Body Ideals Research Articles

Media ideals and early adolescents’ body image: Selective avoidance or selective exposure?

The present study combines selective exposure theory with body image coping literature to study effects of media internalization in early adolescence. The main objective was to explore how early adolescents selectively internalize media body ideals to manage their body image. To examine the role of media internalization in early adolescents’ body image management, we used two-wave panel data (NWave1 = 1986) gathered among 9- to 14-year-olds. Structural equation analyses indicated that media internalization (Wave 1) positively related to body surveillance (Wave 2). Body surveillance (Wave 2), in turn, was associated with more body image self-discrepancy (Wave 2). In addition, body image self-discrepancy (Wave 1) related to higher body surveillance (Wave 1). Body surveillance, in turn, related to more media internalization cross-sectionally, but less media internalization six months later. Taken together, these results suggest a role for media internalization in early adolescents’ body image management. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Investigating the link between television viewing and men's preferences for female body size and shape in rural Nicaragua

Abstract The different levels of media access in otherwise very similar villages in rural Nicaragua provided a natural laboratory to explore the effect of television (TV) access on men's preferences for female body size and shape. In study 1 we compared the female body ideals of men from three discrete villages who experienced different levels of TV but otherwise inhabited a similar ecological and sociocultural environment. 3D modelling software enabled participants to create their ideal female body with more precision than simply choosing a figure from a limited range of 2D images. In study 2 we further explored local men's perceptions of female physical attractiveness and attitudes towards television using focus group discussions. Results from study 1 showed that men in the high TV villages preferred significantly slimmer bodies compared to those in the low TV village. Regression analyses showed TV access to be a significant predictor of ideal body size and upper body shape, but not of ideal lower body shape. The central theme to emerge from study 2 was the importance of the relationship between lower body shape, movement and sex, in the men's judgments of female attractiveness: the curvaceous body was perceived by the men to be a reliable cue to potential sexual promise, rather than valued simply for its visual aesthetic. Overall, findings suggest that TV access is linked to rural Nicaraguan men's perceptions of ideal female body weight and breast size, but preferences for a curvaceous lower body shape may be driven primarily by judgments of female sexual promise.

Pendidikan Anti Konsumerisme dalam Novel Napoli: Ketika Jatuh di Pelukanmu Karya Riskaninda Maharani (Kajian Sosiologi Sastra)

Abstract: This literary sociology study has the goal of describing the consumer culture contained in novel “Napoli: Ketika Jatuh di Pelukanmu (When Falling in your arms) by Riskaninda Maharani. The object of this study are the kind of object of consumption in the novel “Napoli: Ketika Jatuh di Pelukanmu” Sociology approach of the literature by analyzing literary texts relating to consumer culture in the novel. Consumption of different types of objects such as architecture, fashion, food and beverage and body ideals that made a lot of consumer culture in the novel.
 Keywords: Consumer Culture, Novel, Literature Sociology

The Yoga Industry: A Conscious Luxury Experience in the Transformation Economy

ABSTRACT Yoga is both a sociocultural phenomenon and a multibillion dollar industry. As consumers shift spending habits towards transformational and well-being experiences, the yoga industry provides a sophisticated and diverse offer of commodities, services and experiences that mix and bricolage conscious luxury with holistic and sustainable practices. The promise of happiness, harmony, balance and self-actualization are key indicators of cultural capital and status in contemporary consumer society. The yoga industry offers these services across a multitude of platforms and uses branding strategies that borrow emotional and sensory dynamics from the luxury market as well as upward mobility logics of social differentiation. The success of this consumption pattern is evident in the economic worth of the yoga and wellness industries. Yoga brands function as aspirational lifestyle brands offering social, symbolic, and psychological benefits that go beyond the physical practice. These brands also propose new aesthetic and ethical body ideals. This article argues that yoga is a multisensory luxury experience, providing consumers with achievement of both tangible and intangible physical, mental and spiritual individual needs and aspirations. The yoga studio becomes the immersive or escapist space that replaces traditional religious institutions; representing self-transformation, self-empowerment and community engagement. It is the space where the quest for meaning takes place, under hyper-individualistic logics of consumer capitalism and luxury market dynamics. Through the analysis of aspirational lifestyle branding and marketing strategies associated with three yoga studios, this article considers the inherent paradoxes of yoga as a conscious luxury experience and yoga as a traditional practice.

