All around the world there are groups of people who believe and live by the same customs, thus creating a culture of people. Every culture has different beliefs and values, these beliefs and values directly affect the people that makeup the community. One custom that differs from culture to culture is the way people look at their body image. In some cultures what is seen to be cool might be the complete opposite in another. For example, the women in the Surrey tribe in Ethiopia wear lip plates and they are all the fashion, the bigger the plate the better, and the plate’s range from 4 to 22 cm in diameter. Also in Indonesia the women sharpen their teeth into sharp points. Lastly, in Afghanistan woman want their noise to be bigger and rounder. …show more content…
Cultural norms are rules that are based on socially or culturally shared beliefs of how a person should behave. Norms often regulate the behavior of people within a culture or group. People abide by these norms because humans are naturally social animals and feel the need to belong in a group, thus causes the desire to conform to cultural norms. Lev Vygotsky created the framework of sociocultural theory, this theory explains how society contributions affect an individuals development. This theory shows us how an individual’s culture has a powerful determinant of body image because cultures create certain standards of beauty by which an individual judges his or her body. Cultures create ideals to live by and people use these ideals to create standards to judge themselves and others, also use these ideas to determine if they are happy or sad with themselves In other words, culture plays a vital role on determining our perception and feelings about our …show more content…
The goal of the study was a look at different regions within the United States to look cross-cultural differences within body image; in other words, to see the association between culture and gender on body image (Eklund, Zayac, Kildare, Dowd & Paulk, 2014). The study included 1,485 participants from two undergraduate universities in the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest regions of America (Eklund, Zayac, Kildare, Dowd & Paulk, 2014). The undergraduate students we’re given the survey that measured their gender, geographic region, body mass and body image. The survey’s assessment of gender concluded that all participants were either male or female. The participants were asked what region in the United States they have primarily lived in during their lifetime, the regions were: Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The participants body mass index it was determined by asking what each participants height and weight was. Lastly, the assessment of body image was found by using the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. This survey asked participants to rate, on a seven-point scale, how they think, feel and behave towards their bodies. The overall results to the survey were that women had poorer body image than men. Also the young adults from the Southeast have poorer body image than young adults
Every culture or group has a certain degree of expectations (norms) for its members, which is not all equally achievable by its members, especially the innate features
Altabe, M. (1996). Ethnicity and Body Image: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis. Tampa, Florida: University of South Florida.
Body image is an important facet in understanding the phenomenon of eating disorders. Body image concerns are important in the etiology and treatment of eating disorders and obesity (Smith, Thompson, Raczynski, and Hilner, 1997; Thompson, 1997). The construct of body image reflects the level of satisfaction one feels regarding his or her body. Body image is a multidimensional construct. It involves race, socioeconomic status, age, as well as, perceptual and attitudinal components. For this reason, research has been done to dispel the myth that all women have a negative body image. Rather, as has been shown, there are definite differences in the perception of body image and self-concept, especially across racial lines. The claims of most studies suggest that African-American women generally have a greater tolerance or acceptability for higher body weight. In addition, African-American women are also thought to place less importance on body size in the scheme of their overall body image, and there are more likely to be satisfied if they are at a higher body weight, and still regard themselves as attractive. Research not only confirms these statements, but also draws attention to other important, culturally- relevant factors, such as age in relation to other cultural forces such as, different attitudes and behaviors that shape the body images of African-American women. Finally, since research shows that body image is an important aspect in the etiology of eating disorders and obesity, its influence and the cultural forces and components behind it should be taken into account in treatment and for future research.
The environment in which people live influences body image concerns. Today, we live in an e...
According to Beverly Ballaro, the combination of two trends, the technology-enabled media saturation of the American public, and the promotion by this media of highly unattainable body types, is largely responsible for an epidemic of body image pathologies afflicting American girls and women, as well as an increasing number of boys and men. She also mentions that the media has given certain images for each gender. Generally, for females the body image is extremely thin, and there is an emphasis on large breasts and for males, tall, slender, muscular and toned. For both genders, the most valued and appreciated appearance i...
