Introduction

A. Background of the Study

People's beliefs and values differ from one generation to another. New trends are introduced and old the ones are either improved or rejected. These also differ from one culture to another. The question is, is there such thing as a universal trend that people follow?

One trend that changes and is constantly being altered is the concept of fitness. The interpretation of fitness can be rooted to the Greek philosophy embracing the body beautiful, with the notion that superb physique signifies good health (Piscopo, p. 96). The famous Monalisa painting of Leonardo da Vinci shows that during the Renaissance, women's beauty is enhanced by their voluptuous body.

The trend on fitness and beauty goes on changing even up to the present. During the early fifties to the mid-sixties, Hollywood propagated the Marilyn Monroe type of women. Adored were women whose bodies were curvaceous and voluptuous. Then suddenly, the trend changed during the sixties. The fashion industry shocked the world through the presence of the reed-like supermodel Twiggy. Being fit and beautiful was associated to having a skeleton-like figure or being a waif.

Up to now, the fashion world is dominated by grown-up women in teen-agers' bodies. The saying "FIT NOT FAT" is very popular. Lady Di's secret, for one, was just revealed after her death. Despite the popularity and the admiration she gets from people all over the world, she is a victim of an eating disorder. She is bulimic, she binges and then eliminates the food she just ate by self-induced vomiting. A bulimic person also have a restrictive diet or by using cathartics or diuretics (Cauwels, p. 20).

America sets the trend of producing products that are non-fat, less fat, fat-reduced and lite. Being a vegetarian is hip. Serious eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia was revealed to the public. Anorexic models and actresses are adored by both men and women. One by one, gyms, health spas, fitness centers as well as slimming centers compete with one another. Fat-burners, slimming/diet pills, lotions, creams and teas, body wraps and even diet chocolate bars are now readily available at drug stores and specialty stores. Those who really want to be "in" reach the point of undergoing surgical treatments such as liposuction, tummy tuck, face-lift and many other more.

In the late Seventies, significant proportion of the American population- men and women alike- "discovered they didn't have to be college jocks to be joyfully physical and that it was possible to stay fit through all of life (Leonard, p. 143)." By the early eighties, millions of people who previously would have lost their breath climbing one flight of stairs were madly running, bicycling, swimming, pumping iron and jumping up and down to a disco beat. All of these are continuously improved up to the nineties.

What could be the reason why people are very conscious of how they look like. The puzzling question is, "Do these people share the same beliefs and values concerning fitness as well as beauty?" They invest huge amounts of money and time just to go through the particular fitness programs. Example, in Australia, women spend millions of dollars on slimming products every year (Furedi, p. 121). What do they really want to achieve? What made them think and behave that way?

Much of these trends on fitness and beauty have been introduced and made known to the public by mass media. Mass media became a very important and powerful agent in disseminating fitness beliefs and behaviors. Influential beauty and "fit" personalities are seen on televisions, movies, and magazines. Everything is becoming specialized. People can exercise at their homes by watching Cindy Crawford's Fitness Video or watching early morning Aerobic shows on local and international television programs. Women's magazines never fail to include sections and articles on how to keep the body fit. Advertisements show fitness directly or indirectly. Directly by advertising fitness products. and indirectly by showing models and lifestyles that can possibly associated to fitness.

There are other different fields in mass media where the concept of fitness is shown to the public. Being an active perpetuator of fitness all throughout the years, do mass media influence people's self concept, concept of fitness as well as their fitness behavior? B. Rationale of the Study

"From the beginning, I think I focused more attention on my weight than the public did. And I did it purposefully. I did it because I knew what people were thinking and saying when I first started out: What is that fat girl doing on television? So I decided to be vocal about my weight (Smith, p 185).." 

					- Oprah Winfrey

"When your self-image is low, you think that your body is the only thing about you that people like, and that put terrible pressure on it. I used to have no concept of my body except as a sexual body, because sexuality terrified me. I still want my body to be perfect; I don't know how to deal with it, and I'm afraid of how others will react to it. (Cauwels, p. 99)."

				- Alma, a 23 year old bulimic

Based on the data on Women's Progress on Fitness, the total number of women Olympic competitors increased almost nine times from 317 in 1928 to 2,793 in 1988 (Leonard, 144).

Since its invention in 1973, after more than two decades of use, liposuction has become the plastic surgery procedure most frequently performed in the United States. In 1992 alone, "over 100,000 were done to reshape thighs, buttocks, hips, abdomen, chin, face, knee, calves, ankles and waist lines (Houck, p. 128)." The amount paid for in 1992 is $1,622 for any single site in liposuction.

These are all excerpts from interviews of women who go through fitness programs, and results of past researches and studies on the development of fitness in the United States.

Based on the interviews, being fit and accepted in the society are rooted on how people view themselves as well as on how others view them. This is true for a media personality and at the same time, to an ordinary person. The studies done are excerpts from magazine articles showing that there is a massive increase on people's consciousness concerning fitness and health.

The main reason why the researcher wants to venture into the topic on fitness is because of its popularity. She wants to know why all of a sudden, this generation is so conscious of how they look and how they want to look like. This is not just a phenomena happening to a particular group of people. This is happening worldwide regardless of gender, age, nationality and status in life. What is the cause of this sudden awareness?

