The Effects of Body Image in Different Cultures
In every society, people use their appearance as a way to express their social relationships. Applying makeup, adding or removing clothing, building muscles, or piercing various parts of the body are examples of how people try to change their appearance in order to fit in, or in some cases, to stick out. In suburban America, girls struggle to reach the goal of a Barbie-doll figure, whereas in Jamaica, it is more desirable, and socially accepted, to be fat. American women use makeup to express feelings and moods while Bedouin women use tattoos as a means to reveal their personalities. Contemporary Western culture sees the body as an object that is separate from the self, while many other societies see a person as an integration of the mind, body, and spirit. By studying the effects of body image in a few different cultures, a new understanding is given to the reasons why people describe, perceive, appreciate, and alter their bodies as they do.
In suburban America, teenage girls starve themselves while in Jamaica, a larger body size is what is valued. Socially dominant individuals who are enmeshed in sound relationships are usually large and bigness tends to ensure reproductive success and survival in times of scarcity. All in all, plumpness is generally considered attractive. Such is the case in many of the West African societies from which people were taken to Jamaica as slaves. In these societies, those who can afford to do so seclude their adolescent girls in special "fattening rooms" and, after a period of ritual education and heavy eating, the girls emerge fat and attractive. Weight loss signals social neglect in Jamaica, and instead of congratulations for a n...
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...s of some kind. Whether it is makeup, jewelry, or tattoos, it seems that there is a common meaning connecting the symbolism of each.
Body image and social relations exists in all human societies. Some societies view the person as a whole, including body, mind, and spirit as integrated aspects of the self, while other societies view the person as a self that is separated from the parts called the body. All in all, it seems to come down to expression. Whether or not the expression has a healthy meaning to back it up can be obvious in cases of vanity, yet controversial in non-destructive ways such as using makeup. We use the body to symbolize the self, society and social relationships, but in doing so we affirm either fragmentation or wholeness. Indeed, it seems that body image is present in all cultures, in many different forms, with many different meanings.
The reading assigned titled “The Socially Constructed Body” by Judith Lorber and Yancey Martin dives into the sociology of gender with a specific focus on how the male and female body is compromised by social ideals in the Western culture. She introduces the phenomenon of body ideals pressed on men and women by introducing the shift in cosmetic surgery toward body modifications.
Moe’s book focuses on how our culture is preoccupied with weight and appearance. She begins her book with the history of body image and how at different periods over centuries, fat and thin body types have both been considered “fashionable”. From the late Middle Ages until the 1800s, the rounded figure of a women’s body remained the prevailing image. The rounded figure was a sign of wealth, fertility, and prosperity. The thin “waif look” didn’t enter our society until 1967 when Leslie Hornby, known as Twiggy, began showing up in the media.
In “Losing Bodies,” Susie Orbach examines the influences that the media has on a person’s body. She gives insight on how many countries have really normalized plastic surgery because of Western influences and goes into detail about the different pressures people face about how their physical appearance compares to those we see on television or in our daily lives.
At first glance, it appears that body image researchers have not just focused on the individual. Nearly every researcher in this field acknowledges the essential role that cultural norms for appearance play in the development of one’s body image. They have even gone as far as recognizing the gender differences in appearance norms in our culture. Men are held to a standard of a moderate, muscular built that generally matches the size and shape of the average man, but women are compared to a cultural ideal that has thinned beyond belief (Wolszon 545). The Miss America contestants have become so thin that most are fifteen percent below their recommended weight for their height, a sympt...
This paper clarifies the correlation of body image and the media upon African American girls. The relationship between them influences society perception of beauty. Beauty is usually encompassed with physical appearances and is associated with body image. Girls' projection of beauty is directly related to body image. The standards of beauty are defined throughout society. The aspects that will be focused on is body image. Society's portrayal of beauty is seen as unattainable which is similar to the standards of body image.
Body image is what you believe about your physical appearance. Images of beautiful men and women are displayed everywhere from billboards to television advertisements. Fortunately, everyone does not look the same. Looking at models and movie stars often can create a negative self image of oneself in relation to these images. Approximately 46 percent of men of normal weight think about how they look constantly or frequently (Cloud, 46). The emergence of men’s new obsession with body image is connected to pressures from the media, plastic surgeons, and peers.
Body image can be defined as the picture one has in his mind about the appearance (i.e. size and shape) of his body, and the attitude that he forms toward these characteristics of his body. Thus there are two components of body image: the perceptual part, or how one sees his own body, and the attitudinal part, or how one feels about his perceived bodily appearance (Gardner, 1996). A negative body image can be in the form of mild feelings of unattractiveness to extreme obsession with physical appearance that impairs normal functioning (Rosen, 1995).
M.D. “Body Image: A Clouded Reality”. Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge 2.2 (2004): 58-65 pg. Web. 18 Nov 2013.
Body image refers to a person’s unique perception of his/her body. It is how we perceive ourselves, how we think we appear to others, and how we feel about our looks from “our own internal view” (cash, 1990b, p. 51).This internal view is associated with a person’s feelings, thought, and evaluations (positive or negative). (Cultivation and social comparison, p. 3).
Body image, according to Webster’s dictionary is a subjective picture of one’s own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others. Body image refers to people’s judgment about their own bodies and it is molded as people compare themselves to others. Since people are exposed to numerous media images, these media images become the foundation for some of these comparisons. When people’s judgment tell them that their bodies are subpar, they can suffer from low self-esteem, can become depressed or develop mental or eating disorders.
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 importance of body image and the idealisation of the ideal body have become more dominant in society today.
In this essay, I will compare people that are obsessed with physical appearance and appearances. It is not strange for individuals to worry about physical appearance. In fact, we could argue that we are living in a culture that weighs the most up-to-date trends or newest fashions more heavily than more pressing issues that affects society. As a result, many people become obsessed with their physical appearance in order to keep up with trends and fashions.
Social Issue Research Centre (2012). Mirror, Mirror- A Summary of Research Findings on Body Image. Retrieved from http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html
Body image is the mental image of one 's own body. Body image is very important because the majority of people think about their appearance and how they look all day long. Many people today have a very poor body image. The causes of poor body image include: body size, bullying, media, low self-esteem, depression, and even gender. Body image also has some very unhealthy effects on men and women. Body image in our world today is at an all-time low, but there are many ways to help improve it. The most important ways are to focus on the good and positive talents he or she has and to not compare his or her body to another individual’s body.