Read this article if you think:
“Ugly. Is irrelevant. It is an immeasurable insult to a woman, and then supposedly the worst crime you can commit as a woman. But ugly, as beautiful, is an illusion.” Margaret Cho
I guess we’ve all done it at some point in our lives; we’ve seen an image in a magazine and aspired to be like that. And probably, secretly, thought that if I was that size or shape, or if my hair was that long and glossy, I would be more attractive and therefore happier. It’s an easy trap to fall into when we are constantly bombarded with such images. Image Consultant, Lynda Thain, tells us some home truths about the beauty business, and tells us why we mustn’t have a negative image of our normal bodies.
"I think women see me on the cover of magazines and think that I never have a pimple or bags under my eyes. You have to realize that's after two hours of hair and makeup, plus retouching. Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."
- Cindy Crawford
Bear in mind also, that an expert photographer, using the most sophisticated and flattering lighting techniques, has taken hundreds of shots to get one such ‘image’. Consider also that for models and actresses, particularly in America, maintaining this standard of ‘feminine beauty’ is nigh on a full-time job. Not only do most of them carefully monitor everything that passes their lips, they also employ personal trainers who put them through their paces for an hour or two on a daily basis. Add to that the frequent visits to the beauty salon and hairdresser, (and the hopefully less frequent visits to the plastic surgeon) is it any wonder that they look so immaculate in most of the photographs we see of them? All this before the images have made their way to reprographics and had any signs of flaws and imperfections assiduously removed.
Curious then that the vast majority of us (men too, but not nearly as many as women) continue to strive for this image of the ‘perfect’ body as represented by Cindy Crawford and other thinner and younger models and actresses, and continue to compare ourselves negatively. Particularly when it isn’t even attainable by those that the image is supposed to represent!
This negative perception persists even when women are a healthy weight for their height, according to a survey carried out by the University of Glasgow. A "healthy weight" for a woman who is 5'9" is 129-169 pounds (9st 3lbs to 12 st 1lb). The average weight of a model of 5'9" is somewhere between 110 and 115 lbs (7st 12lbs and 8st 3lbs).
Research scientist Dr Carol Emslie led a team of scientists at the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow to carry out research on people’s body perceptions. The report was compiled after interviewing 1,500 male and female supervisors and managers in a bank and 2,000 people in clerical, technical and academic posts at an unnamed British university.
In a BBC article published in May 2001 Dr Emslie was quoted as saying "Images are still of very thin women as desirable body shapes. There is still an association that beautiful women are thin.”
Not really any wonder given this constant bombardment by the media of images of extremely thin women. This is even more extreme today than it was 30 years ago. In 1975 top models and beauty queens weighed only 8% less than the average women. Today they weigh 23% less, a size achievable by less than 5% of today's female population. According to the British Medical Association many models and actresses have only 10-15 per cent body fat (the healthy range is 22-26 per cent), making them not only underweight, but also at risk of ill health.
In addition to these images in the media, we have peer and parental pressure as well as criticism by boyfriends and husbands of various aspects of our body parts. The implication seems to be that we are a work in progress, able to sculpt and mould ourselves at will by crash dieting and punishing exercise programmes.
What concerns me most about this preoccupation is that it engenders in women a permanent sense of dissatisfaction with our appearance (what research scientists working in this area call a ‘normative discontent’), thereby undermining our self-esteem.
The feminists of the 70s and 80s discussed at length the oppressive nature of feminine ideals of beauty and this unhealthy preoccupation by women (and men) of these feminine ideals.
As Negrin, in “The Self as Image”, says:-
“Since women's self-esteem and success have been seen to depend more on their looks than on their achievements, many women have tended to become obsessed with the fashioning of their appearance to the detriment of the development of other aspects of their self-identity.”
Worryingly, it appears to be getting worse, with eating disorders on the rise in countries such as England, the USA and Australia and research studies showing that we have a lower opinion of the way we look than we did in the mid-70s.
Professor Susan Paxton BA (Hons.), MPsych., PhD, Director of Postgraduate Programs at LaTrobe University, Australia “My Body, My Life” programme aimed at adolescent girls says:-
“Feeling dissatisfied with your body can cause a lot of problems. Not only can it predict the later development of unhealthy eating behaviours, which are motivated by attempts to change body weight or shape, but it can also contribute to low self-esteem, social anxiety and depression. Body dissatisfaction has also been linked with both the development and maintenance of bulimia nervosa.”
So we need to remind ourselves when poring over women’s magazines of the hours and hours of preparation and sheer hard work that has gone into the vast majority of the images we see in the media today.
We can all benefit from learning to be aware of how unrealistic these images are and accept that healthy bodies come in all different shapes and sizes.
Do you have a positive body image? Or do you find it impossible to ignore the media messages. Or maybe you are suffering with an eating disorder. Please talk about it on the Forum.
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