Fitness is an issue, if it is considered as such, that need not be overlooked. Based on the researcher's own experience, much of what she projects is an image that is in accordance to what is expected by others. She always wants to look good and at the same time, feel good. She have tried various fitness programs such as dieting, taking of diet pills, starvation, and working out at the gym.

This image that the researcher is referring to is the kind of image she sees from mass media. Her own concept of fitness is modeled from media's message that being fat is not beautiful and thin is in. She gets frustrated whenever people tell her that she is fat, even if she knows that she is not. As a matter of fact, all the fitness programs that she went through are all acquired from reading magazines and books and from watching television shows. Most of these magazines are women's fashion magazines. The books are books on fitness itself or books on dieting. These directly present fitness. It is different with the messages from television and movies. The researcher's concept of fitness is inspired by movie stars and TV personalities who have svelte like figure, flawless and beautiful. Even by simply watching television commercials, the researcher's consciousness and awareness on fitness is triggered by the image of sexy female models endorsing beer, shampoo and other products.

Having experienced all of these, the researcher wants to look deeper into other women's experience with fitness. She wants to know whether her experience is similar with that of other women, and at the same time, she wants to learn from these women's experiences. Lastly, she wants to raise the fact that although our society have a standard of physical beauty, which if often expressed by mass media, the individual decides what is right for her or him. The other main reason of the researcher for studying women's concept of fitness as influenced by mass media is because in-depth studies and analyses on this issue are still very few. In fact, there is no single thesis at the College of Mass Communication done on the said topic yet. Fitness is a very sensitive and popular issue. It is affecting most of us and it is about time to not just be affected by it but also to look deeper into it.

Problems and Objectives

Research Problems and Research Questions

Research Objectives:

To be able to determine womenÕs (the informantsÕ and respondentsÕ) self-concept, concept of fitness and their fitness behavior.

To be able to determine their mass media exposure and how they think mass media portray fitness.

To be able to determine womenÕs concept of fitness as influenced by mass media

To be able to determine the womenÕs fitness behavior and their self-concept as influenced by mass media

review of Related Literature

Only a few researchers from the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines have ventured into the topic of mass media's influence of people's concept of fitness. Few studies were done on the influence of particular types of mass media on people's concept or behavior on something but not on fitness, or on all of the types of mass media's influence. This is the reason why the researcher is limited to the studies that were done regarding particular types of mass media's influence such as the television. But these are supplemented and complemented by the studies and research published in various magazines and books.

A thesis that is close to the researcherÕs topic is the descriptive study conducted at the College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines by Grace De Guzman in 1996. Her thesis is entitled, ŅA Descriptive Study on AudienceÕs Perceptions of the Local Physical Programs on Television and Gym Team, Fitness Health.Ó It focuses mainly on the motivations pushing or pulling away the respondents to watch the fitness programs. Her method in the study is survey. She measured the respondentsÕ attitude toward the performance of the program and she found out that they have a positive attitude on the programs. She also found out that what motivated the respondents to watch the two programs is their need for information. This result proved her theory which is the Uses and Gratification theory. The theory states that the audience will likely to choose messages that suit their needs and wants. Only, she was able to discover that the hindrance to the respondentsÕ viewership of the programs is lack of time.

The thesis concentrates more on the respondents perception on two specific fitness programs. The researcher wants to go broader in the sense that, she wants to know whether the women in her studyÕs concept of fitness is influenced not just by a particular fitness program but by various mass media messages on fitness. She does not aim to find out whether their attitude toward these mass media fitness messages are positive or not.

Another study connected to fitness is the ŅComparative Content Analysis of Dr. HolmesÕ Bodymind Column and George Nava TrueÕs Health Frontiers Columns from January 1991 to December 1991.Ó The study is conducted by Mary Eunice Escandor in 1992, also at the College of mass Communication. Her main concern is to compare the contents two columns based on the subject matter, style, kind of health problem or issues, how frequent each health problem or issue is featured and the approach to giving the audiences advices. She was able to find out that there is a significant difference between the content of the two columns. HolmesÕ approach is informal as opposed to True which is formal. She deals with sexual and relational problems while True relates to pathological problems. Holmes column is more readable than TrueÕs.

EscandorÕs study serves as a background to the researcherÕs study. Her results make her recognize that mass media messages are presented in various ways. But the researcherÕs main objective is on the informants and respondents of her study and not on the mass media messages themselves. One unpublished thesis is conducted at the University of the Philippines- College of Mass Communication in 1994 by Hazel Roldan. This is entitled, "A Descriptive Study on TV as a Tool for Setting Trends in Fashion." The main problem of this study is to know how the television serve as a tool for setting trends in fashion. It aims to determine the influence of television on awareness of viewers.

She studied this topic by doing a descriptive study. This is done quantitatively through one-shot survey using self-administered questionnaires, and qualitatively by interviewing fashion experts and TV personalities. She used a special theory called the model of Television's Effect on Behavior. Her results showed that much of her respondents were influenced by the fashion trends set by the television.

