week 8

Body Image:
Definition: Feelings, perceptions, and thoughts about one’s body.
Two Aspects:
- Appearance-Focused:
- Emphasizes looks (weight, shape, attractiveness, aesthetics).
- Involves external representation from a third-person perspective.
- Function-Focused:
- Focuses on body capabilities (movement, creativity, sensations).
- Emphasizes first-person perspective of being in the body.
Importance of Body Image Perspective:
Appearance-focused view linked to higher body dissatisfaction, increased risk of eating disorders, lower self-esteem, mental well-being issues, depression, and anxiety.
Functionality-focused view associated with higher self-esteem, mental well-being, positive body image, better physical health outcomes, and faster eating disorder recovery.

Tripartite Model of Body Image Influences:
Parents:
- Direct influence through comments on weight/shape; criticism/praise.
- Indirect influence (e.g., restrictive diets affect children).
- Food labels ("good" and "bad" foods) shape views on eating.
Peers:
- Appearance-based bullying is a significant predictor of body dissatisfaction.
- Social comparison leads to dissatisfaction (upward comparison decreases esteem, downward temporarily boosts it).
- Diet talk and body monitoring from peers increases self-consciousness and perpetuates dieting.
Media:
- Disseminates beauty ideals (thinness for women, muscularity for men).
- Social media enhances comparison, often negatively affecting body image.
- Influence of diet culture masked as wellness content promotes disordered eating behaviors.

Cultural Construct of Beauty:
Different cultures have varied beauty standards (larger bodies once symbolized wealth and health).
Western influences have shifted perceptions towards thinness associated with moral discipline.
Historical shifts influence current standards of body image with capitalism driving unattainable ideals.
Consequences of the Appearance-Ideal:

Internalization:
- Self-worth is tied to achieving beauty ideals, which differ by gender.
- Women hypersexualized in media as objects.
Objectification:
- Bodies treated as objects for evaluation/control, leading to self-objectification.
- May result in body surveillance and cognitive distractions.
Increased Eating Disorder Risk:
- A cycle begins with internalizing beauty standards leading to body surveillance and unhealthy modification methods (dieting, exercising).

Body image pressures among minority groups:
Eurocentric ideals favored in beauty standards, causing marginalized groups to face additional pressures to conform.
Disordered eating behaviors higher in Black, Latina, and Asian women linked to these pressures.
Roots of Fatphobia and Weight Stigma:
Historically associated with racism; labeling fatness in certain ethnicities as immoral.
Thinness idealized as linked to discipline; upheld by Protestant ideals of morality.
Medicalization of Weight:
BMI introduced as a health assessment tool, based on outdated data, excluding race, gender, and muscle mass considerations.
Limitations of BMI lead to misdiagnosis and oversight in healthcare.

Consequences for Individuals:
Avoiding healthcare due to prior experiences of fat-shaming.
Higher stress and psychological distress linked to weight discrimination.
Research shows behaviors like nutrition and movement, rather than weight alone, better predict health outcomes.