Body Image and Appearance-Management Behaviors in College Women

Abstract

The contemporary ideal standard offemale beauty in the Western world is based on thinness, attractiveness, and fitness. Women are enculturated to monitor these personal characteristics, and to construct their appearances to meet these normative expectations. Because most body image research to date has focused on quantitative methods of assessing the complex interrelationships among variables, women's "lived experiences" were examined through a qualitative study of 95 college women to explore the subjective nature of body satisfaction, the extent to which agency and control influence the construction of appearance, and what appearance-management behaviors are typically practiced andlor advisable. Nine themes emerged from the written essays. The most common theme was risky appearance-management behaviors that were practiced in response to gendered social norms, indicating the prevalent feeling that the body is malleable and considered to be under individual control. Common socio-cultural constructs were social comparison, world view, and influence of others. Essays attested to the centrality of body image in the lives of college women, and provide evidence that social comparison and ensuing appearance-management behaviors were ways in which young women exhibit agency or control over their lives.