Her study is similar to the researcher's study because both deal with the influence of mass media on people's concept and behavior. But then, Roldan's topic focused on television's influence and not on mass media as a whole. This is the reason why the framework she used in studying the topic is also applicable to television alone.

The difference of this thesis with the researcher's study can be seen with the topic. Though they both deal with mass media's influence, Roldan's study is on fashion while the researcher's study is all about fitness. There is also a difference in the methodology used. The researcher will be using purely qualitative methods like focused interview in her research. She will not use any qualitative method.

The other thesis is called "A Study on the Exposure to Environmental Messages on Television and the Environmental Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of High School Students" by Rhea Almazan Roldan. It is conducted at the College of Mass Communication- University of the Philippines in 1996. The main problem of this thesis is to know whether exposure to environmental messages in television bring about environment-friendly practices among the respondents.

Roldan was a able to find out that the higher the level of television of her respondents, the higher their exposure to environmental messages. The higher their exposure to environmental messages, the higher their awareness to environmental issues and their level of knowledge on environmental issues. These lead to a favorable attitude towards environment.

She was able to come up with these results by using Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory as her study framework. This theory talks about mass media's influence on the creation and shaping people's shared attitudes, values, behaviors and perceptions of social reality. The researcher is also using the same framework in her study since she also aims to know whether mass media influence people's perception on certain things.

Roldan made use of cross-sectional survey as her methodology. Her means of analyzing the data is also quantitative, utilizing frequency count and percentage distribution. This makes the thesis different from the researcher's study. Because as explained previously, the researcher is using a qualitative methodology.

This is relevant to the researcher's study because her study framework will serve as a model for studying her topic. The results of this thesis can also be compared to the results achieved by the researcher after conducting the study. After the study is done, the researcher will be able to know whether the theory applies to the different aspects of life.

Most of the literature related to the researcher's topic are derived from magazine articles. Most of these magazines are cater to a specific type of audience which are women. These magazines are either women's magazine, fashion magazines or a combination of the two. It is very important to note that these articles themselves are messages that obviously represents mass media's portrayal of fitness.

"What Makes Us Attractive" by Geoffrey Cowley is one article that is helpful to the researcher's study. On this article from the February 1997 issue of the Reader's Digest, Geoffrey Cowley explains that regardless of race, nationality or age, people share a sense of what is attractive. New research has found out that small variations in the size and symmetry of facial bones and placement of the weight on the body is the common concept of attractiveness shared by people.

The writer associates fitness and beauty with being not fat. He stated that, "rolls of fat vary according to a person's economic status. It may signify a high status in a poor society and low status in a rich one (Cowley, p. 41)." But then, he also countered that local fashion seem to rely on shared preferences and standards.

Cowley stated that even infants share the same sense of what is attractive. Based on the results of the experiment of Judith Langlois, a psychologist, the infants gaze at the face of model Amber Valletta longer than any of the other photographs they showed them. Furthermore, she asserted that these kids do not read Vogue or watch television and yet, the "make the same judgments as adults (Cowley, p. 42)."

One key to beauty is what they called bilateral symmetry- the extent to which the right and left sides of the face match. The most perfect person, meaning almost completely symmetrical is actor Denzel Washington. When it comes to the body, the ideal is a low waist-hip ratio- a Barbie doll like figure. A perfect example is the 36-25-36 figure with a waist hip ratio of .69.

It is very obvious in this article that the concept of the author and Judith Langlois of fitness and attractiveness is influenced by mass media. Amber Valletta is a supermodel who graces the pages of almost all fashion magazines endorsing designer clothes or beauty products. She, according to the article is the ideal female. Another media personality is the actor Denzel Washington. Also mentioned are the favorite little girls' toy Barbie doll and Twiggy, the famous 1960's model. What appears to be fit and attractive to people in general is associated to a celebrity-like image. Therefore, people should maintain or achieve the desired weight or make some facial repair in order to meet the standard of fitness and attractiveness.

Cowley's concept is helpful in the researcher's study because by looking deeper into the contents of his article, it is revealed that he associates his concept of fitness and attractiveness with mass media personalities. This can be used to support the researcher's assumption that people's concept of fitness is influenced by mass media.

But one flaw of the article is that, the author relied so much on Langlois' experiment. He had the tendency to generalize. His concept of the bilateral symmetry and the waist-hip ratio is basically rooted out from the experiment leading him to study various media personalities in order to prove his point. His article is similar to the researcher's study in a manner that they both talk of fitness and attractiveness of a person. The difference is, this article aimed to come up with a universal concept of fitness and beauty. The researcher on the other hand does not focus on this. Her main focus is the concept of every informant in the study. She does not aim to generalize and come up with one complete description or standard of fitness.

To sum it all up, the article is all about the result of an experiment conducted upon infants. These infants tend to stare longer and most often to Amber Valletta's face. It also concludes that being attractive is meeting the bilateral symmetry where the left and the right sides of the face match, and being fit is having a low-waist hip ratio.

