Are women easily fooled by ideal images promoted by the media? Does reporting on science findings contribute to girls feeling social pressure to
conform to beauty and gender-stereotyped expectations? Should we trust media reportage of scientific papers, particularly those that concern women?
After reading Ben Radford’s articles on the Discovery website about a teenager protesting airbrushing in fashion magazines, gendered marketing in advertising and common (but mistaken) beliefs about the number of teen births, I found I had some questions on whether media and science work well together to inform the public – and just how skeptical we should be.
Benjamin Radford is the deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He’s the author of hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy.
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