Mirror, Mirror on the Wall …

Olmsted Academy South March 10, 2009 Dr. Susan R. Rose [email protected]

About Body Image

• Body Image is: –

How you view yourself

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What you believe to be true about your body How you feel about your body How you feel IN your body

• We are not born with a body image; it is learned.

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Our culture consistently justifies feeling “bad” about oneself.

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Insecurity about appearance has become a global norm.

A Positive Body Image Is

1

A clear and true perception about one’s body and physical characteristics.

4

Appreciating and caring for your body.

2

Accepting others for who they are – not their physical appearance.

3

Feeling comfortable and confident in your own skin

A Negative Body Image Is

1

A distorted perception about one’s body (shape) and physical characteristics.

2

Believing you would be better liked if you looked different.

4

Believing that others are better looking and liked more because of their physical characteristics.

3

Feeling uncomfortable and disgusted in your own skin

How Body Image Is Formed

Imagination Feelings & Mood Environment Body Image Self-Esteem Life Experiences

Factors to Consider

There are four main components to an individuals self-concept of their body.

Visual Emotional Mental Kinesthetic How you see yourself How your feel about your body What you believe to be true about your body How you feel inside of your skin

Statistics

• 42% of 1 st – 3 rd thinner.

grade girls want to be • 45% of boys and girls in grades 3 – 6 want to be thinner.

• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.

• The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds.

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The average American model is 5”11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.

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Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.

Statistics: Diets and Dollars

The diet industry is a MULTI-BILLION dollar industry with a 99% failure rate!

$$$ 25% of American Men and 45% of American Women are on a diet on any given day.

The Diet Wars The Diet Wars 46% of 9-11 year old are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets. 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets.

$$$ Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet related products each year.

Body Image & Disordered Eating

• Negative body image can lead to disordered eating and/or eating disorders.

• Having a negative body image does not mean an eating disorder exists.

• What are eating disorders?

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Anorexia Bulimia Binge Eating Disorder EDNOS

• Obesity and Body Image –

Overweight children/teens are most negatively impacted by body image concerns

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Obesity issues are multi-facted

Normalcy

• Fat is common table talk • Size discrimination is often the reason students are bullied and directly correlated with significantly lower self-esteem • The inherent goal of most teenagers is to fit in.

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Often, teens will go to extremes to feel included.

There is Something Wrong with You … And we’ll fix it!

Messages from the Media If you buy our product , You will be better!

Media Statistics

• By the time adolescents graduate from high school, they will have spent about 15,000 hours with the media and 12,000 hours in school.

• The average 8 – 18 year old in the United States spends almost 6 ½ hours consuming media in a typical day.

• Marketing strategies exploit consumer’s tendencies to distort their body images by preying on insecurities and appearance.

• 1 out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of “attractiveness message”.

Computer Retouching

Katie Couric didn’t ask for this to be done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iwaQ2zi63c&feat ure=player_embedded : Make Me Beautiful

Other Media Techniques Product Placement Immersive Advertising Contests Food Marketing Co Branding

Media Manipulation

• Promises of “quick fixes” and “immediate results” • Expensive and extravagant lighting • Body part replacement • Using celebrities to sell a product • Vanity sizing • Propaganda and bombardment • Subliminal messages

Changing the Thought Process

• We must all love our bodies – no matter what our “faults” are!

• The important issue is health, not size!

• Your self-worth is not related to how you look!

Focus on the Positive/Celebrate the “Good”

Take care of your body. You live there!

Dr. Susan R. Rose