Another article from the Health and Home magazine is by David Nieman entitled "Can Exercise Improve Mental Function?" The article, published in October 1985, talks about the importance of exercise to the functioning of the brain. David Nieman cited two experiences in order to prove his claim. One is John, a very busy office executive and Donna, a freshman medical student. Both experienced stress and mental fatigue. They were able to combat these through exercise.

"Exercise can cause dramatic changes in mental anxiety, depression and other mental problems (Nieman, p. 4)," the author explained. He traced back the origin of exercising as early as the time of Aristotle where walking up and down at the paths of Lyceum in Athens was a common practice while teaching his students. This was continued by Plato and Socrates. He went further by quoting Oliver Wendell Holmes. Holmes said that, "in walking, the will and the muscles are so accustomed to working together and perform their task with so little expenditure of force that the intellect is left comparatively free (Nieman, p. 5)." Even the former United States' president John F. Kennedy believed in the importance of physical fitness to man's intellectual activity.

After quoting some important figures, Nieman supported his article with scientific proofs. He enumerated nine different experiments and researches conducted on the same topic and their results. One study for instance, is the study of Dr. James Hilyer of Auburn University. He said that exercise can help improve self-concept. His subjects were forty college students who went through exercise programs and supportive counseling. The result showed that their self-concept was improved after the experiment.

What the author failed to include in this particular scientific proof is Dr. Hilyer's definition of self-concept. His measure for determining the highness or the lowness of the subjects' self-concept was not also mentioned. In her study, the researcher assumes that the women under studyÕs fitness behavior is somehow influenced by their self-concept. And undergoing the fitness programs can improve their self-concept. This makes the study similar with the Dr. Hilyer's experimental result but it is not enough to rely on this because of its discrepancy.

Niemann added that being physically fit is being mentally fit at the same time. Most of the content of his article explains why people should exercise and the benefits they can get from it.

The researcher is not concerned with the benefits the participants get from the different fitness programs they go through. Rather, she is interested in the factors influencing their concept of fitness and their fitness behavior.

One limitation of the author's article is its heavy reliance on scientific experiments. In the first part of his article, two ordinary people's experiences were mentioned yet much of his arguments supporting his claim that exercise can improve mental health are supported by studies conducted in laboratories. Since these are not done in natural settings, it is not safe to generalize and apply these to people's everyday lives.

Basically, the whole article is all about the benefits of exercise to the functioning of the brain. It is not enough to be just physically fit. Fitness is both physical and mental.

This is relevant to the researcher's study because it gives her the idea that the informants' concept of fitness might not just be limited to physical fitness. She can look further into the informantsÕ mental aspect and many other aspects.

What attracts the reader to read Terence Monmaney's article entitled "The One (And Only) Secret to Permanent Weight Loss" is the statement printed in small letters inside an imaginary rectangular box that says: "Good News. It's got a little to do with dieting (Monmaney, p. 78)." The article is published at the Reader's Digest in April 1994.

The author's concept of fitness here, like that of Cowley is imply not being fat. According to him, people get fat because they tend to exercise less as t hey get older and metabolism slows down, saving more and more energy as fat. This can be solved by doing two things. These are actually conclusions drawn from the research of Teresa Sharp and James Hill of University of Colorado, and their colleagues at Vanderbilt University. They said that metabolic rate is determined by the body's ratio of fat and muscle. For Monmaney, to achieve a driven metabolic rate that burns people should get moving and stay moving.

Long term exercise, together with a balanced diet is the way to lose weight. He said that it is not solved overnight and definitely not after finishing a certain fitness program.

This article is relevant to the researcher's study because it can serve as a guide for her data gathering. It will be easier for her to detect her participants' self-concept by looking at the fitness programs they get involved to and the amount of time they spend for working-out. This will show the participants determination in keeping fit. Questions such as these will be asked: Do they consider their respective fitness programs a life long activity or just for the moment? Are those who spend more time working really desperate to lose weight? What influence this behavior?

The article is similar to the researcher's topic in a way that it also deals with fitness. The influence of mass media on the author's definition of fitness can be read on the introduction of the article. This is how it was presented: "At twenty five years old, writer/director Orson Welles was a narrow-waisted, broad-shouldered and jut-jawed movie star who looked like an oarsman... Over the years, his weight ballooned until he took to wearing tent-like shirts...(Monmaney, p. 78)." Because he chose Orson Welles as an example, the author's concept of fitness is influenced by what he sees on the movies. This is explained further by the fact that he associated fitness with having a narrow waist and broad shoulders just like a movie star.

Monmaney's concept of fitness was revealed in the middle part of his article saying that being fit is being not fat. His concept of fitness can be used to compare the participants of the study's concept of fitness. But the problem is, the author seemed to generalize fitness as the opposite of being fat. He assumed that all readers think the same way so they have to exercise. He mentions being fat as "growing twice bigger than the you are when you were twenty (Monmaney, p. 79)." Yet, how fat is fat? What is the ideal weight? These questions are not developed in the article.

The article aims mainly to inform the readers about the importance of life-long exercise in losing weight. It is not concerned with the people's concept of fitness. This makes the topic different from the researcher's study.

To sum it all up, fitness for Monmaney is simply being not fat. More so, being fit is having a movie-actor like figure which can be acquired only through life-long exercise.

