Societys Perception about the Ideal Women's Body - Article Example

Society’s Perception about the Ideal Women's Body Introduction Women have been fighting the long lost battle to get a perfect figure for times immemorial. But, alas there is no such thing as perfection in this world. We simply are not happy with what we have so even if we get what we want at a particular time, our need would change after we get what we desired. So should women just leave all the dieting and other techniques to get slim? Not at all! Women and as well as men should try to get their bodies in shape and try to achieve fitness rather than starvation to get the ‘figure’. The Debate The question that pops up is ‘why do women go to such extremes such as plastic surgeries, liposuction and starvation’? Obviously they want to attain that perfect figure, but good a perfect figure do for them? The researchers give many reasons of which an important one is because women think that the men are ‘head over toes’ when they see that figure. All people are different but generally speaking men and women are at odds about the perfect shape of a woman. Women are willing to go through various ‘hardships’ in order to lose weight and become skinny while men actually admit that they prefer curvier bodies. This is the dilemma that will be discussed in this article. [20] Society’s Perception The society plays an integral part in shaping up a persons belief and sense of right and wrong. Unfortunately it is this very society that breeds insecurities and self-consciousness just because a person is a little different from the rest. The society has created a ‘need’ for women to get skinnier to remain socially acceptable. The ideal body today is, after all, several sizes smaller than what nature intended for most women. Marcia Hutchinson, a psychologist, says “We live in a culture where it's normal for women to feel we should be thinner, prettier, firmer, and younger, so it's normal for us to have body-image problems”. [5] [6] [12] The portrayal of women in advertisements, dramas and movies are the real influence to the society’s perceptions. A chubby woman seeing models like Jennifer Lopez or Kiera Knightly moving around gracefully in movies would feel put off when she compares herself to these models. The fact is since we are bombarded with so many images of thinness and perfection that women, regardless of their weight, are often unhappy with their bodies. They stand in front of their mirrors judging and comparing themselves, and they feel shamed because they feel fat. ‘Their legs are too big, their breasts too small, their stomachs are too round’. They dislike the bodies they live in, and as a result, end up disliking the person who lives in that body. [4] [5] [6] [12] [17] [19] Cases of depression are widely known to be associated with a woman’s feeling of being ‘fat’. Discussing this problem with a family friend, she informed me that ‘we just want to look good’. When I emphasized that she was smart looking, her face turned surly and she ended the conversation telling me that ‘guys don’t know anything!’ This is just one case. There are plenty of women who fall into this category of wanting to ‘just look good’. The fact is that women are more conscious about their weight than men are. There are way more fat weight-conscious women than fat weight-indifferent men. The study was done by Kristen Harrison, associate professor in Speech Communications, along with Laramie D. Taylor of the University of California at Davis, and Amy Lee Marske of Libertyville High School in Libertyville, exposed students on the campuses of two large Midwestern universities to slides of ‘ideal body images’, selected by a randomly chosen panel of students beforehand, for men and women separately. The conclusions derived from the study were that the ideal body for men was perceived to be big and muscular. To achieve such a body, men considered not eating anything not really a useful strategy. Harrison concluded that eating more makes the men feel a little bit better, and portray a more masculine image to other guys. [8] Further investigation revealed that male and female body ideals in the media show that women are getting thinner and thinner, while men get bigger and bulkier. According to Harrison, “We're down to ridiculously huge muscle guy as the male ideal, and super-tiny - except for maybe the breast implants - female ideal. So the difference between the ideal and the actual for both women and men is getting bigger and bigger”. [15] Are Some Women Who Perceive Themselves As Fat Really Fat? A survey conducted by TSC, a division of Yankelovich and sponsored by Slim-Fast of about 2,000 women highlighted some important points. It was found that only one woman in five considers herself to be her ideal size. And on an average, women would need to lose 38 pounds to reach what they consider an ideal size. [10] So do women overestimate their size? The answer to this question was investigated by psychologists at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London when they asked 50 normal-sized women about their body widths. The answer revealed that women exaggerated the sizes of their waists by about 25 percent and their