These unrealistic beauty standards should be changed and not thought of as the social norm. Consumer culture affects these practices because many people follow the trends in society. The media also plays a huge role by advertising what that companies need to portray as popular and trendy in society at a certain time. Globalization, colonialism, and imperialism all contribute to these disciplinary body practices all over the world. They display differences and similarities of beauty within different cultures. The expected beauty routines like shaving, applying makeup, and curling hair should feel like a choice to a female, and not a necessity to be considered
In a society similar to the one of the United States, individual’s body images are placed on a pedestal. Society is extremely powerful in the sense that it has the capability of creating or breaking a person’s own views of his or her self worth. The pressure can take over and make people conduct in unhealthy behavior till reaching the unrealistic views of “perfection.” In an article by Caroline Heldman, titled Out-of-Body Image, the author explains the significance of self-objectification and woman’s body image. Jennifer L. Derenne made a similar argument in her article titled, Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders. Multiple articles and books have been published on the issue in regards to getting people to have more positive views on themselves. Typically female have had a more difficult time when relating to body image and self worth. Society tends to put more pressure on women to live to achieve this high ideal. Body image will always be a concern as long as society puts the pressure on people; there are multiple pressures placed and theses pressures tend to leave an impact on people’s images of themselves.
The 1997 Psychology Today Body Image Survey revealed that Americans have more discontentment with their bodies than ever before. Fifty-six percent of women surveyed said they are dissatisfied with their appearance in general. The main problem areas about which women complained were their abdomens (71 percent), body weight (66 percent), hips (60 percent) and muscle tone (58 percent). Many men were also dissatisfied with their overall appearance, almost 43 percent. However body dissatisfaction for men and women usually means two different things. More men as opposed to women wanted to gain weight in order to feel satisfied with their bodies (Ga...
Body image is among of the top reasons for developing psychological conditions in the country based upon the bias of what is shown through the screen. Since the nineteen-nineties an alarming trend has come to pass as a result in the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States, to oppose this the exact opposite became popular to become skeletal in appearance with bones showing naturally through the skin. Becoming an accepted notion to starve in order to attain this new angelic appearance, rising above the notion of overly plentiful food by not eating until the body became undernourished. Even the naturally thin models were not skinny enough trying to appeal to this new craze. The resulting effects became depression in this pursuit of perfection, with competition becoming higher among women with finding mates, with this idealized persona becoming the image to men of what women should
The sociocultural approach to the issue of body image among women states that women receive harmful and negative cultural messages about their bodies. These messages can come from the media as well as from family and peer influences (Swami, 2015). By promoting the thin ideal for attractiveness, the media contributes to women rating their bodies more negatively and thus increases their likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms (Spitzer, Henderson & Zivian, 1999). In a meta-analysis studying the effects of media images on female body image, Groesz and Levine (2002) found that women’s body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing average or plus size models. Harmful body messages from family can be direct, such as verbal criticism or teasing, or in...
...its members to adhere to it could be established that it does in fact hold a huge influence over the way and nature we use our body. Culture through its system of symbols, that are structurally formed, through habitus, serves to teach us how to behave in order to become a fully fledged member of our given society. These symbols are further reinforced through the intuitions of family and education, the media, fashion and perceived societal norms. This affects the many ways in which we use our body, from the technique of walking through to sleeping, whilst also helping us to classify our social identity of gender and age. It is only through learning, continual practice and adhering to constant self control of one’s self, that we are able to do this successfully making every action we make a taken for granted “gymnastic art, perfected in our own day” (Mauss 1934:456).
This kickstarted the first and second wave of women activists. Debra Gimlin draws this concept that body image is not only shaped by individual experience, but also by the cultural meanings attached to embodiment. That is why not all cultures share the same ideals of beauty and Western standards. Particularly, women in Africa do not celebrate being skinny. Body weight to these women is associated with fertility and a sign of wealth when a woman is overweight.
The overwhelming idea of thinness is probably the most predominant and pressuring standard. Tiggeman, Marika writes, “This is not surprising when current societal standards for beauty inordinately emphasize the desirability of thinness, an ideal accepted by most women but impossible for many to achieve.” (1) In another study it is noted that unhealthy attitudes are the norm in term of female body image, “Widespread body dissatisfaction among women and girls, particularly with body shape and weight has been well documented in many studies, so much so that weight has been aptly described as ‘a normative discontent’”. (79) Particularly in adolescent and prepubescent girls are the effects of poor self-image jarring, as the increased level of dis...
This study hopes to gain a more in depth view of a demographic that is believed to put a great amount of focus on body image in the way the...
The media’s portrayal of the female body image has a negative effect on the female population, as shown in both literature reviews and this research. The dominant factors which affect body image are that of the frequent comparison to others, seeing models, celebrities, in the media as well as the general society around. The supposed ideal physical appearance and what is considered to be the ideal body plays a great role in the nega...