"You can't talk about aging without talking about plastic surgery- it's a fact of life now a days. Whether you believe that having a face-lift or tummy tuck is a wonderful way to keep looking younger or a concession to a sexist culture, every woman has the right to make her own choices about cosmetics surgery (Houck, p.127)."

These are the catching messages that Catherine Houck used in her article "Cosmetic Surgery: Search for Eternal Youth" to attract the readers to read the said article. The article contains information and facts about the most common anti-aging procedures in the United States. It is the published at the magazine called "New Woman" in November 1993.

She warned the readers on the risk that they have to take if they decide to have a cosmetic surgery. These risks include having untrained and uninsured doctors. She also warned the readers not to be deceived by the advertisements these plastic surgeons post such as the common "before and after" photographs of patients that they claim to have operated. Houck said further that these "after" photographs are done by top stylists and make-up artists and enhanced by the lighting effects.

Houck cited the most popular surgery procedures and discussed them one by one. First she discussed liposuction. This is done to "reshape thighs, buttocks, hips, chin, face, knees, calves, ankles and waist line (Houck, p. 128)." This is done by making an incision of about a quarter of an inch wide in the tissue to be eliminated. A metal suction tube with a size of a straw is thrusted repeatedly into the openings, making the fat cells loose and sucking them out of the body. She said that despite all the pain, people who went through liposuction are delighted with the fact that even if they gain weight after the operation, fat no longer accumulates disproportionally in the area where they had liposuction.

Another popular surgery that she discussed is abdominoplasty, commonly known as "tummy tuck." Abdominoplasty flattens the stomach, tightens the muscles and removes stretch mark. It is the solution to those who have bulging pot belly that can not be eliminated by exercise. This surgery comes in two ways, the full tuck and the minitummy tuck. For a full tuck, an incision is made just below the bikini line where the skin is lifted off up to the ribs, the excess removed, muscles repaired to remove bulging and the navel repositioned. The minitummy tuck uses shorter incision. The long-term result is permanent.

The other surgery mentioned are blepharoplasty (eye job), face-lift and anti-wrinkle injections. These were also discussed one-by-one by Houck but the researcher find it not so important in her study.

Houck did not give a specific definition of fitness. In her article, she discusses these various cosmetic surgeries that women of old age usually go through. Using the two surgeries he mentioned, liposuction and tummy tuck, the researcher can say that Houck defined fitness as not having unwanted fats in some strategic parts of the body. Also, fitness is associated with aging. At the same time, she mentioned aging as the culprit. She said that women want to have these surgeries done on their bodies because they want to look younger than their age. Therefore, fitness can be defined as having younger-looking body where no unwanted fats are visible.

The information given by the author can be used by the researcher as a tool in determining her informants. Cosmetic surgery can be considered as a fitness program. Yet unlike exercising and dieting, cosmetic surgery is done only at a certain point of a person's life. This information from the article will aid the researcher in classifying the women in her study according to the fitness programs they go through.

According to George Leonard's article in 1991 at the "Self" magazine, "The New Fitness" fitness today integrates the body, mind, soul and emotions. He aimed to introduce a new concept of fitness to the readers. He gave a direct definition of fitness. He said that, "being really fit meant not only training the body right but also eating right and relating right to other people and the environment (Leonard, p. 144)."

He cited few examples of recent developments that help create new frontiers of fitness. One is the Ornish breakthrough in 1990. Dr. Ornish published scientific proofs that "significant lifestyle can produce significant bodily changes (Leonard, p. 144)." Another is the defatting of America where excessive fat in the American are reduced. One more important thing is the wave theory of fitness of Dr. Irvin Dardik. This theory explains that in order to be fit, certain levels of work and rest should be achieved proportionally.

According to Leonard, the major theme in fitness is the integration of diet with exercise, of the body with other aspects of life, of the self with the environment, of the individual with social action. He said further that rather than treating fitness as a separate entity of life, fitness becomes a solid foundation for good life.

The author's article provides a new insight concerning fitness. He supported his new description of fitness with scientific proofs as well as with a brief history of fitness. He said that fitness awareness in the United States started during the sixties and gradually improved during the eighties and the nineties. During the sixties up to the eighties, fitness was usually associated with physical performance. Not only till the nineties that a new definition of fitness is introduced to the public.

Mass media's influence on this change of perspective was never mentioned by Leonard. This is significant in the researcher's study because here is an insight that clings not on mass media's influence. This can be a possible factor that will disprove the researcher's assumptions. Yet, this will soon be discovered after the research.

Aside from the different magazine articles, another form of print media that portrays fitness more extensively are books. In books, the concept of fitness is tackled either as a whole, meaning the book is made specifically about fitness or chapters of the book talk about fitness.

One book related to the researcher's thesis is Penny Vincenzi's "Cosmopolitan's Vital Health Guide." It is published in 1992. This book is a complete guide for women who wants to be and feel fit, happy and healthy. It begins with how women think they are. She said that "you are what you think, what you do with yourself and what you wish yourself to be (Vincenzi, p. 8)." This is basically about the self-concept formation of women.

