Chapter Review
SUMMARY
Women’s Bodies: From the Outside Looking In
- Society typically focuses more on the physical appearance of girls and women than on what girls and women are like internally.
- Girls and women can internalize this objectifying perspective and focus primarily on how their bodies look rather than on what they can do.
- Women are rewarded for being attractive and can face negative consequences when they don’t conform to beauty standards.
- Because few, if any, women can meet beauty standards, most women report body dissatisfaction.
- Society has specific standards for what is and is not considered attractive.
- Beauty norms for girls and women include, but are not limited to, having symmetrical features, being thin, and having little to no body hair.
- Specific beauty norms (e.g., skin tone, hair texture, being able-bodied) may be relevant for girls and women who identify as being part of specific groups (e.g., women of color, women with disabilities, transwomen).
How We Learn about Beauty Norms
- The tripartite model of social influence identifies parents, peers, and media as key factors influencing body image.
- Parents are a key source of information about beauty norms, and research has shown that mothers are particularly important.
- Peers, particularly same-gender peers, can provide key information about beauty norms and the extent to which girls and women do and do not meet them. Fat talk plays a major role in this process.
- The media may be the most important source of beauty norms. However, images of girls and women in the media rarely reflect typical individuals.
- Not all women are represented in the media at the same rates or at rates that reflect their actual presence in the population.
- Beauty norms become problematic when they are internalized because they reflect largely unattainable standards.
- Some girls and women manage to resist certain beauty norms (e.g., Black women, lesbians, feminists).
Consequences of Self-Objectification
- Experiencing objectification leads to greater internalization of beauty norms, which leads to self-objectification and body surveillance.
- Body surveillance leads to body shame, which leads to other negative outcomes such as decreased performance, depression, and disordered eating.
- The process and effects of self-objectification may be somewhat different for different groups of women (e.g., lesbians, women of color, older women).
Why Does Objectification Occur?
- Objectification benefits a capitalist society, as it spurs spending on beauty products, procedures, and services.
- Objectification may also be a way of sanitizing and controlling the female body—perhaps to stave off thoughts of mortality.
Women’s Bodies: From the Inside Out
- Because most girls and women are very focused on how their bodies look, they aren’t as focused on or aware of how their bodies work and what they can do.
- Girls and women generally hold negative attitudes about menstruation and may have an incomplete understanding of how the menstrual cycle works.
- Norms of shame and secrecy surround menstruation.
- People who are not experiencing food insecurity typically eat in response to cues other than hunger (e.g., schedules or emotions).
- Girls’ and women’s engagement in physical activity is often motivated by appearance concerns rather than those related to improved physical functioning.
KEY TERMS
objectification theory (p. 236)
tripartite model of social influence (p. 247)
THINK ABOUT IT
- Go to a bookstore or library and examine images in magazines. How do the images align with beauty norms, and how do these norms relate to real women’s experiences of their bodies? Using the research in this chapter, what types of recommendations would you make to magazine executives?
- Compare the research on how people learn about beauty norms to your own experience. In what ways does the research reflect your experience? In what ways does it differ?
- What advice would you give a friend to help her combat self-objectification based on the research in this chapter?
- Go to your local drug or grocery store and examine the products related to menstruation. What types of things do you notice (e.g., color of box, images, wording, cost). Are there any gendered and stigmatizing themes? If so, how would you address them to make the products less stigmatizing?
ONLINE RESOURCES
- Adios Barbie — broadens concepts of body image to include race, gender, LGBTQ identify, dis/ability, age, and size: adiosbarbie.com
- Bad Fat Broads — conversations with fat women on diverse topics: badfatbroads.com
- Health at Every Size — Health at Every Size pledge and community: haescommunity.com
- The Back Talk — conversations, essays, and anecdotes from young women of color with a focus on body positivity: soundcloud.com /thebacktalk
- The Body Is Not an Apology — offers information on radical self-love for everybody and every body: thebodyisnotanapology.com
Glossary
- objectification
The viewing of a person as an object to be looked at rather than as a human being inhabiting a skin.
- male gaze
Visual attention to women’s bodies that may come from a heterosexual man or that may represent internalization of the idea that women are sexual objects to be looked at.
- objectification theory
The theory that women internalize the perspective of an observer as the primary way of viewing their bodies.
- self-objectification
The process of turning the objectifying gaze on oneself in order to evaluate the extent to which one conforms to societal standards of beauty.
- body dissatisfaction
The state of not feeling comfortable or satisfied with one’s physical appearance.
- normative discontent
The idea that the normal state for women with respect to their bodies is to feel unhappy or dissatisfied.
- beauty norms
Shared standards for attractiveness, whether implicitly or explicitly stated, that are held by members of a given social group.
- colorism
A preference for lighter skin that stems from a history of racism and greater privilege for those with light skin and/or those who are perceived as White.
- tripartite model of social influence
A model of the key factors that influence body image: parents, peers, and the media.
- body esteem
The degree to which people view their bodies positively.
- fat talk
Negative body talk, usually in informal conversations, in which people, typically girls and women, express dissatisfaction with their bodies, especially in terms of weight or body size/shape.
- cultivation theory
The idea that greater exposure to the media makes it more likely that the images seen there will seem realistic and believable.
- face-ism
A tendency to have greater facial prominence (i.e., a larger proportion of the image devoted to the face) in depictions of men, while body prominence is more typical in images of women.
- internalization
The process of taking on the standards and norms of dominant society as one’s own and then striving to meet those standards.
- social comparison
Comparison of oneself to others to assess where one stands in relation to the standards and norms of dominant society.
- body surveillance
Viewing one’s body from an observer’s perspective and evaluating one’s physical appearance.
- body shame
An ongoing experience of negative emotions as a result of judging one’s body as undesirable.
- terror management theory
The idea that because humans fear death, anything that reminds us that we are mortal and will die needs to be managed in a way that reduces our anxiety.
- menarche
The first menstrual period.
- intuitive eating
Eating in response to physiological cues of hunger and satiation rather than situational or emotional cues; also referred to as mindful eating.
- interoceptive awareness
Awareness of one’s internal physiological signals.