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Body Image across Cultures

By Kia Wakefield

In the book Feeling Good about the Way You Look, author Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D., explains that most people do not go through life completely satisfied with their appearance at all times. Dissatisfaction with body image can arise at certain times in life, such as middle age or puberty. When a person is unhappy with their body, their diet, perception of themselves and perception of others can change, and can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

The way that people view their bodies varies throughout cultures and ethnicities. Each culture views the body in a different way. How ethnicity affects one’s body image is complex and is of growing interest to researchers, who have determined that ethnic background can play a role in the way people identify and rate their body image.

Ethnicity in America

The International Journal of Eating Disorders published a report that found African-Americans generally have greater body satisfaction and the least overestimation of weight than people of Latino or European-American origin.

Dr. Thomas Cash conducted further research studies between 1996 and 2001 that confirmed these findings. Cash found that 29 percent of women other than those of African-American descent and 16 percent of men of the same ethnicities were unhappy with their body image. He also discovered that 17 percent of black women are dissatisfied with their looks.

Too Fat or Too Slim?

In the Mauritania African culture, women are force-fed and required to take in thousands of calories each day to keep them obese. In other cultures, thin is in.

Across ethnicities and cultures, the thin ideal is spreading. Over the past two decades, the trend of cosmetic body shaping and dieting has grown among many cultures. This trend can be traced to its prevalence in the music, film and fashion industries.

There is no denying that the Western sphere of influence on body image has infiltrated many cultures and ethnicities. There has been controversy on whether or not Western ideals are negatively affecting various ethnicities and vicariously causing body image distortions around the world.

In some places, such as the Cameroon of Africa or Jamaica, fat is in. In these cultures obesity continues to be associated with abundance, fertility and erotic desirability. The women there continue to seek out ways to gain weight based on their culture’s definition of an ideal body image.

Although a person’s ethnicity doesn’t change, the culture of that ethnicity does. American culture, in particular, was once accepting and embracing of women who were over a size 10. This body image was seen as beautiful and voluptuous. This cultural concept persisted as early as a few decades ago, but a size 10 is now commonly seen as “too big.” Women and men alike are keeping the dieting industry in business by their desire to become significantly thinner.

The Male Counterparts

Researchers on body image and ethnicity often attempt to understand how females feel and think about their bodies. In general, females are more affected by their body image than males. But negative body image is becoming more of a problem among males, and can often depend on a male’s geographical location and ethnicity.

For example, Asian men are found to typically have a better body image than other ethnicities. Harvard researchers believe this may be in part due to Asian art, which depicts the Asian ideal of masculinity as intellectual and having fortitude of character, rather than physical prowess and muscle.

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem also plays a subliminal role in body image and ethnicity. If a particular ethnicity gives validation to a larger range of body types, people of that ethnicity have an increased chance of feeling comfortable with their bodies and having a higher self-image.

Ethnicities and cultures that are particularly critical will find that women and men are more likely to suffer from body image and eating disorders, which often result in eating disorders treatment. A negative body image almost always correlates with negative behaviors toward one’s body.

In the book The Body Myth, the authors illustrate how millions of women live under the impression that self-worth is based on how much they weigh, how they look and what they choose to eat. Unfortunately, this can lead many people to strive for what they believe is perfection, which is, quite simply, unattainable.