How to get body confidence
DIETING AS A NATURAL OBSESSION DUE TO CHANGES IN BODY STANDARDS
- Overweight Person – extremely self critical
- Underweight Person – may feel fat or terrified of gaining weight
- A Normal Weight Person – Desperate to lose weight
- Body Image Problems are also expressed through excessive exercising especially in men.
The Dieting Industry is perfect as it creates body dissatisfaction and then offers to solve it !
Body image is socially constructed ie determined by social experience, and is elastic ie open to change through new information
At the end of the last century excess flesh suggested personal inadequacy and lack of will
Slenderness symbolised being in control
Body standards are changing
Voluptuous figures were favoured from the middle ages to the turn of the century and plumpness was considered fashionable and erotic !
The ‘reproductive figure’ was idealised by artists
This trend is represented in the fleshy bodies painted by rubens in the 1600’s
Manet’s olympia (which he considered a masterpeice) was denounced when shown in a paris salon in 1865. The picture represented a reclining nude woman of average size !
THE PICTURE WAS REGARDED AS OBSCENE AS THE SUBJECT WAS NOT CONSIDERED SUFFICIENTLY PLUMP TO BE EROTIC !!
The idealisation of slimness in women is a very recent phenomenon, dating from the 1920’s
It is suggested that the thin ideal is a result of successful marketing by the fashion industry
The ‘Flapper’ fashion which originated after the first world war demanded a boy like flat chested figure to show off the straight low-waisted dress.
At this stage women began binding their chest with foundation garments to flatten their silhouettes.
They started to resort to starvation diets and vigorous exercise to try to achieve a breastless, hipless ideal
Then 1930’s and 40’s ideals moved toward a more shapely figure
In the 1950’s this trend continued when the hollywood film and fashion industries promoted large breasts, tiny waists and slim legs
Late 1950’s saw a trend move toward slimness – grace kelly and audrey hepburn
They became role models for sophistication as opposed to sensuality.
The trend for slimness became acute in the 1960’s when fashion model twiggy became the role model for a generation of young women of all social classes
Models became slimmer and taller and over the next 20 years models became thinner and thinner.
This leads us up to present day ideals that thin is in and is to be commended
Cultural and social pressure effects many as they try to conform to this ideal
When this ideal cannot be achieved it overshadows every aspect of the individual
Self esteem and self image are lowered in an attempt to deal with anxieties caused by body image dysmorphia
Body image disturbance is caused by faulty perceptions of how the body looks and is based on how the person feels about themselves
Body Image – The Facts
Body image is multifaceted and refers to the individuals perceptions of, and attitudes towards their body, especially its appearance
It is a complex set of ideas, judgements, attitudes, and feelings of ‘the self’ which gives a picture of oneself in ones minds eye and a sense of the space we occupy.
It also includes ideas about how others view us !
Body image is said to be elastic which means it is changeable through the presentation of new information
It is said that people have a body esteem schema which dominates functioning.
Body Image – The ABC’s
Body image experience includes….
A for Affect - feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction about the body
B for Behaviour – what we do in relation to our perceived appearance … weighing, exercising, starving, bingeing etc….
C for Cognitions – Our beliefs and thoughts about how we look.
Body Image / Self Image The Connection…
We all have subjective opinions of how we look – how old or young, fat or thin, tall or small, beautiful or ugly we are
Our inner body image is central to how we feel about ourselves, as such a major part of self esteem is connected with how we feel we look – hence the connection between body image and self image.
Body Image is a core part of our personality and affects life in many ways especially in the case of people with eating disorders who’s self evaluation is unduly influenced by the value they place on shape and weight
This value placed on shape and weight then affects self image/esteem
People with poor self esteem could feel relaxed about their appearance, however with people with poor body image, it is unlikely they could feel good about themselves
The connection between self image and weight is particularly strong in women due to cultural pressure and high levels of social comparison
Also we overestimate our body size and shape consistently !
Poor Body Image Manifestations
Poor Body Image Influences
- Past Experiences
- Body Weight and Timing of Puberty
- Teasing/Bullying
- Exposure to Parental weight concerns
- Abuse or Assault
- Negative Attitudes in early adolescence
- Present Experiences
- Feedback from others
- Abnormal attention due to distinctive physical features
- Media
- Self Image
- Flawed Values
- Overestimation of size