ANALISIS POLA SIRKULASI PENGUNJUNG PADA CELEBRITY FITNESS TRANSTUDIO MALL BANDUNG

Celebrity Fitness Transtudio Bandung is a fitness facility contained in Transtudio mall Bandung, located at 3rd floor building. Celebrity Fitness is one of the most popular fitness and much demand in either Indonesia or in the world, because at Celebrity Fitness is available a wide range of programming options classes with professional instructors, as well as a wide variety of selection tools that can be used in accordance with the needs of current visitors is in fitness place. Nowdays, many people in the world, especially urban communities choose an alternative fitness exercise for theirs activity because of their high activity. The higher a person's activity, the less time you have for doing the exercise, so many people are choosing fitness as an alternative to sports. Users fitness today is not only men, many women also were menikuti fitness program in order to maintain health and body ideals. One factor that must be considered in a gym is convenience, visitor comfortness circulation including the appropriate standard. Because one of the things that became Pull at Celebrity Fitness is the user's convenience, the slightest thing related to comfort will be considered in detail. But there are things of interest to writers when using the facilities at Celebrity Fitness Transtudio Bandung, namely the circulation patterns. Linear circulation pattern that is initially quite a good start from the receptionist up to the main workout room, but when on the main exercise room or exercise room TRX towards the path narrowed and sometimes occurs when a buildup of visitors crowded hours. Refinements circulation path is the impact of different forms of space. Shape space indirectly affect the organization of space which affects the circulation space. Celebrity Fitness Transtudio Bandung. Overall comfort and circulation of existing facilities is good enough for standard public space.

Thinness and muscularity internalization: Associations with disordered eating and muscle dysmorphia in men.

The tripartite influence model of body image identifies internalization of societal body ideals as a risk factor for developing body dissatisfaction, and subsequent disordered eating behavior. In men, internalization of two dimensions of body image ideals, thinness and muscularity, is associated with body dissatisfaction and eating concerns. However, it is unknown how thinness and muscularity internalization interact in predicting muscle dysmorphia and disordered eating in men. Data were collected online from 180 undergraduate men, with ages ranging from 18 to 33 years (19.6, SD = 2.6). Regression models were used to test the interactive effects of thinness and muscularity internalization on (a) muscle dysmorphia symptoms and (b) disordered eating. Subsequent simple slope analyses probed effects at the mean, and ±1 standard deviation of thinness internalization. Muscularity and thinness internalization were independently positively related to muscle dysmorphia symptoms and disordered eating. Additionally, a significant interaction revealed that muscularity internalization was increasingly related to muscle dysmorphia symptoms as thinness internalization decreased. Men who internalized the muscular ideal had higher levels of muscle dysmorphia when they did not highly internalize the thin ideal. However, greater internalization of both the muscularity and thin ideal independently may be most relevant in the development of disordered eating in men. Future research is needed to explore variability in experiences of muscle dysmorphia compared with disordered eating in males.

Sized Out: Women, Clothing Size, and Inequality

Feminist scholars have long critiqued the fashion industry’s ultra-thin beauty standards as harmful to women. Combining data from three qualitative studies of women’s clothing retailers—of bras, plus-size clothing, and bridal wear—we shift the analytical focus away from glamorized media images toward the seemingly mundane realm of clothing size standards, examining how women encounter, understand, and navigate these standards in their daily lives. We conceptualize clothing size standards as “floating signifiers,” given their lack of consistency within and across brands and the extent to which women engage in identity work and body work in relation to them. Our findings indicate that the instability of these unregulated standards allows some women—particularly those with bodies located closest to the boundaries between size categories—to claim conformity to body ideals and to access some of the associated psychological, social, and material privileges. However, even as individual women may benefit by distancing themselves from stigmatized size categories, this pattern renders women’s body acceptance tenuous while simultaneously reinforcing hierarchies among women based on body size and shape.

