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Brandy Melville's Body Image Messaging: An Ethnographic Analysis

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"Exploring Brandy Melville's Body Image Messaging: An Ethnographic Analysis and Cultural Implications" Rationale: Brandy Melville is a popular clothing brand among young women, known for its limited sizing and focus on a specific body type. This essay aims to investigate how Brandy Melville's messaging and focus on certain body types fit into the larger societal context of body image and self-esteem. By conducting ethnographic research, this essay will explore the techniques used in field research, deeper analysis and interpretation, and the larger cultural implications of this phenomenon. The essay will also draw on relevant theories and concepts from the course to help understand and explain the observations made at the fieldsite. Introduction …show more content…

However, this exclusive sizing strategy draws attention to the unrealistic body expectations imposed on women by society. As such, I have chosen to conduct an ethnography of Brandy Melville's messaging and focus on certain body types in order to understand how this phenomenon fits into the larger societal context of body image and self-esteem. Through participant observation and interviews with customers and employees, I aimed to answer questions about how Brandy Melville's marketing affects their consumer base. The evolution of my guiding questions throughout my fieldwork highlights the importance of reflexivity and adapting to unexpected findings. Furthermore, using theories from our course allows me to better understand the cultural implications of this community within a broader context. This essay will discuss not only these observations but also delve deeper into analyzing specific behaviors at Brandy Melville stores alongside wider social/political/economic/historical elements that shape them. Allowing for further insights drawn from this ethnography as well as future directions towards impactful research reforming retail practices in regards to healthy body image …show more content…

Participant observation, for example, allows researchers to immerse themselves in the culture of the brand's target audience and witness their behavior firsthand. Meanwhile, interviews with both consumers and employees can provide valuable insights into how the company operates internally as well as its impact on external factors such as consumerism culture. As noted by Creswell (2014), "field research is an approach that emphasizes obtaining data through close interactions with people in naturally occurring settings" (p. 107). This method ensures that researchers are not simply relying on secondary sources or assumptions but rather gathering information from real-life experiences. Moreover, field research techniques allow for a more nuanced interpretation of Brandy Melville's messaging beyond surface-level analyses. By observing customers' reactions to certain marketing tactics or product designs and engaging them in conversation about their preferences and beliefs related to fashion trends or societal standards of beauty; it becomes easier to identify underlying themes within the brand's message that may resonate with specific demographics differently than others. For instance, one might observe how teenagers respond positively to clothing items marketed towards a particular body

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