24T13:55:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T18:55:55","slug":"blog-12-ending-the-semester-with-growth-and-gratitude%e2%9c%a8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/2025\/11\/17\/blog-12-ending-the-semester-with-growth-and-gratitude%e2%9c%a8\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog 12: Ending the Semester with Growth and Gratitude\u2728"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This week I read the article \u201cFitspiration and Young Women: The Influence of Idealized Fitness Images on Body Satisfaction and Exercise Motivation\u201d<\/strong> by Robinson, Prichard, and Tiggemann (2017). The authors examine the impact of \u201cfitspiration\u201d content\u2014images of toned bodies, strict diets, and intense workout routines commonly seen on Instagram and other visual platforms\u2014on young women\u2019s psychological well-being. Their experimental study found that brief exposure to fitspiration posts significantly decreased<\/em> body satisfaction and increased<\/em> negative mood, while also elevating feelings of guilt around food and appearance. The article argues that although fitspiration is often framed as \u201chealthy motivation,\u201d it still promotes narrow body ideals and reinforces appearance-based self-worth. This work highlights the complex duality of fitness culture online\u2014simultaneously encouraging health while intensifying body monitoring and comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article contributes strongly to my MA project because much of the harmful content female college students encounter online comes from fitness-related trends disguised as \u201cinspiration.\u201d Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Xiaohongshu are full of \u201cWhat I eat in a day,\u201d \u201cclean eating,\u201d and workout comparison videos that mirror the exact patterns described in this study. Robinson et al.\u2019s findings help me frame these seemingly harmless trends as part of a larger ecosystem of appearance pressure and social comparison. Their distinction between health<\/em> and aesthetic discipline<\/em> is especially relevant to my documentary, as many of the participants (including myself) struggle with this blurred boundary. This research will support my theoretical grounding and help connect lived experiences with established psychological patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week was extremely productive for me. I completed my Introduction<\/strong>, Literature Review<\/strong>, and my documentary\u2019s proof of concept<\/strong>, which felt like a major milestone. It was a truly rewarding process, and I can\u2019t believe this is the last blog post of the semester\u2014I did it!<\/strong> As an INFJ (and someone who often struggles with self-doubt), I feel deeply grateful that I chose this class. With the guidance of Dr. Shaw and Professor Laura, I stayed on track and never felt alone in the process. Their support helped me gain clarity, confidence, and a much stronger sense of direction for my project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead to next semester, I hope to continue improving my documentary and refine both my storytelling and production skills. I\u2019m excited, motivated, and ready to keep working hard. Thank you for such a meaningful semester\u2014I truly grew so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference (APA)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinson, L., Prichard, I., & Tiggemann, M. (2017). Shape and weight concern in young women: The impact of fitspiration images on social media<\/em>. Body Image, 23, 132\u2013138. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.bodyim.2017.08.003<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I read the article \u201cFitspiration and Young Women: The Influence of Idealized Fitness Images on Body Satisfaction and Exercise Motivation\u201d by Robinson, Prichard, and Tiggemann (2017). The authors examine the impact of \u201cfitspiration\u201d content\u2014images of toned bodies, strict diets, and intense workout routines commonly seen on Instagram and other visual platforms\u2014on young women\u2019s … Continue reading Blog 12: Ending the Semester with Growth and Gratitude\u2728<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37404,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/vena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}