Abstract
This article compares how people with normal bodies and bodies that deviate from dominant media-depicted body ideals, live with and accept their bodies. Media images of ideal bodies encompass judging gazes. These gazes affect and discipline people and may make it challenging for them to accept their bodies. The data material is part of the interdisciplinary Nordic project called “Beauty comes from within: looking good as a challenge in health promotion”. Based on 20 interviews with Norwegian men and women, of whom 10 have particular appearance-related problems, the article discusses the relationship between the media-depicted body ideals, descriptions by informants of what a good-looking body is, body satisfaction and body practices. The article shows resonance between how people describe good-looking bodies and satisfaction or not with own bodies. Women express more dissatisfaction with their bodies than men, but the article shows that many have strategies for trying to accept their bodies as they are. The comparative perspective highlight that the people having deviant bodies, more than those with normal bodies, balance the idea of “being myself” with the idea of “doing the best out of my (bodily) situation”. Most interestingly, they show that it is harder to accept handicaps that are changeable, like overweight, than harelips, deformed legs and skin injuries. As such, overweight becomes a double burden.
Highlights
In Norway, as is much the case in other countries in the West, there exists an increased public interest in health, fitness and looking good
In this article we suggest that the ubiquitous exposure of ideal body images as well as a strong focus on fitness and training, consciously or unconsciously affects the way in which people judge their own and other people’s bodies, a judgment that may motivate people into different body practices, such as cosmetic surgery, dieting, and training
More precisely we propose answers to the following questions: How do informants’ descriptions of idealized bodies resonate with their satisfaction with and acceptance of their own bodies? In what ways and to which extent do they engage in body practices that may be inspired by dominant body ideals, and how do these vary between people with normal and deviant bodies? What are the differences and similarities of body practices between people with normal and deviant bodies, and how are these to be understood? The data consists of 20 interviews, 11 women and 9 men, ranging in age from 18 to 62 years
Summary
In Norway, as is much the case in other countries in the West, there exists an increased public interest in health, fitness and looking good. Of particular interest is how people with deviant bodies, compared to those with “normal” bodies, cope and live with their bodies in relation to dominant body ideals for looking good. By “deviant” bodies we mean bodies that are visibly overweight (Rune, Gunnar, Rita, Kari, Trine, Cille), or have other characteristics that preclude their conformity with dominant beauty ideals. For this study, this entails a harelip, a deformed leg, a prosthetic leg, skin problems and fire injuries (respectively Rune, Ellen, Frida, Inger and Storm). One assumption could be that people with deviant bodies experience more body dissat-
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