The next sections of the book deal with eating. She include the reasons why women should eat, what to eat and some recipes that aids in keeping the body fit and healthy. All of these articles have one main message and that is to have a balanced diet with a limited fat intake.

The succeeding articles contain topics regarding the body. These includes the different types of work-out exercises and work-out procedures that can be done at home. These are all beneficial in keeping the body fit.

The causes of stress, how to combat it and how to increase stamina are discussed after the articles about the body. The value of relaxation and meditation was emphasized here. These two are the solutions to stress and anxiety.

The succeeding sections concentrate on providing new approaches to self-help and the importance of alternative medicine and healthy herbs.

Who are you...? This is the next section of the book. It talks about self-presentation, self-image and self-assertion. According to Vincenzi, self-presentation is a great art and there are a lot of ways in which a woman can present herself. This is done by being positive about one's self looking happy, confident and pleased with one's self and by doing things to make the body attractive such as doing proper hygiene. She said that, "liking what you see in the mirror isn't vanity, isn't conceit and isn't even smugness; it's self-satisfaction in the best possible sense (Vincenzi, p. 131)."

Her description of self-image is very helpful to the researcher's study. She said that self-image is the key to one's self, to how to behave, what to think, and the way a person should be. It supports the researcher assumption that a person's self-concept or self-image affects his/her own concept of fitness. This is evident in her statement saying that, "a positive self-image is worth more than yard-long legs and diamonds or an IQ of 180. With a bad self-image, you will see your legs as short, your diamonds as worthless and you will never put your IQ to proper use (Vincenzi, p. 132)." She further said that self-image dictates what a person looks like.

The last sections deal with how a woman's image is improved by working on the skin, hair, hands, feet, and the face. These provide tips and advises on what to do in order to achieve beauty.

Every section of the book have a part of real life experience regarding the topic. These are the experiences of female models and professionals with the particular topic.

The book is considered a complete guide to fitness because it deals with all aspects of a woman. It talks of the external aspect- the body, hair, face, and the internal aspect- self-image, self-presentation and self-assertion.

To sum it all up, fitness for Vincenzi is manifested by having a positive self-image and self-presentation aided by having a healthy body which is free from stress and full of stamina, and by eating the right amount and kind of food in order to achieve desired weight.

Another book is entitled, "Peak Fitness for Women" written by Paula Newby-Fraser together with John M. Mora in 1995. This book introduces a new concept of fitness- that is, peak fitness. Peak fitness according to Newby-Fraser is "something that you value, something you consider an achievement, and fairly intense, not only in terms of physical effort but of mental exertion, resolve, and personal commitment (Newby-Fraser, p. 4)." Cardiovascular training, strength and flexibility are three important elements of peak fitness. Unlike any other forms of fitness, peak fitness is concentrated into achieving a certain "high" from whatever fitness program a person is involved with.

Peak fitness increases the metabolic rate, delays aging, makes a person more attractive and reduces anxiety. It frees the body from diseases and reduces propensity for injury.

The book is mainly for women athletes who indulge in having more than two types of sports at one time. Yet, the author assures that peak fitness is not limited to athletes only. This can also be achieved by anybody who wants to achieve the three important elements of peak fitness.

Half of the book is dedicated on the different types of training to be done in achieving peak fitness. These are flexibility training, strength training and cross-training. The different programs and exercises are provided in every type of training. She even provided a workout schedule to the readers and tips on how to keep going with the training.

The topics on the importance of resting, recovering and eating right are not the main focus of the book. All these are discussed in only one chapter. The topic provides a new insight to the researcher. It informs her that it is possible that one or two of the participants of the study might be involved in peak fitness. The book saves the researcher from embarrassment because of her ignorance on the said topic.

It is different from the researcher's study in a way that peak fitness is rooted into wanting to achieve something higher than what is already achieved. This has something to do with the self and not with the influence of mass media. Yet, it is also similar with the researcher's topic because she assumes that together with mass media, a person's concept of fitness and fitness behavior are influenced by how s/he thinks of him/herself.

For John Piscopo, the writer of the book "Fitness and Aging," "fitness means diverse conditions of health to different individuals. The book is published in 1995. It assumes different meanings at various stages in human growth and development (Piscopo, p. 96)." The three main characteristics of fitness are: fitness is dynamic not static, fitness is a personal matter, and fitness is multi-dimensional. Being multi-dimensional, fitness do not only involve physical wellness, it also embraces mental, social, emotional, and spiritual factors.

This book is focused on the importance of fitness as a person reaches old age. It tackles the symptoms of aging and what should be done to prevent illness as the body age. A design and conduct of fitness programs for the aging is provided as a guide. Together with these fitness programs, measurement and evaluation of these programs are also available.

Much of what the author is saying is that, the concept of fitness can never be generalized. Every individual differ in their concept because of the mere fact that they differ demographically (age). This is also true with the researcher's study. Evidently, the main goal of the study is to look at the influence of mass media on every informant's concept of fitness and their fitness behavior. She does not aim to generalize so, she does not limit the study to a particular type of subjects. In fact, her target participants will be chosen according to the categories based on the types of fitness programs they get involved with.

