Body image is a social construct that indicates a person’s perceptions, feelings, and thoughts about their body and physical appearance (Bakhshi, 2011). In one study, participants aptly defined it as “the way you see yourself and the way you think others see you,” which highlights both the individual and social nature of the phenomenon (Spurgas, 2005). Body image is influenced by both psychological and socio-cultural aspects, which can account for vast range of perceptions experienced by women worldwide. The mass media serves as a notable social agent in shaping women’s body image through the transmission of socially constructed representations of the ideal body, which women tend internalize in developing their individual perceptions of their bodies. Unfortunately, negative body image affects women of all ages, races, ethnicities, classes, and cultures and can have detrimental effects on one’s physical health and psychological well-being. While a number of factors coalesce to form the diverse perceptions of body image among women, this review of literature seeks to examine the role of race/ethnicity and cultural background specifically in contributing to this variation. Earlier studies indicate that, historically, White women tended to exhibit poorer body image compared to women of other races and ethnicities. However, a growing body of literature suggests that physical self-dissatisfaction is becoming increasingly more ubiquitous among women of all ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds due the homogenization of Western beauty standards through the media.
Historical Disparities in Body Image
Since the 1950s, most research related to body image indicated that White women experienced overall poor body image compared to other races and ethnicities. In a 1998 study, Caucasian women typically reported more negative body image compared to African American women (Liebig, 2006). African American females also reported that they were more satisfied with their body weight than Caucasian females (Rosen et al., 1991). Overall, the overwhelming majority of research seemed to agree that White women were more concerned with their appearance and were less satisfied with their bodies than Black women. Spurgas partially attributes these differences between Black and White women to the differences in beauty standards and ideals of each group. Black ideals tended to be more flexible and accepting of a wider variety of body sizes and shapes (Spurgas, 2005).
As researchers expanded their focus to examine the physical self-perceptions of Hispanic women, White women continued to show comparatively poor body image. Traditionally, Hispanic women have been considered protected from negative body image and disordered eating (Rubin et al., 2003). In a 2002 study, Hispanic women were more interested in their health than their body size and were less likely to restrict dieting compared to White women. (Liebig, 2006). In the same study, White women showed higher levels of awareness of American societal standards of the ideal body than both Hispanic and African American women (Leibig, 2006). Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that Caucasian women were much more likely than either African American and Hispanic women to see women with idealized bodies in the media who were representative of their ethnicities (Spurgas, 2005). There were also notable differences in internalization of social standards of beauty and body image. Caucasian women expressed lower self-esteem and more shame related to discrepancies between their actual body size and what they believed is acceptable (Leibig, 2006). Despite these findings, more recent studies are beginning to indicate a new trend. Poor body image is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon among women of all races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds. This can no longer be dismissed as a “White problem.” The duration of this review will seek to explain reasons for this trend and discuss some of the serious consequences and implications it presents.
The Western Ideal
The ideal female body in Western cultures has decreased in terms of size and weight while the average woman has become larger (Bakhshi, 2011). The ideal western body is often portrayed as tone, lean, and white (Liebig, 2006). This contrast body ideals in non-Western cultures such as China and India, were thinness has been historically deemed unattractive (Bakhshi, 2011). This can surely account for differences in physical self-perception of women who have not been exposed to Western ideals. However, cultural aspects may also account for shifting body perception among women who have been exposed to them. Previously, Black and Hispanic women who have been exposed to the thin Western ideal may not have been able to internalize it due to their values and cultural background. Black women tended to define beauty based on personality, style, and other aspects that created a multidimensional standard and left room for variation. White women traditionally fixated on thinness in their definitions (Bakhshi, 2011). However, as more individuals and groups are beginning to identify with Western Culture, they are beginning to adopt this fixed concept of beauty. As a result, there are fewer differences in the levels of body satisfaction between white and none-white women (Bakhshi, 2011).
In one study that interviewed Black women in the U.S. regarding the influence on their body perceptions, many described a universal standard of beauty portrayed in the media as applicable to women of all races and ethnicities. One participant said, “there are so many different types, sizes, shades [of women] that we can’t see because the media only portrays one type…Black women in the media resemble White women…all models are the same size and shape…they fit this single standard” (Spurgas, 2005). When women feel that their bodies do not conform to the standard, they are at greater risk for poorer body image and physical self-dissatisfaction.
