Body Dissatisfaction:
Through a complex interaction between psychological and social factors we develop and maintain our own body image. For some of us, the body becomes a source of great dissatisfaction. We internalize the idea that we can only feel good about ourselves if we meet some ideal standard of perfection - we are only acceptable as people if we look a certain way.
Grogan (2008) defines body dissatisfaction as a person’s negative thoughts about his or her own body. This includes judgements about size and shape, muscle tone and generally involves a discrepancy between one's own body type and an ideal body type.
Grogan (2008) defines body dissatisfaction as a person’s negative thoughts about his or her own body. This includes judgements about size and shape, muscle tone and generally involves a discrepancy between one's own body type and an ideal body type.
Sadly, this has become..
....common in our western society. Has it become normal to be dissatisfied? Do people realize how detrimental this is for us - to be dissatisfied with our external shell, the package that carries us around? Or for us to be judging this part of ourselves and others?
The Canadian Women's Health Network outlines the risk factors of a girl with a negative body image:
· May have low self-esteem
· May be uncomfortable participating in physical activities
· May avoid social situations
· Is more likely to become preoccupied with her weight and dieting
· Is at risk for developing an eating disorder
· May lose interest in school
· Or harm herself with drugs, alcohol, unsafe tattooing or piercing, and unsafe sexual activity with multiple partners.
The Canadian Women's Health Network outlines the risk factors of a girl with a negative body image:
· May have low self-esteem
· May be uncomfortable participating in physical activities
· May avoid social situations
· Is more likely to become preoccupied with her weight and dieting
· Is at risk for developing an eating disorder
· May lose interest in school
· Or harm herself with drugs, alcohol, unsafe tattooing or piercing, and unsafe sexual activity with multiple partners.
Eating Disorders:
Some dissatisfaction with one's body may be normal. When it becomes extreme or influences how you perceive yourself...then there may be a problem. According to Steg et al. (2008) some clinical extremes are:
Anorexia Nervosa: characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight even while the person is severely underweight. A person may engage in extreme dieting or physical exercise in an attempt to lose or avoid gaining weight.
Bulimia Nervosa: A person suffering from bulimia nervosa consumes large amounts of food in a short period of time. There is a feeling of having no control over their eating behaviours. To compensate for binging then, they engage in behaviours such as fasting, purging or vomiting.
Body Dismorphic Disorder: people with this disorder dramatically overestimate the importance of and extent to which other people notice or pay attention to flaws in their appearance. This might be applied to a body part they obsess over, like size and shape of a nose, or to a heavily distorted body perception. As mentioned in the beginning, perception is your own representation of what is in the physical world, not what the actual appearance is. This disorder often leads to feelings of shame around the body, anxiety or depression.
Anorexia Nervosa: characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight even while the person is severely underweight. A person may engage in extreme dieting or physical exercise in an attempt to lose or avoid gaining weight.
Bulimia Nervosa: A person suffering from bulimia nervosa consumes large amounts of food in a short period of time. There is a feeling of having no control over their eating behaviours. To compensate for binging then, they engage in behaviours such as fasting, purging or vomiting.
Body Dismorphic Disorder: people with this disorder dramatically overestimate the importance of and extent to which other people notice or pay attention to flaws in their appearance. This might be applied to a body part they obsess over, like size and shape of a nose, or to a heavily distorted body perception. As mentioned in the beginning, perception is your own representation of what is in the physical world, not what the actual appearance is. This disorder often leads to feelings of shame around the body, anxiety or depression.
Some startling statistics of distortion orders and our ideal body obsession from Radar Program:
· In the United States as many as 40 million people suffer from some sort of eating disorder.
· 90 % of these are women
· Up to 30% of college age women display bulimic behaviour
· 11% of high school students have a diagnosable eating disorder
· 1 out of 3 women and 1 out 4 men are on a diet
· One half of fourth grade girls are on a diet
· Four out of five women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance
· 81% of ten year old girls are afraid of being fat
· 42% of first to third grade girls state that they want to be thinner
· When preschoolers were offered dolls identical in all aspects except weight - 9 out of 10 times they chose the thinner doll
· Women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25% but could correctly estimate the width of a box
· 25% of Playboy centerfolds meet the criteria for Anorexia
· Kate Moss, at the height of her career, was 5' 7" and weighed 95 pounds. That is 30% below ideal body weight
· In the United States as many as 40 million people suffer from some sort of eating disorder.
· 90 % of these are women
· Up to 30% of college age women display bulimic behaviour
· 11% of high school students have a diagnosable eating disorder
· 1 out of 3 women and 1 out 4 men are on a diet
· One half of fourth grade girls are on a diet
· Four out of five women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance
· 81% of ten year old girls are afraid of being fat
· 42% of first to third grade girls state that they want to be thinner
· When preschoolers were offered dolls identical in all aspects except weight - 9 out of 10 times they chose the thinner doll
· Women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25% but could correctly estimate the width of a box
· 25% of Playboy centerfolds meet the criteria for Anorexia
· Kate Moss, at the height of her career, was 5' 7" and weighed 95 pounds. That is 30% below ideal body weight
Is it not blatantly...
.... obvious with those statistics that as a society we are in the midst of an epidemic? It is shocking to learn how prevalent and damaging this issue is for us.
The costs of a negative body image are not just personal. We limit others based on their appearance. Our dissatisfaction with ourselves leaks out and impacts the people we are in contact with on a daily basis.
It is a belief about ourselves of not being good enough as we are that contributes to shaping the world we live in every day.
We have become a society that is dissatisfied with its own appearance. When we are dissatisfied with such a huge facet of who we are, we are unhappy with ourselves as people. Not only are we dissatisfied but it has become mainstream and socially acceptable to think poorly of ourselves.
Read on to find out what you can do.....
The costs of a negative body image are not just personal. We limit others based on their appearance. Our dissatisfaction with ourselves leaks out and impacts the people we are in contact with on a daily basis.
It is a belief about ourselves of not being good enough as we are that contributes to shaping the world we live in every day.
We have become a society that is dissatisfied with its own appearance. When we are dissatisfied with such a huge facet of who we are, we are unhappy with ourselves as people. Not only are we dissatisfied but it has become mainstream and socially acceptable to think poorly of ourselves.
Read on to find out what you can do.....