All these related literatures are helpful in the researcher's study of women's concept of fitness and fitness behavior as influenced by mass media. All of the unpublished theses are about mess media effects. These serve as background to the researcherÕs study. Only, she aims to look into a different aspect of fitness and that is the influence of mass media messages on womenÕs concept of fitness, fitness behavior and self-concept. From the these, she was able to find out that mass media present messages in a variety of ways, particular mass media messages can influence peopleÕs perception and behavior, and that, people have a positive attitude towards television programs on fitness.

The magazine articles and the books differ and at the same time, are similar in some way on how they looked at fitness. They looked into the different categories of fitness, the benefits of fitness and the ways in order to be fit.

Some looked into the different categories of fitness: Cowley of the article "What makes Us Attractive" said that being fit is meeting the bilateral symmetry and by having a low waist-hip ratio. Monmaney on his article "The One (And Only) Secret to Permanent Weight Loss" said that being fit is simple not being fat. Houck on "Cosmetic Surgery: Search for Eternal Youth" defined fitness as having a younger looking body where no unwanted fats are visible. Piscopo of the book, "Fitness and Aging" said that being fit is multi-dimensional and a personal matter. It is not only physical but also mental, social, emotional and spiritual. And Vincenzi on her book "Cosmopolitan's Vital Health Guide" said that fitness is having a positive self-image and having a healthy body which is free from stress and full of stamina.

David Nieman's article focused on the benefits of fitness and that is its benefits on the functioning of the brain. He said further that fitness is both physical and mental.

Other articles and books looked into the ways in order to be fit. Monmaney said that exercise is the only way to be fit, Houck said that cosmetic surgery makes one look younger and fit, and Leonard and Vincenzi said that training and eating right if the way to be fit. Newby-Fraser in her book "Peak Fitness for Women" said that the means to be fit is to reach a peak fitness training which includes a fairly intense physical and mental exertion.

All these past studies and ideas introduced by the writers of the magazine articles, theses and books serve as a guide especially in the researcher's data gathering procedures and data analysis. These serve as primary knowledge to her and also, these give her an idea and background on fitness. She looks into the limitations of these studies and tries to tackle on the aspects that the past studies were not able to tackle.

Framework of the Study

The researcher is going to use two theories as guides. These are the Social Construction of Self of Rom Harrˇ and the Social Learning Theory of Albert Bandura.

The first theory, Social Construction of Self, which was formulated in 1972, recognizes that the self is both individual and social. Harrˇ said that "the self is structured by a personal theory, that is, the individual learns to understand the self by employing a theory that defines it (Littlejohn, 192)." Furthermore, he said that one's notion of self as a person is a theoretical concept derived from the ideas of personhood found in culture and expressed through communication.

In this theory, a distinction between person and self is made. "The person is the publicly visible being and carries all attributes and characteristics of persons in general within the culture or social group. On the other hand, the self is one's private notion of his or her own unity as a person (Littlejohn, p. 192)."

To put emphasis on these two notions, these are the major differences between self and person :

SELF						PERSON

-private					-public

-personal being				-social being

-character is governed			-character is governed

by the individual; 			by the group's theory of

of his or her own being 		personhood;

as one member of the culture;

The self is consist of various elements viewed along three dimensions. These three dimensions are, display, realization and agency. Display refers to the aspect of self that is either displayed publicly or kept in private. Realization is the degree where some feature of the self is believed to originate from the individual, as oppose to originating from a group. "Elements of the self that are believed to come from the person are individually realized, whereas those elements believed to derive from the person's relationship to the group are collectively realized." The last dimension which is agency refers to the degree of active power attributed to the self. Here, active elements are contrasted with passive elements of the self.

This is the model showing these three dimensions constructed by Rom Harrˇ. He called this model the "Dimensions of Personhood."

The second theory that the researcher will use in this study is the Social Learning Theory of Albert Bandura.

The Social Learning Theory emerged from the traditional theory on learning stating that individuals are not born with attitudes, values and perception of the world and with sets of behavior. These are known as response tendencies, and these must be learned.

Bandura departed from the traditional learning theory and came up with a more general theory of human behavior which is the Social Learning Theory. It explains how individuals learn from experiences and at the same time, from observation and modeling. It explains further that behavior results from the environment and cognitive factors.

Since individuals are limited to what they directly observe during their daily lives, much of what is learned is observed from mass media. Media's influence is no longer limited to varying or reinforcing opinions, attitudes and behaviors. Mass media become primary socialization agents, creating and shaping many of the individuals' shared attitudes, behaviors, values and perceptions of social reality. The Social Learning Theory believes in the individuals' modelling of behaviors from mass media. Media transmit new behavioral and thought patterns simultaneously to large groups of people, thus, influence their behavioral and thought patterns.

There are four elements include in Bandura's theory. These are the attention process, retention process, motor reproduction process and the motivational process.

The first element which is the attentional process states that events that are distinctive and simple draw attention and are likely to be modeled. Also, events that encourage positive feelings in the observers will be attended to. These events should either be salient, meaning, related or connected to the past, present and expected future of the observers, or reinforcing and fulfilling their needs. Individuals learn further from these events through repeated observations of the said events.

