Article Link Body Image Strongly Tied To Overall Life Satisfaction

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by hch

I searched and found references to a 1997 book, The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, by Joan Jacobs Brumberg. (I don't know if Twenge wrote anything that quotes it or draws from a common source.)

https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/...05ornstet.html

That may have been it, thank you. I haven't read Brumberg's book, but I think it might have been quoted in what I read. It was a while ago.

[adawn]

Originally Posted by Taiga

We enjoy the benefits of that progress daily. We are responsible to keep fighting to make it better for those who will come after us. Nothing changes if we cave to it. Like anything fulfilling, enlightenment and growth take work.

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

Yes, certainly it is a very tricky thing to identify and fight back against size discrimination, and I'm sure it will take a long time to do so, just (as Taiga mentioned) it has for women and people of color. And naturally, there are still battles to be fought there....
I'm sure it can be very tough to ascertain whether or not your size or appearance has had an impact on hiring. It's going to take a societal attitude change.

I agree with both of you.

[JackieB]

The first thing I thought of was mirrors. So many mirrors...how long have we had so many opportunities to look at ourselves? Then I thought about media and accessibility of body alterations. Then there's the fitness industry. I just wonder if we never looked at ourselves in the mirror how many of us would be concerned about our saddlebags or cellulite? We'd all be more concerned if our back hurt or our hips were awful.

Narcissicism is another word I'm hearing a lot lately...seems to plague our society.

I think I'd like to read that book.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Chomper

There's also this about tennis pros balancing looks vs power on the court:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/sp...cess.html?_r=0

I follow tennis and pretty much everyone knows that many of the players' weight and height stats way off since they are entirely self reported. While male players will often lie and say they are bigger than they really are female players will tend to do the opposite and say they are smaller.

[nckfitheart]

Originally Posted by hch

Interested readers may also want to look for reaction to this article (I may recommend specific pieces later, when I have more time to look). Some reactions agreed that this article was inadequate in discussing certain statements about Serena Williams's physique.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/sp...cess.html?_r=1

I agree that some of the statement from article above about serena williams physique is inadequate. Again it is all about trying to define and fit beauty within a box. It is just not right! Even the title of the article is wrong in my opinion ---balance body image and Power!!!

Many women and Men, real ones share comments below extracted from the article:

"“I actually like looking strong,” Watson said. “I find strong, fit women a lot more attractive than lanky no-shape ones.”

At the end of the day serena has accepted herself with her abilities and she has embraced her genetic potential. Despite the fact that her opponents earn much more through endorsements, She rules the court and everyone should just leave all those inadequates, discriminatory comments to facts!!

[topfitmama]

Originally Posted by JackieB

The first thing I thought of was mirrors. So many mirrors...how long have we had so many opportunities to look at ourselves? Then I thought about media and accessibility of body alterations. Then there's the fitness industry. I just wonder if we never looked at ourselves in the mirror how many of us would be concerned about our saddlebags or cellulite? We'd all be more concerned if our back hurt or our hips were awful.

We don't have a full-length mirror in our house. It just happens to be so, not out of conviction! One day, when I went to buy a new swimming suit, I was shocked when I saw my body in the changing room. I could see every single flaw in the full-length mirrors surrounding me, and that fluorescent light made me look a grayish-white. Horrible! There was no way I was going to try on swimming suits in that room on that day! I ended up trying one on with a pair of compression tights on so as not to see what my naked legs looked like. Yes, I have a ways to go accepting my body, but not staring at it on a regular basis does help.

Originally Posted by JackieB

Narcissicism is another word I'm hearing a lot lately...seems to plague our society.

Narcissism is a sign of terribly low self-esteem. Interestingly, Narcissus fell in love with his image and narcissists are generally full of self-loathing and insecurities.
I do think, though, that psychological terms get thrown around quite liberally these days. On another forum I frequent every now and then, it seems like everyone who doesn't behave socially correctly is a sufferer of NPD, codependency, OCD, or is a sociopath. Considering that all of those disorders are illnesses that cause tremendous suffering, it's amazing how they are used to incriminate and shame people.