hips by 16 percent. More than half the women criticized their hips as the part of their bodies they hated most; the only ones who were content with their size were those who were ten pounds underweight. [5] [6] Affects of Society and Media The society makes it very hard for fat people to live without getting taunts and negative comments about their weights. In fact it will probably be unheard of if a person is never criticized over his or her fatness. Constant and continuous taunts, plus the portrayal of women as perfect figure goddesses by media had little helped people to find relief from this problem. Several issues which are now commonly associated to be borne by overweight people are Depression, Shame, Disgust, Anxiety and Sexual Dysfunction. [16] [20] What Women Are Doing To Get Leaner? Looking at the facts and researches it is clear that women want to lose weight. A survey of over 2,500 schoolgirls in the United States, aged between 13 and 18 found that more than three-quarters said they wanted to lose weight and two-thirds had dieted in the past year to lose weight (Whitaker et al., 1989). The result gotten above was expected but the ways those girls tried to lose weight was alarming. Eight per cent of girls reported that they had vomited during the past year to lose weight, 2 per cent had used diuretics and 17 per cent, diet pills. In another American survey, it was reported that 20 per cent of young college females had claimed to self-starve (Pyle et al., 1990). [2] [7] [11] Other extremes that some women go to include a full leg-length surgery, rib removals, liposuctions, breast reduction surgery and breast implantation. But most of these cannot be afforded by most of the women so they try to cut their weight by simply dieting or exercising. And usually this doesn’t work so women ‘try to look’ slim and in shape by wearing a girdle or by wearing control-top pantyhose. Padded and super bras are common additions to women’s attire while some use minimizing bras and height-altering shoes to look the size they want to be. [9] Do Men Really Like Skinny Women? There have always been researches about the ideal men’s and women’s figure, however very few studies have researched how men perceive women’s extreme choices to get leaner. A study done by a psychologist in Medical College of Pennsylvania, April Fallon, concluded that women view themselves much more harshly than others view. But alas “Women aren't scrutinized nearly as much as they think they are”. When she asked nearly 291 men and women to rate sketches of a range of women's body types, the women predicted men would prefer much thinner bodies than the ones the men actually picked as their favorites. Men’s level of interest in the women doesn’t actually fall if a woman is 20 pounds over the ideal. But what people notice is the resigned and unhappy image a poor body gives to a person. [3] [5] [6] Another study done by Cohn and Adler (1992) revealed that women tend to report an ideal body size that is significantly thinner than their perceived actual body size. They also tend to overestimate both men’s and other women’s preferences for female thinness. [1] [9] So what do men like? This question would have been easier to answer had all men been alike. But alas, everybody is different and so all men have contradictory desires when it comes to liking a particular woman. Whereas some guys prefer petite women and all the tiny things that come with them, other guys admitted that they love bigger women simply because they seem ‘more comfortable with themselves’. One particular man interviewed went on to say, “I like fit women. Skinny? Anyone can be skinny, but how many women can claim that they're fit? There's nothing more unattractive than a thin woman with no muscle tone. If that's the case, I'd prefer a more voluptuous woman, milky if you will”. [3] [14] [18] A research done on women revealed that a woman desired a significantly smaller figure than her own. However a woman doesn’t want to be thin all over. The research was done using the ‘BodyBook’ which is a combination of nine woman’s images divided into three parts (bust, waist and hips) and a person can chose the best combination according to his or her preference. It was found that women desired a waist and hips significantly smaller than their own, but at the same time wanted a significantly larger bust. When asked which of the nine whole-figure drawings they found most attractive, men chose a larger ideal than did women. However, examination of the BodyBook measures showed that men's idealization of a larger female body was rooted in their choice of a larger waist and bust; men's and women's ideal hip size ratings did not differ. [9] The truth is all men like breasts and all men like buns. Although big flabby bellies and cellulite are not considered as ‘turn-ons’, meat on a woman is thought to be attractive by virtually all men. Although the mainstream media usually sexualizes the fit and thin, there are plenty of big boned women out there who are the object of many a man's adoration. Anna Nicole, Camryn Manheim and even Oprah are heavily adored by men worldwide. Interviewing a 35 year old man, he said “I don’t want to be sleeping with a