The adoption of Western beauty standards also applies to women from non-western cultures who may not have previously been influenced by them. Through both migration and media influence, increasing integration into Western culture has been shown to increase body dissatisfaction as individuals adopt the culture’s norms and values, which tend to conflict with their cultural background (Bakhshi, 2011). Immigrants that migrate from non-western cultures to a Western culture may want to change their bodies to reflect the ideals of the new culture, which tends to lead to negative body image. Research on Latina women indicates that the earlier one migrates to Western culture, the more likely it is that they will adopt the cultural body type ideals (Bakhshi, 2011). Additionally, women not born in the United States tend to be more comfortable with their bodies in their home countries (Spurgas, 2005). Assimilation into American society has changed the way these women view themselves through the adoption of Western beauty standards and body ideals.
Even women that belong to non-western cultures and do not migrate are increasingly adopting Western standards of the beauty and the ideal body rather than maintaining those that were considered attractive in their culture of origin. In the same studied conducted by Spurgas, a participant commented on the shifting beauty standards that she has noticed in her native country. “In Africa, when you are skinny, it was like you don’t have money, you cannot eat well…it wasn’t the beauty…in the past years, this [Western] image is coming [to Africa]…being skinny—the thing is reversing—now is considered beauty [in Africa]” (Spurgas, 2005). Therefore, thinner body ideals are now reinforced for all women regardless of culture, location, race, or ethnicity. Women may have difficulty achieving these ideals and experience physical self-dissatisfaction when comparing themselves with those images. This supports the overall trend toward more ubiquitous negative body image among all races, ethnicities, and cultures.
The Proliferation of Western Images through the Media
Westernization has resulted in the exposure of the majority of non-Western cultures to Western body image ideals and beauty standards. The dissemination of these ideals has occurred largely through the spread of Western television programs, advertisements, magazines, and the internet to non-Western cultures (Sepulveda & Caldo, 2012). The mass media can be a powerful force in social learning processes by both positive and negative reinforcement mechanisms of beliefs, values, and behaviors. However, these mechanisms are tending toward the homogenization of stereotyped and singular notions of beauty that reject the heterogeneous reality (Sepulveda & Caldo, 2012). The messages regarding a single stereotyped idea of beauty portrayed in the media are further reinforced by other primary agents of socialization such as family, peers, and schools. These agents serve has serve as intermediary structures between an individual and their perception of their own body (Sepulveda & Caldo, 2012). Rarely is one able to form their self-perception without any outside influences.
Studies in the early 2000s identified the idealized female body portrayed in the media as thin and Caucasian (Spurgas, 2005). However, while some research suggests that there is increasing racial and ethnic diversity portrayed in magazines and advertisements today, the ideal body type has not followed this trend in diversity. It is now considered frowned upon in the fashion industry to excluded models on the bases of skin color, however, it is still largely acceptable for companies to reject heavier than average models entirely or to label healthy weight individuals as “plus sized” (Mears, 2010). Thus, the media continuously reinforces the idea that all women (women of color included) should be held to a singular standard of beauty—one that is skinny. This trend has a clear link to the increasingly poorer body image reported by women of all races, ethnicities, and cultures, who have been forced to compare themselves to these hyper thin and highly westernized images in the media. The majority of studies and the meta-analysis of several experimental investigations on the exposure mass media indicate a link between the exposure of this thin ideal body and body dissatisfaction. (Sepulveda & Caldo, 2012).
However, it is not only the thin ideal portrayed in the media that is problematic. The selective portrayal of certain characteristics and features in the media also contributes to the homogenous standard of beauty. Directors of modeling agencies in the fashion industry have described choosing women of color to model that resemble typical white models and do not stray too far beyond those characteristics. One study interviewed modeling agency scouts regarding the process they described as finding “good ethnic models” for their advertisements. One New York City scout said, “it’s also really hard to scout a good black girl. Because they have to have the right nose and the right bottom. Most black girls have wide noses and big bottoms so if you can find that right body and that right face, but it’s hard” (Mears, 2010). The issue is not whether or not these described physical differences between white or black women are true, but rather, that presumption that these differences are unattractive and therefore, selectively barred from exposure to the public. The definition of beauty has become so narrowly defined by the fashion industry (among other social agents) to create a white, thin, and Western ideal. These images have been swiftly proliferated through the media to influence the physical self-perceptions of women of all races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.
