Body Image in Women in the 21st century

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Recommended: Effects social media has on body image

Body Image is one the topics that we talked about for ages. Girls and women have the biggest effect because they seem to be target no matter what and being analyze. We live in a world where no women can be happy with the way they look and show their natural beauty without changing themselves. Everyone has an opinion about the perfect body would be, but they would take away from a person individuality. In a modern popular culture, the media, society, race, sexuality and culture perpetuate image norms. In this paper, I describe and support with evidence how these issues contribute to body image in women and how to change it.
Currently, the Western culture has put an emphasis on body image and has allowed young girls and women to adapt to this notion of the perfect body. Rice (2013) states the body has become an important identity project and it has become one of the key medium of self-making. Many girls and women have experience an obstacle and source of distress from this because they are trying to achieve the ideal body to girls and women living in the West and around the world. In the Western world, women are identified with their bodies socially. Rice (2013) says that the western culture devalues the physical features and abilities have a huge impact on our sense of body and self. As young girls become teenagers, they begin to change their bodies with many of the body project. They no longer care about have fun, they care about fitting in and have the perfect body, no matter what it takes.
Rice (2013) states there is a growing gap between changing bodies and idealized images in the western culture promotes, when people looked at their physical development and differences. No matter where we look, there are different messages...

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In Hobbs, M. and Rice, C., Gender and Women Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain (pp. 417-423) Toronto: Women’s Press
Odette, F. (1994). Body Beautiful/Body Perfect: Where do Women with Disabilities Fit In?
In Hobbs, M. and Rice, C., Gender and Women Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain (pp. 414-416) Toronto: Women’s Press
Rice, C. (2010). Exacting Beauty: Exploring Women’s Body Projects and Problem in the 21st Century.
In Hobbs, M. and Rice, C., Gender and Women Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain (pp. 390-410) Toronto: Women’s Press
Valenti, J. (2009). The Cult of Virginity.
In Hobbs, M. and Rice, C., Gender and Women Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain (pp. 357-369) Toronto: Women’s Press
Yee, J. (2009). Introduction to Our Schools/Our Selves.
In Hobbs, M. and Rice, C., Gender and Women Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain (pp.370-373) Toronto: Women’s Press

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