Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children / Sarah Grogan
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Body Image Body Image reviews current research on body image in men, women and children and presents fresh data from Britain and the United States. Sarah Grogan brings together perspectives from psychology, sociology, women’s studies and media studies to assess what we know about the social construction of body image at the end of the twentieth century. Most previous work on body image concentrates on women. With the male body becoming more ‘visible’ in popular culture, researchers in psychology and sociology have recently become more interested in men’s body image. Sarah Grogan presents original data from interviews with men, women and children to complement existing research, and provides a comprehensive investigation of cultural influences on body image. Body Image will be of interest to students of psychology, sociology, women’s studies, men’s studies, media studies, and anyone with an interest in body image. Sarah Grogan is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Body Image Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children Sarah Grogan London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. © 1999 Sarah Grogan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grogan, Sarah, 1959– Body image: understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children / Sarah Grogan. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Body image – Social aspects – United States. 2. Body image – Social aspects – Great Britain. I. Title. BF697.5. B63G76 1998 155.9´1–dc21 98–4036 ISBN 0-415-14784-0 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-14785-9 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-13497-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17913-7 (Glassbook Format) Contents List of illustrations vii Preface ix Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Culture and body image 6 The idealisation of slenderness 6 The basis of body shape ideals 9 Summary 24 3 Women and body satisfaction 25 Assessment of body satisfaction 26 Social construction of femininity 52 Summary 57 4 Men and body satisfaction 58 Assessment of body satisfaction 59 Social construction of masculinity 77 Summary 79 5 Media effects 94 Media portrayal of the body 94 Mass communication models 97 Recent developments 113 Reducing the effects of media imagery 113 Summary 115 vi Contents 6 Age, social class, ethnicity and sexuality 117 Body image across the lifespan 117 Ethnicity and body satisfaction 133 Social class and body satisfaction 137 Body shape, sexual attractiveness and sexuality 142 Summary 164 7 Conclusions and implications 166 Groups with low body satisfaction 167 Development of a positive body image 179 General conclusions 188 Summary 192 Appendix: What causes overweight? 193 Bibliography 196 Name index 211 Subject index 217 Illustrations Plates 1 Rembrandt van Rijn, Bathsheba (1654) 80 2 Gustave Courbet, The artist’s studio (1855) 81 3 Auguste Renoir, Blonde bather (1881) 82 4 Flapper fashion 83 5 Marilyn Monroe 84 6 Twiggy 85 7 Kate Moss 86 8 Sandro Botticelli, St Sebastian (1474) 87 9 Michelangelo, The Battle of Cascina (1504) 88 10 Luca Signorelli, Study of two nude figures (1503) 89 11 Dolph Lundgren 90 12 Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Turkish bath (1863) 91 13 Claudia Schiffer 92 14 Arnold Schwarzenegger 93 Figures 3.1 Female silhouette figure rating scale 27 3.2 Female body shapes 46 4.1 Male silhouette figure rating scale 59 5.1 Effects of viewing photographic images on body esteem 105 6.1 Female stimulus figures varying in WHR 147 6.2 Female stimulus figures varying in breast size 150 6.3 Male stimulus figures varying in WHR 161 6.4 Male stimulus figures varying in chest size 162 7.1 Percentage of men/women taking part in activities involving physical effort 186 viii Illustrations 7.2 Frequency of children getting out of breath and sweaty playing games or sports in free time 187 Table 2.1 Height–weight tables for adults 11 Preface This book reviews current research on body image in men and women, and presents some fresh data from interviews, questionnaires and experimental studies carried out recently in Britain and the United States. It is intended for students studying psychology, sociology, women’s studies, men’s studies and media studies. It will also be useful to anyone with an interest in body satisfaction and the factors that contribute to it. It is not a text on anorexia or bulimia, although these are discussed in Chapter 7. It is primarily designed to bring together work from disparate disciplines, along with some fresh research material, to assess what we know about men and women’s body image at the