Body image affects confidence and self-esteem, with negative body image linked to health problems like eating disorders. Media images, peer and family feedback, and genetics can all influence body image, with many girls developing negative body image by age 10-12. While media images can have a negative influence, other factors such as peer input and genetics may also play a role.
Body image refers to a person’s respect for their physical attributes, which in turn can influence factors such as confidence and self-esteem. A negative body image is thought to be a factor in health problems such as eating disorders, although the actual level of influence is not yet fully understood. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, much attention has been paid to the factors affecting the body image of girls. Media images in particular were believed to exert a strong influence by suggesting an ideal body shape. Other factors may include input and feedback from peers and family members and perhaps even genetics.
In early childhood, a person’s awareness is mostly directed outward. Babies and toddlers learn about family, society and their surroundings. Between the ages of five and ten, children become aware of their personal appearance and how this affects their interactions with others. This is where gender roles and divisions come into play. Scientific studies have shown that many girls in Western societies develop a negative body image by the age of 10-12. The veracity and cause of this change has been the subject of much discussion and debate among psychologists, media specialists and feminists.
Visual media, especially advertising, increase their attractiveness by employing attractive models and actors. In advertising, a common unspoken inference is that use of the advertised product will make the user more attractive or sexually attractive. Beginning in the mid-20th century, there was some concern that these practices created an unrealistic and unattainable physical ideal. Books such as Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth and Mary Pipher’s Reviving Ophelia suggest that media images can have a negative influence on girls’ body image. The idea is that girls subconsciously confront these images, find themselves deficient, and engage in unhealthy practices, such as eating disorders, in an attempt to measure up.
Others have argued that this may be an oversimplification of the problem. In regards to life-threatening eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, there can be many social and psychological factors at work. It appears, however, that media images can affect girls’ body image well into adulthood. A 2007 report by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that highly sexualized female images influenced five-year-old girls’ behavior and self-image. The report adds, however, that these media often reflect and reinforce dominant cultural ideas.
A later report, also from the APA, suggested that media images alone do not influence girls’ body image. Peer input, both positive and negative, is also a factor. Comments from family members can be a strong influence, especially if these comments are negative or if the girl comes from a culture where respect for family is highly emphasized. Finally, the school of thought known as evolutionary psychology claims that genetics could also be a factor. According to this theory, girls’ body image may be influenced by competitive instincts that go back to the primitive beginnings of the human race.
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