Depression and Body Image
American society places a tremendous emphasis on physical appearance. Many adolescent girls go to great lengths to achieve these unrealistic standards of thinness. Eating disorders have become a prevalent disease in Western society. Dissatisfaction with one’s physical appearance is viewed as a core feature of eating disorders. A negative body image is also a common feature associated with depression. There appears to be a link, although unclear, between depression and a poor body image.
Adolescence is a tumultuous period in one’s life. Bodies of adolescents are dramatically changing, and these physical changes are associated with changes in body image. Body image pertains to how individuals view and assign meaning to their own bodies. It is a reflection of body structure and function, early and continuing body related experience, life long social response to body appearance, and sociocultural values and ideals regarding the body (Reirdan, 1997).
Adolescence: A Period of Dramatic Change
A normative developmental task for both girls and boys is to assimilate pubertal change into a positively valued body image. This task is more difficult for girls than for boys; girls are more concerned about attractiveness than boys, and they are less satisfied with their appearance (Rierdan, 1989). In a list of body areas, girls were more concerned that their thighs, buttocks and hips were too large. Even normal to thin girls were highly likely to desire smaller thighs, buttocks or hips. It is interesting to note that younger girls, aged 10-12 years, were less likely to select areas of sexual attractiveness, but tended to be dissatisfied with areas such as teeth, face, and feet (Moore, 1993). It is clear th...
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Predictor of the Onset and Persistence of Adolescent Girls’ Depression. Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, 205-216.
Because of Canada’s boost in the industrial economy and its status in World War II, job options were abundant. By 1942 there was a full employment as hundreds and thousands of Canadian men and women found work in war industries.
McCabeLina, M.A., & Ridge, A.R. (2006). "Who thinks I need a perfect body?" Perceptions and internal dialogue among adolescents about their bodies. Sex Roles, 55(5-6), 409-419.
One of the biggest roles of women in the second world war was working war factories. these were regular factories that had been converted to help the war effort. For example instead of making cars they would make tanks or instead of clothing the factory would make uniforms. Before the war started these factories were generally staffed by men but now most men were drafted into the military leaving tons of available factory jobs open for the taking. Women jumped at the chance to fill these positions, bring in some extra spending money, and support their family, country, and the feminist rights movement. During the war effort Canada actually ended up producing elven billion dollars in munitions two million tonnes of explosives and even uranium for the manhattan project none of this work could have been finished without woman and without the work the woman's rights movement would have never gotten the spark it needed to start.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
When the Rwandan Hutu majority betrayed the Tutsi minority, a destructive mass murdering broke out where neighbor turned on neighbor and teachers killed their students; this was the start of a genocide. In this paper I will tell you about the horrors the people of Rwanda had to face while genocide destroyed their homes, and I will also tell you about the mental trauma they still face today.
...en left for the war, women had the chance to show gender doesn't matter. They started to show the Canadian government that women can do the same thing men can. Plus, women provided the essential comforts to soldiers and without this warmth; the war was in Germany's hand. In the end, it only took 5 individuals to use the efforts made by the women in the war to provide evidence to win the vote and be known as "persons." This eventually led to the jazz culture and flappers in the roaring 20s. WW1 has shaped women in way that has changed their role for the years to come. Starting from housewifes, women become more independent and autonomous after the war. Overall, it was the hard work and determination by women in ww1 that changed their traditional roles for the many years to come. Now, with women's past in mind, what heights will they take humanity to in the future?
"Rwanda Genocide." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Holmstrom, A. (2004). The effects of the media on the body image: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48(2), 196-217.
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).
If one does not fit this ideal, then they are considered unappealing. Unfortunately, there is nothing one can do to truly change their body image other than think happier thoughts, obtain plastic surgery, or go to the gym to make themselves feel and potentially look better. Popular media is making it extremely difficult for one to maintain a positive body image. They have created the perfect human image that is almost unattainable to reach. The idea of a teenager’s body image is being destroyed by the standards of magazines, television shows, and society as a whole, making it to where it will never recover again. To better understand the effect popular media has on one’s body image, viewing psychology, medicine and health sciences, and cultural and ethnic studies will give a better understanding on the
Over the period of around 100 days, with the death toll ranging somewhere between 800,000 to 1,100,000 the Rwandan genocide has become infamous for the high numbers of dead in such a short amount of time, and for the inadequate response of the UN an...
Molloy, B., Herzberger, S. (1998) Body image and self-esteem: A comparison of african american and caucasian women. Sex-Roles, 38, 631-643.
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.
Baldauf, S. (2009). Why the US didn't intervene in the Rwandan genocide. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2009/0407/p06s14-woaf.html [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014].
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...