end of the twentieth century. Most previous work on body image concentrates on women. This text summarises what we know so far about body image in men as well as in women. The study of male body image is a fairly recent phenomenon. Researchers in the 1980s and 1990s have started to be interested in men’s body image largely due to the fact that the male body is becoming more ‘visible’ in popular culture, leading to interest in the psychological and sociological effects of this increased exposure. This book aims to produce a fresh summary of research on body image that addresses disparate perspectives within body image research, and that looks at body satisfaction and body size estimation. In particular, it presents data from qualitative and quantitative studies within psychology, sociology, cultural studies, women’s studies and media studies, to demonstrate how they can complement each other, and how they can lead to a better understanding of body image in men and women. Most of the data presented here come from previously published research from Britain, the United States and Australia. Where there are gaps in the existing literature, fresh data have been collected specifically for this book. x Preface Some of these new data have been collected by research students in Britain (Manchester Metropolitan University) and the United States (Santa Fe Community College) who have run interviews or administered questionnaires. It is intended that these fresh data will complement existing research to provide a comprehensive investigation of cultural influences on body image. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the people who have given their expertise and their time to make this book possible. Thanks to all those who agreed to be interviewed or to complete questionnaires and who shared their experiences of body dissatisfaction. Thanks to students at Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England (Penny Cortvriend, Lisa Bradley, Helen Richards, Debbie Mee-Perone, Clare Donaldson, Wendy Hodkinson and Nicola Wainwright), and at Santa Fe Community College, Florida, USA (Jacqueline Gardner, Renee Schert, Melissa Warren, Harry Hatcher, Damien Lavalee, Timothy Ford and Rhonda Blackwell), who agreed to run interviews and administer questionnaires to their peers. I am also indebted to Paul Husband for running interviews with steroid users, and to Geoff Hunter for advice on anabolic steroids. Thanks to colleagues, friends and family who have read various drafts and provided invaluable suggestions and support. In particular, thanks to Alan Blair, Jane Tobbell, Carol Tindall, Emma Creighton, Edward Grogan and Joanne Wren for their feedback on full and partial drafts. Thanks to Marilyn Barnett for typing the body-builders’ transcripts. Thanks to Viv Ward and Jon Reed for their advice during the preparation of the manuscript, and to Nicholas Mirzoeff and Michael Forester for their helpful reviews. Thanks to the following for permission to include plates, figures and tables: Musée du Louvre for Plates 1 (Bathsheba), 10 (Study of two nude figures) and 12 (The Turkish bath); Musée d’Orsay for Plate 2 (The artist’s studio); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute for Plate 3 (Blonde bather); Mary Evans Picture Library for Plate 4 (Flapper fashion); Staatliche Museen zu Berlin for Plate 8 (St Sebastian); the British Museum for Plate 9 (The Battle of Cascina); Kobal for Plates 5 (Marilyn Monroe), 11 (Dolph Lundgren) xii Acknowledgements and 14 (Arnold Schwarzenegger); Retna Pictures Ltd for Plates 6 (Twiggy), 7 (Kate Moss) and 13 (Claudia Schiffer); Select Press for Figures 3.2 (Female body shapes), 6.2 (Female stimulus figures varying in breast size) and 6.4 (Male stimulus figures varying in chest size); Lippincott-Raven Publishers for Figures 3.1 (Female silhouette figure rating scale) and 4.1 (Male silhouette figure rating scale); the American Psychological Association for Figure 6.1 (Female stimulus figures varying in WHR) and Figure 6.3 (Male stimulus figures varying in WHR); Ashgate Publishers for Figure 7.1 (Percentage of men/women taking part in activities involving physical effort); the Health Education Authority for Figure 7.2 (Frequency of children getting out of breath and sweaty playing games or sports in free time); and to McGraw-Hill for Table 2.1 (Height–weight tables for adults). Most of all, thanks to Mark Conner for reading several drafts without complaint and for consistent encouragement and support whilst I was writing and researching this book. 1 Introduction Interest in the psychology and sociology of body image originated in the work of Paul Schilder in the 1920s. He was the first researcher to look at body experience within a psychological and sociological framework.