Body Weight Stigma in Physical Activity Settings

Given societal body ideals praising thinness and muscularity, physical activity spaces can bedifficult to navigate for those in larger bodies. Thus, stigma serves as a strong barrier to participation. Inthis study, the authors explore ways that body stigma affects larger individuals’ participation in physicalactivity. This authors employed qualitative, semi-structured interviews (N = 9), regarding personal experi-ences of body weight stigma. Results suggest that body stigma is common and that various discriminatoryexperiences led participants away from participating. Given the prevalence of prejudicial behaviors, whichexclude larger individuals, the authors argue for more inclusive physical activity spaces and practices.

‘Strong is the new skinny’: navigating fitness hype among teenagers in northern Sweden

ABSTRACTAn increased interest in health, diet, and physical activity exist among young people, in this study termed ‘fitness hype’. Viewing the body and health as commodities can be understood as part of a healthism discourse. In this study, we explored how Swedish high school students perceive and negotiate the trend regarding exercise, diet and body ideals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten high school students, aged 16–18 years, from various educational programs and with varying levels of physical activity. Using qualitative content analysis, we developd one overarching theme navigating life satisfaction in the face of an ‘unhealthy fitness hype’. Four additional, interrelated categories showed how the young people negotiated this developing trend through: (1) the quest for social recognition and value, (2) social media sets the standards, (3) the paradox of strong and skinny as the new standard, and (4) the need for new safety nets. Our results highlight the young people’s perceptions of an excessive and influential focus on health and exercise in contemporary society. They described a fitness hype as exorbitant and unhealthy ideals of body and exercise, and understood this as problematic. Social media was seen as contributing to this hype as a powerful arena for ‘the quest for social recognition and value’. While not all the young people felt negatively affected by the fitness hype, they perceived its influence on their lives. Further, body and fitness ideals were gendered. Teenage girls faced the paradox of shaping themselves as ‘strong and skinny’. Social ties were recognized as an important safety net, particularly classmates, sports mates, and coaches. Knowledge of these problems from the perspective of young people is crucially needed among health professionals and educators. Further research should explore additional support strategies, and young people’s experiences of fitness hype among additional youth groups.

Music Videos as Black Feminist Thought – From Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda to Beyoncé’s Formation

The article examines two recent music videos by Black female artists, Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda (2014) and Beyoncé’s Formation (2016), and the heated online discussions around them about whether they are feminist or not. The article argues that the epistemic habit of asking this question often works counterproductively and stabilises the boundaries of feminism. Instead, the two music videos are considered as creative works of Black feminist thought, following Patricia Hill Collins (2009). Collins suggests that in order to challenge traditional forms of white male knowledge production, other forms of expression than academic writing should also be considered theory. The key question then becomes: how do Anaconda and Formation participate in, re-imagine and work as Black feminist thought, understood as complex and dynamic? The article outlines three main critiques directed at the videos: selling out to white people and capitalism; promotion of white, heteronormative body ideals while appropriating queer of color culture; and involvement in so-called ‘reverse oppression’. Anaconda and Formation can be seen to answer each these critiques respectively, when seen connected to and employing strategies of Black feminist theories of pleasure, queer of color critique, and Black feminist politics of coalition among marginalised subjects.

Double standards in body evaluation? The influence of identification with body stimuli on ratings of attractiveness, body fat, and muscle mass.

Although it is well documented that women evaluate their own body differently from other bodies, it remains unclear whether this discrepancy is based on double standards because of identity or on objective differences between these bodies. The aim of this study was therefore to test whether women apply double standards depending on a body's identity when evaluating the same bodies presented with different faces. Average-weight women (N = 104) rated body attractiveness, body fat, and muscle mass of thin, average-weight, overweight, athletic, and hypermuscular bodies with either another female's face or their own face. With their own face, subjects rated overweight bodies as more unattractive, higher in body fat and lower in muscle mass than with another female's face. However, for non-overweight bodies, body ratings did not differ depending on body identity. Based on the self-deprecating double standards for overweight bodies, a body-related identity bias might be considered in theoretical models of body image.Level of evidence Level V, descriptive study.

