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BodyImage.pdf

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Body Image Date: 2019 From: Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection Publisher: Gale, a Cengage Company Document Type: Topic overview Length: 1,291 words Content Level: (Level 4) Lexile Measure: 1200L

Full Text: The term body image describes the way a person views his or her physical appearance and how that point of view affects his or her sense of self-worth. Body image includes both how a person looks and how a person feels and acts in response to his or her perceived appearance.

Fast Facts The National Eating Disorders Association estimates that about ten million boys and men struggle with eating disorders during their lives. In a 2016 study by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 41.8 percent of transgender youth reported engaging in some sort of self-harm in the previous year, with 30.3 percent reporting at least one suicide attempt in their lives, a figure that increased among trans teens who were dissatisfied with their weight. A 2014 study of US adults conducted by researchers at Georgia State University and Kansas State University determined that 13.4 to 31.8 percent of women and 9.0 to 28.4 percent of men experienced dissatisfaction with their bodies. Anabolic steroid use can be particularly risky during adolescence because of the intense physical changes of puberty. To combat the negative effects of media on body image, the nonprofit organization Beauty Redefined encourages people to participate in a media fast, which involves intentionally avoiding media consumption, including advertisements, movies, social media, and television, for a set amount of time.

A person’s body image can change over time. This change can be affected by beauty standards, family environment, and peer influence. It can also be affected by images in the media, personal experiences, and medical conditions. In the twenty-first century, psychologists have become concerned about how social media use affects the body image of users.

Many people develop body image issues during their teenage years. Teenagers are particularly aware of the image their bodies project. This occurs because of the combination of rapid physical development and growing self-awareness.

Teenagers are likely to come to distorted conclusions about their bodies. They might also take drastic measures to fix perceived bodily defects. In addition to teens, such body image issues have been reported in young children and adults of all ages.

Prevalence of Body Image Issues

Sixty percent of 10,000 women and girls in thirteen countries interviewed for the 2016 Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report felt a need to meet society’s beauty standards. Of the countries surveyed, South Africa had the highest rate of body confidence, with 64 percent of women reportedly feeling confident. Japan had the lowest, with only 8 percent of women reporting such confidence. Twenty-four percent of women in the United States reported feeling confident about their bodies.

Studies have revealed the body image issues in children and adolescents. More than one-half of girls and one-third of boys ages six to eight wish they were thinner according to a 2015 report by Common Sense Media. The report also showed that girls were more likely to be unhappy with their bodies if their mothers were unhappy with their bodies.

The focus on weight and body image puts many teens at risk for developing an eating disorder. Poor body image has also been linked to depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies. It also has been tied to substance abuse and tobacco use.

Negative body image can lead to body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). This is a mental health condition. People with BDD are so concerned with their appearance that they have overwhelming feelings of shame, guilt, and self-hatred.

Body Image and Adolescence

The changes of puberty can negatively affect an adolescent’s body image. Hands and feet may grow faster than other parts of the body. This can leave teens feeling self-conscious and awkward. Increased oil and sweat production can cause acne and odor problems. Hormones that drive physical development also lead to changes in mood that affect how teenagers view their bodies.

This issue is made worse by the fact that teenagers develop at different rates. Seeing bodies that have developed differently or at a different rate than their own can lead to feelings of isolation. They also might feel doubt about whether they appear “normal” or attractive.

Common body image issues among teenage girls include unhappiness with weight. These issues also include negative perceptions of certain body parts. These issues can be made worse by pressures from peers and the media that urge teenage girls to express their sexuality in obvious ways. These external pressures, combined with puberty’s physical changes, contribute to girls’ anxieties about body image. They also encourage feelings of inadequacy.

Teenage boys are also affected by body image concerns. Some boys struggle with weight issues. This is especially true if they are teased for being overweight. Weight issues also occur if they take part in sports that include weight limits such as wrestling or gymnastics.

Many boys try to sculpt their bodies to fit a muscular ideal. Some go to dangerous lengths to achieve this look by taking anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass and improve athletic performance. Steroid use comes with serious side effects. These side effects can cause impotence, shrunken testicles, breast enlargement, and halted bone growth. Side effects can also lead to damage to the heart, kidneys, and liver.

The process of becoming comfortable with their bodies can be even more challenging for transgender teenagers. Significant body image issues often lead to or stem from gender dysphoria for transgender people. This is a psychological disorder arising from the conflict between one’s gender identity and the gender assigned to them at birth.

Media Portrayals of Body Image

Young people learn about how society defines the ideal physique mostly from various forms of print and digital media that bombard them with images. For girls, the ideal body is usually presented as slim and toned. For boys, the ideal physique is often one that is strong with a low percentage of body fat.

People of color, people with disabilities, and people with certain body types have been underrepresented in mainstream media. These people groups are less likely to be promoted as beautiful.

Critics have argued that the lack of realistic bodies in media, particularly in advertising, negatively affects people’s body image. Professionally styled and often digitally altered images of unrealistically thin or muscular bodies create expectations that cannot reasonably be met.

Efforts by companies to address the issue have generally been received positively. Dove, a company that makes personal care products, created the Campaign for Real Beauty in 2004. The campaign includes print and television ads featuring women of varying sizes and shapes. Other companies, brands, and media outlets started to feature models who do not fit the typical model mold after the Dove campaign began.

Psychologists have warned about the impact of social media on body image. Social media networks expose users to a steady stream of images featuring friends, celebrities, and models. These images are often crafted and sometimes digitally retouched to make their subjects as attractive as possible. The images often include an unattainable beauty ideal. Social media images are also typically tied to ranking systems of “likes” and “shares.” This use reinforces a hierarchy based on physical appearance.

Social media has also been used to promote body positivity and celebrate diversity. The size acceptance movement challenges anti- fat bias. Men and women of the movement have found fellowship online through social media and public forums. However, they have also encountered bullying, mockery, and threats.

Words to Know compulsion urge distorted not accurate dominant leading hierarchy order mockery being made fun of The dominant ideal body image for both men and women reflect values of American culture such as youth, health, and wealth. Knowing that today’s ideal body is another passing trend does not decrease the desire or compulsion of teenagers to live up to the

current ideal and be considered attractive. Health care professionals encourage Americans to focus on their health by exercising regularly and eating nutritious foods instead trying to meet this ideal.

link.gale.com/apps/doc/QFPRIH606030493/OVIC?u=txshracd2512&sid=OVIC&xid=779e491c. Accessed 4 May 2021. Gale Document Number: GALE|QFPRIH606030493