THE PERFECT BODY:
Body Image in American Media &
Culture
Who has the perfect body?
• What does the ideal female body look like?
• What does the ideal male body look like?
• In the next few slides, we’ll look at how the
answer to those questions has changed
throughout the last 100 years, and we’ll talk
about what we see as the ideal body today.
Today’s Ideal Body Shape
Is…
A bizarre combination of
male desire and waifish
androgyny; thin, no hips,
big bust.
Where are we now?
• Are curves the latest trend?
• Is the success of these celebrities a step in the right
direction?
• What does it mean for a certain body type to be
trendy?
• What does curvy even mean??
What’s wrong with “Real Women Have
Curves”?
You can’t always trust what you see.
• Photo re-touching has become increasingly
common; to the point that it’s impossible to
trust the images you see in magazines,
movies, or on t.v.
• What does it do to your self-esteem to see so
many digitally manipulated images?
Photo Retouching: Obvious & Subtle
Not all photo editing is done to make
models or celebrities look thinner.
What’s your reaction to these two images?
Body Image
• How do our ideas about perfect bodies effect
our body image and self-esteem?
• In the next few slides, we’ll talk about the
impact of body ideals on young people,
including young men.
• We’ll talk about body acceptance, and how
you can improve your own body image.
Body Image Facts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Twenty years ago, models weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, they weigh 23%
less than the average woman.
The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 166 pounds. The average American
model is 5’11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.
One out of every four college aged women may have a diagnosable eating disorder.
It is estimated that 40 to 50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in
time.
Americans spend more than 40 billion dollars a year on dieting and diet-related products –
that’s roughly equivalent to the amount the U.S. Federal Government spends on education
each year!
Almost half of all women smokers smoke because they see it as the best way to control their
weight. Of these women, 25% will die of a disease caused by smoking.
In 2007, there were about 11.7 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. Ninety one
percent of these were performed on women.
A study found that 53% of thirteen-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies.
This number grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.
According to the Girl Scouts Research Institute, one-third of all girls have a distorted idea
about their weight.
Body Image & Men
• Body image pressure effects men as well as women.
• Eight million Americans being treated for eating
disorders, one million are men.
• Men make up about 10 percent of anorexics and about
20 percent of bulimics.
• Nearly half of binge eaters are men. (Branum)
• About 7% of 12th grade males have used steroids in
order to become more muscular.
• If GI Joe were human, he’d have larger biceps than any
bodybuilder in history.
 Is the ideal male body becoming more muscular?
How to Improve Body Image
1.
Acknowledge (and Stop) Fat Talk
Being less critical of other people’s bodies may make you less critical of your own.
2.
Put Action Before Appearance
Concentrate on what your body can do, not what it looks like.
3.
4.
Identify Body Parts You Love
Bust Out the Post-Its
Write down compliments – from others, or from step #3
5.
Name Your Body Bully
Recognize negative self-talk, and ban it!
6.
Hold Yourself to A Higher Standard
If you wouldn’t say it to a loved one or a friend, don’t say it to yourself.
7.
8.
Consume less media images?
Other ideas?
Body Acceptance
"I'm all for health. I think people should be really aware of what they
are putting in their bodies and try to get more active, but the truth is
we have to live in the bodies and be happy with the bodies that we
have right now, regardless of where we are in our journey to
health... My measure for health is how good I feel. The main thing is to judge
how you feel and what you’re putting into your body, how active you are and
not based on a number on a scale.”
Gabi Fresh, Fashion Blogger
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
•
•
•
•
What does it mean to have poor, or bad, body image?
What does it mean to have positive, or good, body image?
Where do we get our body/beauty ideals from?
Where do messages about bodies and beauty come from?
– Which sources are the most powerful?
• Who benefits from messages about ideal bodies?
• Is the focus on ideal bodies a new thing?
– Has it gotten worse?
• Do you think bad body image is a problem at Southwest?
• What is the “body culture” like here?
– For girls?
– For boys?
– What about for different cultural groups?
• What, if anything, could be done to improve body culture at Southwest?
• Do you think the ideal body has changed in your lifetime?