Fat or fiction? Effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an undergraduate population

Although there is a growing consensus that women with anorexia nervosa have a distorted body schema, the origins of this disturbance remain uncertain. The present investigation examined the effects of body size, eating pathology, and sex upon the body schema of an at-risk, undergraduate population. In Study 1, 98 participants mentally simulated their passage through apertures. When aperture width was manipulated, narrow and broad women over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. This relationship was exacerbated by dietary restraint. When aperture height was manipulated, short and tall men over- and under-estimated their spatial requirements for passage, respectively. Study 2 (N=32) replicated the association between women’s veridical and internally-represented widths, although no significant effects of eating pathology were observed. Our findings suggest that body schema enlargement is not necessarily pathological, and may be driven by normal perceptual biases and internalised sociocultural body ideals.

A content analysis of thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration imagery on social media

BackgroundOn social media, images such as thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration, are shared to inspire certain body ideals. Previous research has demonstrated that exposure to these groups of content is associated with increased body dissatisfaction and decreased self-esteem. It is therefore important that the bodies featured within these groups of content are more fully understood so that effective interventions and preventative measures can be informed, developed, and implemented.MethodA content analysis was conducted on a sample of body-focussed images with the hashtags thinspiration, fitspiration, and bonespiration from three social media platforms.ResultsThe analyses showed that thinspiration and bonespiration content contained more thin and objectified bodies, compared to fitspiration which featured a greater prevalence of muscles and muscular bodies. In addition, bonespiration content contained more bone protrusions and fewer muscles than thinspiration content.ConclusionsThe findings suggest fitspiration may be a less unhealthy type of content; however, a subgroup of imagery was identified which idealised the extremely thin body type and as such this content should also be approached with caution. Future research should utilise qualitative methods to further develop understandings of the body ideals that are constructed within these groups of content and the motivations behind posting this content.

Does “body talk” improve body satisfaction among same-sex couples?

Research suggests the important role of romantic partners in shaping how individuals feel about their bodies (e.g., Markey & Markey, 2013, 2014), but the processes that result in changes in body satisfaction within relationships have rarely been examined. To investigate how partners may potentially affect body image, 72 lesbian couples and 72 gay male couples (total N=288) completed body image assessments on their own and with the help of their partners. Multilevel modeling revealed that both men and women reported an improvement in body satisfaction after talking with their partners while completing the body image assessment together. Improvement in body satisfaction appeared to result from participants’ reconsideration of their body ideals, not their appraisal of their current bodies. Implications of these findings for improving body image in the context of relationships are discussed.

Nutritional status and the influence of TV consumption on female body size ideals in populations recently exposed to the media

Television consumption influences perceptions of attractive female body size. However, cross-cultural research examining media influence on body ideals is typically confounded by differences in the availability of reliable and diverse foodstuffs. 112 participants were recruited from 3 Nicaraguan villages that differed in television consumption and nutritional status, such that the contribution of both factors could be revealed. Participants completed a female figure preference task, reported their television consumption, and responded to several measures assessing nutritional status. Communities with higher television consumption and/or higher nutritional status preferred thinner female bodies than communities with lower television consumption and/or lower nutritional status. Bayesian mixed models estimated the plausible range of effects for television consumption, nutritional status, and other relevant variables on individual preferences. The model explained all meaningful differences between our low-nutrition villages, and television consumption, after sex, was the most likely of these predictors to contribute to variation in preferences (probability mass >95% when modelling only variables with zero-order associations with preferences, but only 90% when modelling all possible predictors). In contrast, we found no likely link with nutritional status. We thus found evidence that where media access and nutritional status are confounded, media is the more likely predictor of body ideals.

