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Submitted by unEcorn12 on March 7, 2005
Category: Social Issues
Words: 1681 | Pages: 7
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Culture and its Role in the Construction of Women's Body Image: Methodical vs. Individualistic
The definition of body image refers to an individual's subjective evaluation of her size, weight, or any other aspect of physical appearance; a highly personalized experience (Linda Ridge Wolszon 546). The modern West places great emphasis on individualism, which claims human existence as separate from society, stressing both self-interest and human rights. Current research concerning body image is combined with individualist ideology that leads to confusion and dilemmas. After conducting research on this topic of body image, I argue that a hermeneutic, or methodological principle of interpretation, should be taken which can help us distinguish the relationship of the individual to culture, which in turn will help clarify the cultural and ethical aspects of women's struggles with body image.
Within the past ten years, the rise of eating disorders has gotten more public attention. This spark increased scientific research geared toward explaining and responding to this disaster. It is now widely recognized that body image dissatisfaction, broadly defined as strong negative feelings about the body, are persistent among women, especially concerning weight and dieting. Merely being a women in our society means feeling too fat (Wolszon 542). Survey data indicate that three fourths of normal weight women in the United States feel fat, more than half of adult women in the United States are on a diet, and on study showed that nearly 80% of fourth grade girls are watching their weight (Shelly Levitt 64).
At first glance, it appears that body image researchers have not just focused on the individual. Nearly every researcher in this field acknowledges the essential role that cultural norms for appearance play in the development of one's body image. They have even gone as far as recognizing the gender differences in appearance norms in...
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