Are they related to each other? In my experience, very much so. A study found that white women and women of color both are unhappy with their bodies. Lovely.
Contrary to popular belief, white and non-white women are about equally unhappy with their looks, according to an analysis of 98 studies published in the July issue of Psychological Bulletin. It is the largest U.S. research ever done on feminine body dissatisfaction.
“A lot of theorizing and myths,” along with small studies, have emphasized white women’s poor body images, says psychologist Shelly Grabe of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Minority women, it has been thought, enjoy more sensible, forgiving expectations for body shape. But Grabe and co-author Janet Shibley Hyde find little evidence of that.
There’s no significant difference between whites, Asian-Americans and Hispanics in how dissatisfied they are with their bodies, they say. And there’s no difference between whites and blacks over age 22.
Okay I have a couple of issues with this. First off, you can’t homogenize white women and women of color. Every culture (class, race, geographical location, sheesh) has different standards of beauty. My experience as a South Asian woman is different then that of a black woman or a latina woman, in terms of body image.
One common trend I have noticed is that in most cultures there is pressure on what women look like, no matter what those particular standards may be. As transnational feminists have said before, women tend to be the face of a nation, they are forced to be the visual representation of a given culture.
Other factors to consider I believe are geographical location and class locations. Where you grow up or live tremendously affects what is considered good looking and what isn’t. Furthermore, class is such a huge factor. If you have the time to worry about what you look like and do something about it, then you must have some amount of class priviledge. This is not to say, unfair beauty standards affect all communities, some folks can pay more attention to it then others.
I learned this early in my teaching career when I was running an after-school program in an inner city school consisting predominantly of students of color. I ran a weekly girl group and did a workshop on eating disorders and body image. The girls couldn’t understand why someone would not eat. It occured to me how privileged so many of the women in my very white (middle/working class) women’s studies program were. So much of their feminism was about body image and eating disorders. I realized very quickly that in order to decide you don’t want to eat, you have to have food in the first place.
via USA Today.
14 Comments
What you say is very true, Samhita, but let’s not forget that these unrealistic physical ideals are essentially imposed on us by the mass media and therefore spread throughout Western societies. That same standardized image of beauty is pervasive in magazines, television, posters, etc. Regardless of our race, class or colour, we are all exposed to that image in a quasi-subliminal way. And that’s not even limited to Western societies anymore: It is now more and more common in China to resort to cosmetic surgery to have longer legs and less slanted eyes, in order to get closer to the European “ideal”. Of course, we’re still talking about fairly affluent countries, women in developing countries have much more pressing problems, but I do believe that body image issues are no longer the dubious privilege of the upper classes of society.
I don’t think the people who conducted the research necessarily disagree with you, Samhita. They don’t say that American women of all races suffer from the same body image problems; they say that they suffer from body image problems to about the same degree.
“It is now more and more common in China to resort to cosmetic surgery to have longer legs” – Scarlet
Is that even possible?
Thanks Alon, I was going to say the same thing.
Also, I think that the issue is more of a class issue, than a race issue.
Media examples are easily displayed in the weight struggles that Nicole Richie, Star Jones and Oprah Winfrey.
I’d be willing to hedge bets that the same proportion of upper class women of color suffer from the same eating disorders that upper class white women do.
Just like I’d be willing to hedge bets that the same proportion of lower class white women would find it appalling that some people choose not to eat as lower class women of color.
My experience with body image has been that class plays more of a role than color.
(But what do I know, I’m just a lanky white booyyyyy)
I think Samhita got it right. Class differences are obviously a factor when combined with a culture that emphasizes physical beauty. Without that cultural imperative, however, class differences alone would not be sufficient to create the body image issues prevalent today. You need a mixture of these factors to create a situation so fucked up that someone would choose to starve themselves.
“Is that even possible?”
It is. This surgery is not initially meant for cosmetic purposes though.
See here: http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_1209.html
This commentary on the article feeds into the old stereotype that eating disorders are a white woman’s disease, when nothing could be further from the truth. Women of all races and classes have this problem. The article itself explains not only that body image is about the same regardless of race, but it notes also that while hispanic women in some studies say they feel good about their bodies, they really don’t because they suffer from eating disorders.
This Jama article also sheds some light on the issue. In some of these studies, they found that Hispanic females actually had a HIGHER rate of binge eating than blacks or whites.
Jama Archives Link
I think the comment “If you have the time to worry about what you look like and do something about it, then you must have some amount of class priviledge,” is not only completely off base, but a very dangerous statement to make, because it ignores some very real problems and contributes to women not asking for help, not revealing their secrets, and not making their healthcare a priority. This is so not about class priviledge.
And besides, why should we be surprised? Food is a crutch for many people (even some men) in many cultures. When you’re depressed, why not eat? And from my own experience, (not eating disorders but financial disorders…lol), money problems can cause a lot of anxiety, depression and relationship stress. It only makes sense that those in middle-class, lower-middle class, and the disadvantaged would encounter these issues.
I agree with MSJane here: Eating disorders, in particular, go deeper than just well-off women concerned with their figure. Of course, body image problems play a large part in the equation, but so do child abuse, dysfunctional families, etc. And that has nothing to do with class or race.
I think that is wise to remember that eating disorders have similar roots to disorders wehre a person cuts, pulls out their hair or does other types of self mutilation. A lot of the issues resolve around control, often the person doing these things feels out of control of certain areas of their life, and with the example of eating disorders, it is a way to control one thing in their life, their bodies.
Oh I forgot to mention…Ms Jane…that not only are eating disorders not just a White Woman’s disease, but they aren’t just a Women’s disease either. A growing segment of males are getting diagnosed with eating disorders. While it is a disproportionate problem now…I think as time goes on you will see more and more males with eating disorders (which might be fair, but I hardly think is a “good” thing).
I just said that, silly…Do you not read my posts?
Yeah…(just not the parantheticals)
Heh.
“I realized very quickly that in order to decide you don’t want to eat, you have to have food in the first place.”
I have struggled with an eating disorder, and struggled my way out of poverty. Please believe me when I say there was no “decision” made…eating disorders are are NOT choices.
Alon Levy wrote”
“I don’t think the people who conducted the research necessarily disagree with you, Samhita. They don’t say that American women of all races suffer from the same body image problems; they say that they suffer from body image problems to about the same degree.”
I agree, and this is a kind of progress. I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve read stating that while every other group of American women has body-image issues, African American women are perfectly happy being overweight, and are beyond the pressure to look attractive.. There is undoubtedly a class factor at work, but previous studies have acted as if there are no middle class black women, which is insulting in and of itself.