The effects of female “Thin Ideal” media on men’s appearance schema, cognitive performance, and self-evaluations: A self-determination theory approach

Research has primarily focused on the consequences of the female thin ideal on women and has largely ignored the effects on men. Two studies were designed to investigate the effects of a female thin ideal video on cognitive (Study 1: appearance schema, Study 2: visual-spatial processing) and self-evaluative measures in male viewers. Results revealed that the female thin ideal predicted men’s increased appearance schema activation and poorer cognitive performance on a visual-spatial task. Constructs from self-determination theory (i.e., global autonomous and controlled motivation) were included to help explain for whom the video effects might be strongest or weakest. Findings demonstrated that a global autonomous motivation orientation played a protective role against the effects of the female thin ideal. Given that autonomous motivation was a significant moderator, SDT is an area worth exploring further to determine whether motivational strategies can benefit men who are susceptible to media body ideals.

Brain activation upon ideal-body media exposure and peer feedback in late adolescent girls

Media’s prevailing thin-body ideal plays a vital role in adolescent girls’ body image development, but the co-occurring impact of peer feedback is understudied. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test media imagery and peer feedback combinations on neural activity related to thin-body ideals. Twenty-four healthy female late adolescents rated precategorized body sizes of bikini models (too thin or normal), directly followed by ostensible peer feedback (too thin or normal). Consistent with prior studies on social feedback processing, results showed increased brain activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula in incongruent situations: when participants rated media models’ body size as normal while peer feedback indicated the models as too thin (or vice versa). This effect was stronger for girls with lower self-esteem. A subsequent behavioral study (N = 34 female late adolescents, separate sample) demonstrated that participants changed behavior in the direction of the peer feedback: precategorized normal sized models were rated as too thin more often after receiving too thin peer feedback. This suggests that the neural responses upon peer feedback may influence subsequent choice. Our results show that media-by-peer interactions have pronounced effects on girls’ body ideals.

Emaciated mannequins: a study of mannequin body size in high street fashion stores

BackgroundThere is concern that the body size of fashion store mannequins are too thin and promote unrealistic body ideals. To date there has been no systematic examination of the size of high street fashion store mannequins.MethodsWe surveyed national fashion retailers located on the high street of two English cities. The body size of ‘male’ and ‘female’ mannequins was assessed by two blinded research assistants using visual rating scales.ResultsThe average female mannequin body size was representative of a very underweight woman and 100% of female mannequins represented an underweight body size. The average male mannequin body size was significantly larger than the average female mannequin body size. Only 8% of male mannequins represented an underweight body size.ConclusionsThe body size of mannequins used to advertise female fashion is unrealistic and would be considered medically unhealthy in humans.

Nutrition Transition: A Precursor of Disordered Eating Behaviour among Young Indians

Rapid nutrition transition that is being witnessed by India has resulted in the emergence of a “new traditional Indian diet” which includes western foods as well as promotes intake of high energy, high fat processed foods and ready-to-eat foods on a regular basis. Consumption of such diets coupled with sedentary habits has led to an increase in the prevalence of obesity among Indians at all ages and in all socioeconomic groups. At the same time, exposure to the Western culture and the media is promoting a drive for thin body ideals which makes the populations resort to restrained or restricted eating and denial of hunger in pursuit of slimness. This seems to be leading to confusion among the individuals, especially the youth, regarding their diet and lifestyle practices, and is causing increased body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, lowered self-esteem etc. among them; and these conditions may further act as precursors of disordered eating behaviour and increase malnutrition. An attempt has been made in this paper to draw attention to how nutrition transition in India may result in increased disordered eating behaviour among its young adults.

Thin and sexy vs. muscular and dominant: Prevalence of gendered body ideals in popular dolls and action figures

We examined the extent to which popular dolls and action figures were portrayed with gendered body proportions, and the extent to which these gendered ideals were associated with heterosexual “success.” We coded internet depictions of 72 popular female dolls and 71 popular male action figures from the websites of three national stores in the United States. Sixty-two percent of dolls had a noticeably thin body, while 42.3% of action figures had noticeably muscular bodies. Further, more thin dolls were portrayed with more sex object features than less thin dolls, including revealing, tight clothing and high-heeled shoes; bodies positioned with a curved spine, bent knee, and head cant; and with a sexually appealing facial expression. More muscular male action figures were more likely than less muscular ones to be shown with hands in fists and with an angry, emotional expression, suggesting male dominance.