Elsevier

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 59, Issue 5, September 2004, Pages 1047-1058
Social Science & Medicine

Sociocultural context of women's body image

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.12.016Get rights and content

Abstract

In our society, women's bodies are the locus of both increasing rates of obesity and body dissatisfaction. While these trends may seem contradictory or to result from each other, an alternative explanation is that they are both the products of an unfavourable sociocultural environment in the area of food and weight. Both body dissatisfaction and excess weight can seriously impact women's physical and emotional health. The strong cultural value placed on thinness, especially for women, unfortunately may take precedence over health. To effectively address the impact of women's body image dissatisfaction requires an understanding of the multiple contexts of women's lives. This study used a naturalistic paradigm to explore how women's personal and sociocultural context influences their body image. Forty-four non-eating disordered women ranging from 21 to 61 years old were interviewed twice using a semi-structured interview guide. Women's narratives revealed that body image is not a static construct, but is dynamic and fluctuates as women encounter new experiences and re-interpret old ones. The powerful and unconscious impact of the media on body image was mediated by women's internal contexts (self-confident and self-critical) and their relationships with others, such as partners and other women. Body image was not so much influenced by the nature of others’ comments but interpretation of their meaning. However, health professionals’ comments were typically not reinterpreted due to the health context in which they were given. While some women's narratives expressed their internalized sociocultural norms, others’ described acceptance of their bodies following a process of reflection and empowerment. In light of these findings, efforts to improve women's body image, and by extension their health, can no longer only focus on diminishing the tangible power of industry and media, but must include transforming the social ties, practices and conventions in everyday relationships, including with health professionals.

Introduction

Women's health involves their emotional, social, cultural, spiritual, and physical well-being. It is determined not only by biology, but also by the social, political, and economic context of their lives (Affenito & Kerstetter, 1999, p. 85)

One area in which this quote rings clear is women and body image. Current acceptable norms for women's bodies value thinness, which project attributes such as beauty, cleanliness, success, physical fitness and health (Brownell, 1991). Surveys show that many women, regardless of their age or weight, are dissatisfied with their bodies (Allaz, Berstein, Rouget, Arch, & Morabia, 1998; Garner, 1997; Guyon, 1996). Parallel to this increase in body dissatisfaction, there is a rise in obesity rates and associated health risks such as type 2 diabetes (Mokdad et al., 2001). While the increase in both these trends may seem paradoxical, authors have suggested that our current sociocultural environment is particularly harmful in the area of food and weight and contributes to both obesity and body dissatisfaction by conveying contradictory messages, on the one hand valuing thinness, and on the other, the over consumption of food (Battle & Brownell, 1996; Irving & Neumark-Sztainer, 2002).

Body image literature suggests that the sociocultural environment may contribute to the development and maintenance of body dissatisfaction by the transmission of norms of thinness through the mass media, specifically advertising by the fashion, beauty and cosmetic industries who stand to gain from women's body dissatisfaction (Thompson & Heinberg, 1999).

The most disturbing aspect of body discontent is its impact on women's emotional and physical health. The strong cultural value placed on thinness, especially for women, unfortunately may take precedence over health. While body image discontent can lead normal weight people to diet (Allaz et al., 1998; Guyon, 1996; Wardle & Johnson, 2002), it is also associated with unhealthy weight loss practices (Battle & Brownell, 1996), restrained eating (Paa & Larson, 1998), eating disorders (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1998), depression (Perlick & Silverstein, 1994; Pinhas, Toner, Ali, Garfinkel, & Stuckless, 1999; Wiederman & Hurst, 1998), and poor self-esteem (Tiggeman & Stevens, 1999).

To effectively address the personal, social and public health impact of women's body image dissatisfaction requires an understanding of the multiple contexts of women's lives that influence women's body image development. Only a limited amount of the previous research on the matter has examined body image issues in adult women, suggesting the need for exploration of this little understood phenomenon. Studies have yet to explore body image from women's perspectives, through their life experiences, as expressed in their voices. The purpose of this research was to explore, describe and understand the ways in which adult women interpret, integrate and resist the sociocultural environment in the formation of body image, as well as their awareness of, and perspectives on this process.

Section snippets

Research design and methods

This study was a naturalistic inquiry (Marshall & Rossman, 1995), as we sought to understand women's perspectives by listening to their descriptions of personal experiences. We assumed that women's perspectives on body image are embedded within the sociocultural environment, and that separating experiences from their natural context would be artificial (Wolszon, 1998). As women researchers, we also acknowledge that our interpretations are made within the context of our experiences within the

Findings and discussion

Women's narratives revealed that body image is not a static construct, but has multiple elements, is dynamic and fluctuating. While body image appears to be embedded in women's experiences and perceptions of those experiences, it varies as women encounter or create new experiences, or re-interpret old ones. Changes can be fleeting or have more significant and lasting effects resulting from the cumulative learning of many experiences. The following quote illustrates how body image can be complex

Conclusion

Through the experiences of 44 adult women, this research elucidated the ways in which women interpret, integrate and resist the sociocultural environment in the formation of body image. From the perspectives of these women, body image is not a static construct, but has multiple elements, is dynamic and fluctuating. This “fluid” representation of body image appears to be embedded in women's experiences and perceptions of those experiences. Women's narratives revealed several common themes

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