Editorial – Research

What is body image and how does it affect society?

Body image is a person’s thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural and feminist studies; the media also often uses the term. Across these disciplines, there is no single consensus definition, but broadly speaking, body image consists of the ways people view themselves; their memories, experiences, assumptions, and comparisons about their own appearances; and their overall attitudes towards their own heights, shapes, and weights – all of which are shaped by prevalent social and cultural ideals.

Body image can be negative (“body negativity”) or positive (“body positivity”). A person with a negative body image may feel self-conscious or ashamed, and may feel that others are more attractive. In a time where social media holds a very important place and is used frequently in our daily lives. People of different ages and genders are affected emotionally and mentally by the appearance and body size/shape ideals set by the society they live in. These standards created and changed by society created a world filled with body shaming; the act of humiliating an individual by mocking or making critical comments about their body shape and/or size. There are different of body shaming someone and yourself, according to anad.org “We are our own worst critic” which means that we judge and see our own flaws more than anyone else. We body shame ourselves by judging or comparing ourselves to someone else.

Aside from having low self-esteem, sufferers typically fixate on altering their physical appearances. In the long term such behaviour creates higher risks of eating disorders, isolation, and mental illnesses. A negative body image may also lead to body dysmorphic disorder, a mental disorder characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one’s own body or appearance is severely flawed and warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix. Often, people who have a low body image will try to alter their bodies in some way, such as dieting or by undergoing cosmetic surgery. Positive body image, on the other hand, consists of perceiving one’s figure clearly and correctly, celebrating and appreciating one’s body, and understanding that one’s appearance does not reflect one’s character or worth.

Many factors contribute to a person’s body image, including family dynamics, mental illness, biological predispositions and environmental causes for obesity or malnutrition, and cultural expectations (e.g., media and politics). People who are either underweight or overweight can have poor body image. However, when people are constantly told and shown the cosmetic appeal of weight loss and are warned about the risks of obesity, those who are normal or overweight on the BMI scale have higher risks of poor body image. “We expected women would feel worse about their bodies after seeing ultra-thin models, compared to no models if they have internalized the thin ideal, thus replicating previous findings.”

A 2007 report by the American Psychological Association found that a culture-wide sexualization of girls and women was contributing to increased female anxiety associated with body image. An Australian government Senate Standing Committee report on the sexualization of children in the media reported similar findings associated with body image. 

How I intend on applying this information into my designs:

Although the information above only displays a small portion of my research on this topic, I felt that it was necessary to summarise the information I had done in order to give myself a clearer idea of the context behind my editorial. After looking over my research, it is clear that I must encapsulate the issue as a whole within my designs – this would allow the reader to understand the editorial’s content without having to actually read it. Furthermore, I must convey the seriousness of the issue by translating this into the designs overall appearance, as I want the viewer to recognise the dark undertones within the editorial’s contents. This would relate to the negative impacts on society such as mental health issues, physical health issues and drugs use.

Bibliography

Grogan, S (2016). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children. Taylor & Francis.

 “What is Body Image?”. National Eating Disorders Association. Retrieved October 31, 2017.

“Body Shaming. What It Is & How To Overcome It | ANAD”. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Retrieved December 2, 2020.

 Derenne, J. L.; Beresin, E. V. (June 1, 2006). “Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders”. Academic Psychiatry. 30 (3): 257–261. doi:10.1176/appi.ap.30.3.257

Dittmar, Helga; Howard, Sarah (December 2004). “Thin-Ideal Internalization and Social Comparison Tendency as Moderators of Media Models’ Impact on Women’s Body-Focused Anxiety”. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 23 (6): 768–791. doi:10.1521/jscp.23.6.768.54799.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_image

 “Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls”(PDF). American Psychological Association. 2007.

“Sexualisation of children in the contemporary media”. Parliament of Australia. June 26, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2016.