Reshaping Body Image
How are overweight and obese people
treated in our society?
Directions
• 1. I am going to show you 5 pictures. I want you to
write your first impression for each picture. (No
discussion )
A. What are your first impressions?
Discussion
• What were some of the first words that came to mind
about these people?
• Did you have any impressions about the health and
happiness of each person? What were they?
• Did you have any impressions about the level of
intelligence or success of each person? What were they?
• Did you write down any words about how attractive or
unattractive each person is? What words did you use?
• Did you write down any words about the body size or
shape of each person? Which ones? What words did you
use to describe their bodies?
• Were your “first impressions” of the women different
from your feelings about the men? How about the white
people as compared to the people of color?
Size
• Is there anyone who did not think about the size of
these people?
• Although each person looks happy, healthy or
active, the first impression many people have is
about their body size
• 2. Where do we get our ideas about what body shape
& size is attractive & healthy?
• 3. What are some negatives about how we obtain
information and/or are influenced by this information?
• Ideas in our society are so ingrained that most of us
take them for granted & accept them as natural &
normal.
History
• Up until the 20th century, stoutness was associated with
good health, affluence & elevated social status, while thin
people were often regarded as poor & unattractive
• From the earliest times, depictions of human beings –
such as the Venus figurines & sculptures of fertility
goddesses – celebrated large size as a sign of wellbeing & prosperity
• In WWI, concerns about food shortages led to claims
that gaining weight was unpatriotic
• 1930s-40s: anti-fat attitudes took hold
• 1950s: medical inventions (surgery & drugs) were
introduced to fight fatness
• 1960s: models like Twiggy replaced more voluptuous
figures like Marilyn Monroe
then
Lillian Russell
Actress and Sex symbol,
early 20th century (200+ lbs)
now
Angelina Jolie
Actress & Sex symbol, 21st
century
then
now
Babe Ruth
Mike Trout
Pro baseball player,
early 20th century
Pro baseball player,
21st century
then
now
King Henry VIII
President Obama
16th century
21st century
then
now
Miss America contestant
Miss America
1950s
2013
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
• Western standards of beauty are not universal.
•
•
•
•
•
In central Africa, Massa men are made to drink milk for 3-month
periods to produce large, radiant bodies that symbolize beauty
In other African cultures, women also enter into “fattening
periods” to increase their beauty & fertility
Moroccan Saharawi women use drugs, traditional suppositories,
inactivity & overfeeding to fatten themselves in preparation for
marriage
Pacific Islanders find a fuller figured body – representing status,
power, authority, wealth & fertility – most attractive
Countries that rank high on individualism (Australia, Poland &
the U.S.) show greater anti-fat attitudes than those ranked lower
on individualism (India, Turkey, Venezuela)
here
there
American dancer
New Zeland dancers
ballet
performing Maori haka
here
there
American
Wrestlers
Japanese
Sumo Wrestlers
Race & Gender Lines
•
Variations in attitudes toward body size exist within U.S.
subculture.
• Research indicates that non-white adults are more accepting of
larger body shapes, hold more positive body images, & are less
likely to stigmatize overweight people
• White women are more dissatisfied with their bodies than African
American women despite the fact that African American women
weigh on average 10 pounds more.
• In one study 13-14 year old overweight black girls were found to
have similar levels of self-esteem to average weight girls while
self-esteem was significantly lower in overweight white &
Hispanic girls
Race & Gender Lines
•
Both white and African American women:
• Rated thin white women more attractive but only white women
negatively rated the fat woman’s intelligence, job success &
happiness
• On average, African American men showed more acceptance for
large body types than White men
• Men have a more positive body image than women & often
overestimate their attractiveness as compared to women
• Women are generally more discontent with their appearance
than men (often due to body weight)
• Girls as young as 6 are going on diets because they think they
are fat & by age 9, half of all girls have gone on a diet
Questions continued
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4. Which images surprised you? Why?
5. How have ideas about body image in our society changed over
time? What do you think caused these changes? Do you think they
will shift again in the future?
http://www.today.com/video/today/54515687
6. How are ideas about body image different in other parts of the
world? What do you think accounts for these differences?
7. How do you think fixed ideas about body shape & size in U.S.
culture influence you?
8. List at least two physical features you like about yourself.