The Negative Impact from our Cultures Perception of Body Image on Adolescents and Gender Differences
Adolescents are affected in many ways by today’s cultural messages about body image. Very few people in our country measure up to the standards that we see in the media. Yet, if one consumes enough media the inevitable subconscious conclusion must be that the rail thin gaunt look for women and the beefy and muscular look for men are the norm. In turn comparisons are made with oneself and the norm, for the majority of people they don’t fit the standard and therefore the idea that “Something is wrong with me” is implanted. Now just imagine what an adolescent with little ego strength, undeveloped identity, constantly changing body, raging hormones, and extreme social pressure to conform must feel! If a child doesn’t have some way to filter the constant barrage of body image messages or at least some positive counter messages say from a pastor, parent or influential person in their life, the cultural message that they don’t meet the norm is all they have. For most adolescents two problems occur at this point, poor body image/self-esteem or body dissatisfaction and eating disorders.
Dissatisfaction with one’s body image is often seen as a correlate of eating disorders. This has been demonstrated by the high prevalence of eating disorders in groups in which there is an increased emphasis on maintaining a thin, “ideal” body (e.g., ballet dancers and models; Garner & Garfinkel, 1980) as well as athletes (Sundgot-Borgen, 1993). However, this is not universally true for each gender, at least as is reported in the literature. The link between body dissatisfaction and eating disorders has not been demonstrated for men, yet researchers are beginning to believe there is a reason for this. Since so much attention is given to the subject of eating disorder among women, men may feel discouraged from reporting. Also, men tend to not label eating large quantities of food as bingeing whereas a woman would (Franco, Tamburrino, Carroll, & Bernal, 1988). Men appear to be more interested in shape than weight, although the two are clearly related (Anderson & Di Domenico, 1992). Men and woman, have differing standards for the ideal body type. The male ideal is a V-shaped figure with an emphasis placed on large biceps, chest, and shoulders; whereas the female ideal is to be extremely thin, with the emphasis placed on slim hips, bottom, and thighs. Men’s desire for weight gain would fit with the desire to achieve the male ideal V-shaped figure and to gain additional muscle. Franco et al. (1988), and Miller, Coffman, and Linke (1980) have shown that many men are dissatisfied with their weight and shape, although somewhat less so than women; yet some researchers have indicated that men are as dissatisfied as women with their body shape and weight (Drewnowski & Yee, 1987). The body dissatisfaction experienced by both men and women lead to a destructive result.
Body dissatisfaction create various destructive behaviors and thinking patterns among young people. In large scale studies, approximately 30% of boys and over 55% over girls report using unhealthy weight control methods such as vomiting, laxatives, diet pills, cigarette smoking, and diuretics in effort to lose weight (Emmons, 1992). At 8 years-old, girls believe that weight control is strongly associated with self-worth and view dieting as a means of improving self-worth (Hill & Pallin, 1998). Poor body image often leads to dieting, which can lead to unhealthy weight control behaviors, disordered eating, and ultimately eating disorders (Taylor, et al., 1998). Poor body image is strongly associated with low self-esteem and low self-worth, both of which can severely limit the potential for youth to succeed (Taylor, et al., 1998). Teasing related to weight and shape is implicated as contributing to disordered eating (Taylor, et al., 1998). Frankly, the results are not good, adolescents exhibit a rash of destructive behaviors connected with body dissatisfaction.
In conclusion, the evidence is clear; body dissatisfaction creates various problems for adolescents which can be intensely destructive and long-lasting, such as extreme dieting, eating disorders, and feelings of low self-worth. Body dissatisfaction is formed by unrealistic body types being presented in media, textbooks, toys, families and peers as the norm. Males and females are affected differently by the cultural pressure to look a certain way, males want bigger bodies and females want smaller bodies. Yet body dissatisfaction is common among both genders, it is documented in the literature to a greater extent among females, but as previously stated, researchers suspect that the research underestimates problems among men because of the reasons already stated.
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Websites
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