We live in a world full of hurt and wounded people. Who you are has nothing to do with the way you look or what you may have accomplished in life. I wonder to what extent our current media consumption is destroying us.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by topfitmama

We don't have a full-length mirror in our house. It just happens to be so, not out of conviction! One day, when I went to buy a new swimming suit, I was shocked when I saw my body in the changing room. I could see every single flaw in the full-length mirrors surrounding me, and that fluorescent light made me look a grayish-white. Horrible! There was no way I was going to try on swimming suits in that room on that day! I ended up trying one on with a pair of compression tights on so as not to see what my naked legs looked like. Yes, I have a ways to go accepting my body, but not staring at it on a regular basis does help.

Interestingly, I read somewhere years ago that looking at one's self frequently can actually lead to self-acceptance, largely because of the story you've shared. Because we don't look at certain body parts frequently, it can be a 'shock' when we actually do. The author of the article noted that people tend to be more accepting of their faces for this reason. We simply look at them more often.

[topfitmama]

That's an interesting point, Nuggie's Auntie. I wonder if having a full-length mirror might help me take one further step towards body acceptance.

As I've shared elsewhere, consciously walking away from a focus on achieving a better looking body has helped me rediscover who I am under my imperfect skin. I still cringe at the thought of having to don a bathing suit, but I'm usually just fine once I'm at the pool because nobody around me looks anything like a model. Some are thinner, some have more fat on their bodies, but we're all imperfect and there to exercise or enjoy ourselves and the company of the people we are there with.

I guess that accepting who we are, being grateful for our gifts, and aiming at using them to make a difference in people's lives is a very good step up the happiness ladder. I may need more time to be happy with the way my body looks. I may not ever like the way it looks with no clothes on, but I can work towards enjoying my life.

I guess I see the truth in the content of the article, but I don't think we should just accept it as a fact that we can't change.

[Chomper]

Originally Posted by nckfitheart

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/sp...cess.html?_r=1

I agree that some of the statement from article above about serena williams physique is inadequate. Again it is all about trying to define and fit beauty within a box. It is just not right! Even the title of the article is wrong in my opinion ---balance body image and Power!!!

Many women and Men, real ones share comments below extracted from the article:

"“I actually like looking strong,” Watson said. “I find strong, fit women a lot more attractive than lanky no-shape ones.”

At the end of the day serena has accepted herself with her abilities and she has embraced her genetic potential. Despite the fact that her opponents earn much more through endorsements, She rules the court and everyone should just leave all those inadequates, discriminatory comments to facts!!

I think Serena Williams is glorious. The reason I posted the article here is because it discusses how many female tennis pros feel social pressure to look feminine by not putting on muscle that could help them win their games. Even the ones who say yes they are trying to put on some muscle seem to imply that as soon as they retire they'll quickly shed the muscle to try to look better again. I think that's sad.

[Chomper]

Originally Posted by Sassy

No, you didn't cause any angst for me - I'm enjoying the discussion. I'm actually getting pretty far in my goal of accepting myself as I am - but part of that is taking opportunities to speak up when the subject presents itself.

The healthy aspect of what I was referring to is that very often, if you are fat - eating healthy and working out are only laudable if your goal is to lose weight. If you declare that you're going to embark on a great new workout plan, and clean up your eating and your goal is just to take good care of yourself and not worry about the scale...you get flak for that. Mostly in the "concern" area that you referred to, but even well-meaning people will offer advice on how you can do all that AND LOSE WEIGHT TOO! YAY!

I've always loved your avatar, Sassy, so cute! About the messages you are getting that are discouraging and distracting, I'm afraid they come from a place of ignorance. It might help to remind yourself of that, maybe a tiny bit. The research is starting to show that even small amounts of weight loss have big health benefits. Why is that? Maybe, just maybe, because the small weight loss came from improving some eating and exercise habits in a sustainable way?

https://source.wustl.edu/2016/02/in-...alth-benefits/

(ETA: PS. How dehumanizing is that picture with the article?)

Also, the research on the health dangers of being overweight and obese has not been able to factor OUT the stress of being discriminated against and being punished socially for being overweight and obese. How do you control for that in epidemiological studies? We know that social stress has health effects. However the mainstream view is still very black and white about weight and health issues.

I wonder if even opening the door to the conversation by declaring eating changes and exercise plans is problematic, unfortunately? I'm guessing we're talking about family and close friends, so maybe sending some articles would help?