The second element is the retention process. This states that individuals are less likely to forget an event if they visualize themselves doing the event. Bandura cited two ways in which the modeled act or event is represented. One is imaginal, where the observer creates a visual imagery or draws a mental picture of the act or event. Another way is verbal, meaning, the observer makes use of verbal codes derived from the modeled act or event.

The third element is the motor reproduction process. Given an opportunity to reproduce the act or event, behavioral enactment have these steps: cognitive organization of responses, imitation, monitoring and refinement on the basis of informative response.

The last element is the motivational process. This process explains that the observers do not enact everything that they learn. There is a need for motivation in order for them to model what they have learned. There are three types of reinforcement that can motivate the observers to action. One is external reinforcement. This includes the rewards that the actor gets for performing the behavior. These rewards exist outside of the actor, such as, money, social approval, privileges and even avoidance of punishment. Another type of reinforcement is the result that the observer can see when s/he sees others being reinforced to perform certain behaviors. And the last is self-reinforcement. This pertains to self-satisfaction that the actor gets from performing the modeled event or act.

This is Bandura's model of the Social Learning Theory:

The reason why these two theories, Social Construction of Self and Social Learning Theory are the theories chosen to serve as guides in the study is because, these two are interrelated. In order to understand individuals' behaviors, beliefs, values and perceptions in life, it is important to know them first. Looking at the dominant side of the self will aid in understanding why individuals are influenced by specific events coming from different sources, specially from mass media.

People's self-concept is influenced by their own concept of fitness and by mass media's portrayal of fitness. Every person projects an image which is open to the public as well as hidden from them, meaning s/he alone knows this image. Some features of this image are realized either individually or collectively. Also, some elements are actively or passively attributed to their self- image. All these images projected, features and attributes of the self are all affected by people's concept of fitness. Having a positive view on fitness may lead to a higher self-concept and vice versa.

At the same time, people's concept of fitness is influenced by their self-concept and most importantly, by mass media messages concerning fitness. Fitness is projected by mass media in various ways and forms. People observe and expose themselves to these messages. In this process, distinctive and prevalent messages on fitness are more likely to draw people's attention. Repeated observation of these media messages influence their personal view on fitness.

The influence of mass media is reinforced further when people create mental images of themselves performing different fitness programs. They may even visualize themselves looking like their favorite media personality. These mental images are carried out, leading people to go through various fitness programs.

But not all messages on fitness are enacted. People are motivated to act because of reinforcements. These reinforcements may be the rewards they get from doing such act like social acceptance and approval, money or popularity. They are also motivated to do these programs when they see other people performing and being motivated to perform various fitness programs. Lastly, they are motivated by the possible improvement that these fitness programs will do to the body. They are concerned with self-satisfaction that they will get from performing such acts.

Because of this reinforcements, the fitness behavior of people who go through different fitness programs is improved. Improved fitness behavior can then lead to an improved self-concept.

In this study, it is necessary to know that although mass media play a very powerful role in influencing people's concept of fitness and their fitness behavior, their self-concept, or sometimes called self-image also have an important role to play. What people think of themselves affect what they think of fitness and their fitness behavior. For example, Lisa, a girl with a low self-concept might consider herself as not fit, fat and ugly, yet if people look at her, she appears to look just right. Because she thinks of herself as not fit enough, she decides to enroll in an aerobic class. After a six months, she is a new person. She thinks that she is fit and beautiful. She became confident of herself, her self-concept became high and her concept of fitness is altered.

The variables of the study are indicated by the participants in various ways.

The self-concept is indicated by looking into how the women in the study present themselves and the image they project to both the public and in private. It is also indicated by the type of features of the self that they realize either individually or collectively. Aside from these two, self-concept is also indicated by looking into the specific elements attributed to the self and the degree of active power attributed to the self.

The mass media messages portraying fitness is indicated by how the women in the study think mass media portray fitness. Which among the different type of mass media strongly portray fitness given by them also indicate the mass media messages on fitness.

Exposure and observation of these messages are indicated by looking at the proportion of exposure to fitness messages with the total mass media exposure of the women. Another indicator is the particular fitness television shows, radio programs, magazines, magazine and newspaper articles and sections, and advertisements that they are exposed to.

The concept of fitness are indicated by the first definition and description of fitness introduced to the women in the study by whoever or whatever source. The personal concept of fitness is one important indicator of their concept of fitness.

Mass media's portrayal of fitness that they believe in, awareness concerning fitness and fitness behavior, knowledge on the latest trend in fitness and the mass media personalities they consider fit and imitate indicate the mental images that the participants associate with fitness.

How mass media messages portraying fitness are carried out is indicated by the level of consciousness on mass media influence on the womenÕs concept of fitness and fitness behavior and the extent by which they want to achieve fitness.

Fitness behavior is indicated by the types of fitness programs they get involved with. Reinforcement to do their specific fitness programs is indicated by the frequency of doing, benefits they get and what they aim to achieve from this. Whether or not the fitness behavior of the women is improved is indicated by the degree of satisfaction they get and the changes in their fitness behavior. Lastly, the improvement of their self-concept is indicated by the changes in their self-concept and their degree of self-satisfaction.

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