The Universal Downward Trend in Body Satisfaction
As a result of the homogenization of beauty standards through the media, there has been a universal trend toward more negative body image among all women. In a 2010 study that used body silhouettes to compare racial and ethnic differences in the ideal body image, the large majority of each group preferred silhouette 4 (see figure 1 and 2) (Kronenfeld et al., 2010). The same study also measured body satisfaction in terms of the way women viewed their bodies compared to the preferred silhouette. On this measure, there were no statistically significant differences by ethnicity. This discrepancy between preferred body type and actual body type may put all women at risk for using severe weight control practices in an attempt to control their weight or attain their ideal body size (Kronenfeld et al., 2010). Another 2010 study on body image among college females supported the notion that there is no relationship between a women’s ethnic identity and the level of her body dissatisfaction (Baugh et al., 2010). Although significant differences in eating disordered behavior between the black and white groups were noted in this study, black women still had body dissatisfaction scores similar to those of the white women (Baugh et al., 2010). Unfortunately, body dissatisfaction has become a far too common phenomenon among women of all races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.
Conclusion
It is crucial to note that there was some degree of differentiation in physical self-perception regarding race, ethnicity, or cultural background in each of the studies, and that these differences certainly deserve recognition and further investigation. However, the majority of the contemporary studies support the relatively recent trend toward a collectively poorer body image among all women—a trend that was not nearly as prominent in the earlier studies. While the reasons behind this trend are still open to speculation, overwhelming data indicates the mass media as a major contributor. A summary of the process in which negative body image may commonly develop according to the findings of the studies discussed in this review is depicted below in figure 3. Notwithstanding any remaining discrepancies, the images of the ideal female body depicted in the media have significant effects on the self-images of women of all races, cultures, and ethnicities. As a result of the media’s pervasive influence, the idea that there is a universal standard of beauty—one that is both highly unrealistic and Westernized—has become ubiquitous among all women, irrespective of race, ethnicity, or cultural background.
Implications: Problems Associated with Negative Body Image
Not only does the media convey a single Westernized standard of beauty, but it also perpetuates the idea that any individual can easily achieve these idealized body images through body control and change. However, in many situations, this is unachievable as many of the images presented in the media have been photoshopped and retouched to the point that they have been become unrealistic (Sepulveda & Caldo, 2012). In an effort to achieve the unrealistic ideals, women of all races, ethnicities, and cultures are turning toward aggressive methods of body control such as extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the rate of disorders associated with negative body image as well as the use of methods of body manipulation among all races and ethnicities. “Although previous research has focused on eating disorders as being concentrated largely within the White, non-Hispanic population, accumulating information suggests that eating disorders do not discriminate and that Hispanic women are also at risk for eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors” (Kronenfeld et al., 2010). Recently, eating disorders rates have also been increasing in non-Western societies, such as the Middle East (Baugh et al., 2010). Minority women are also increasingly engaging in plastic surgery and other extreme measures to alter their body and appearance to better mimic the Western ideal (Spurgas, 2005). In terms of cosmetic surgery, many Asian women get surgery in order to mimic the chins, big eyes or high-bridged noses of popular Western actresses. Other forms of body intervention are performed increasingly by all ethnicities, such as lipoplasty and breast augmentation (Baugh et al., 2010). The narrowing gap in problems associated with negative body image indicates that no race, culture, or ethnicity can be shielded from physical self-dissatisfaction any longer.
Directions for Future Research
While these studies have examined body image through many lenses, more current research is needed to confirm the trend toward ubiquity and to investigate whether or not the trend will continue until there are virtually no significant differences in body image by race, ethnicity, or cultural background. Until then, future research may be beneficial in determining ways that we may ameliorate the trend toward negative body image. One source of inquiry may be how the recent positive body image campaigns in the media target various ethnic groups as well as an assessment on their overall effectiveness in promoting positive body image. Based on the research above, one possible way to promote positive body image in women may be simply by portraying more variety and diversity in the media, both in terms of body shape/size as well as skin color and ethnicity. For instance, the fashion industry should celebrate the aesthetic differences in women of various racial and ethnic groups rather than attempting to conceal them.
There is another obvious gap in the literature related to body image and race/ethnicity/culture. The majority of studies focus on analyzing the phenomenon among women, while very few even mention male body image at all. More research is needed to determine how male body image may vary by race, ethnicity, or cultural background. It would be beneficial to examine the male perspective to investigate if there are any noteworthy trends, and whether or not these are the same as the ones observed in women.
It in the research community’s best interest to continue to explore the changing perceptions of body image among various groups of people in hopes of gaining a greater understanding of the phenomenon and promoting public awareness about the severity of negative boy image. It is only with this knowledge and awareness that we may be able to alleviate the growing rate of problems associated with negative body image (such as eating disorders and unnecessary surgeries) and encourage an overall more positive self-perception among women of all races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.