skeleton. I don’t mind little chubbiness in my woman”. [18] Interviews done of ten men and women about their opinions of a women’s ideal figure revealed exactly what other researches have found out. Six different categories of women were kept (1.Skinny with big boobs, 2.Athletic/boyish figure with little boobs and butts just very slim and straight, 3.Hourglass figure with boobs, waist, round hips/ass, 4.Classic pear shape with shapely hips/waist but small on top, 5.Thin/anorexic looking, 6.Full and fat figure) and then men and women were asked about their preference. The results from men supported choice number three which is the curvy shape of a woman. Although there were no votes in favor for choice six, there was only one vote for choice one of skinny with big breasts which women perceive to be the perfect figure these days. And this perception of women was found to be consistent with the votes received. Out of the ten women, five wanted to belong to category 1 and two wanted to belong to category 2. The rest were happy to attain category 3. One interviewee gave a very good understanding of the dilemma of the differences in men’s and women’s opinions. He said that he wanted “Nice chest and wide hips, with a narrow waist. Full figured from a man's standpoint is good... full-figured from a woman's is likely to describe someone with no figure whatsoever. As you can tell, I have no problems whatsoever with larger women...but they had better be shapely. You can have an hourglass figure at 100, 150, 200 lbs, or you can be an amorphous blob or shapeless stick figure, so size doesn't really figure into it (although I certainly prefer larger than smaller)”. The only man who preferred the first category explained his choice as “Hollywood has created such ideal women in our minds that we have come to believe such women really do exist…I mean everywhere I go and see, there are these skinny girls clad in minimal clothing showing off their breasts and bones….I just like them now”. Conclusion About a decade ago the perfect woman's measurements were perceived to be 36-26-36 like a like a curvy hourglass. Nowadays, the ideal shape of a woman has gone down two inches to 34-24-34. Now with breast enhancements and other surgeries women can get as skinny as they want and retain their ample bosoms. Obviously no one likes a glutton but a healthy girl who exercises and takes care of herself is quite desirable for all men. Men do look at models and actresses with lustful thoughts, but that’s just because how media has turned our minds towards. Women go to extremes to look the ideal figure while the irony is that the perfect figure they want is not really the perfect figure men desire. It is the time for healthier living. Fat has to go and so does the skinny ideal. The bony lass are the ideal of Hollywood and that ideal should be left there. Men simply prefer the curvy figure of a woman. So while the media shows off the virtually flawless 2% of the population, women here are wasting their times and energy going after a look that not is impossible to get, it is also dangerous to attain. Works Cited 1. Cohn, L. D., & Adler, N. E. (1992), “Female and male perceptions of ideal body shapes”, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 16, 69-79 2. Davis, C.(1997), “Normal and neurotic perfectionism in eating disorders: An interactive model”, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 22, 421–426 3. Ebony. (1994), “When bigger is better - men who like big women”, Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 4. Field, A., Camargo, C.,Taylor, C., Berkey, C., Roberts, S., & Colditz, G. (2001), “Peer, parent and media influences on the development of weight concerns and frequent dieting among preadolescent and adolescent girls and boys”, Pediatrics,107, 54–60 5. Fraser, Laura. (May 1, 1998), “Losing It: False Hopes and Fat Profits in the Diet Industry”, Plume, ISBN-13: 978-0452272910 6. Fraser, Laura “Women: Building a Better Body Image”, [Internet], Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 7. Gunter (2004), “Could Looks Kill?”, [Internet], Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 8. Grieve, F. G., Newton, C. C., Kelley, L., Miller, R. C., & Kerr, N. A. (2005), “The preferred male body shapes of college men and women”, Individual Differences Research Journal, 3, 188-192. 9. Harrison, Kristen. (2003), “Television viewers' ideal body proportions: The case of the curvaceously thin woman”, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, [Internet], Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 10. “'I'm Too Big' 78% Of Women Say” (2005), [Internet], Emax, Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 11. Irving, L. M. (1990), “Mirror images: Effects of the standard of beauty on the self and body-esteem of women exhibiting varying levels of bulimic symptoms”, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9,230-242. 12. Kenrick, D. T., & Gutierres, S. E., (1980), “Contrast effects and judgments of physical attractiveness: when beauty becomes a social problem”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 131-140. 13. Kenrick, D. T., Gutierres, S. E., & Goldberg, L. L. (1989), “Influence of popular erotica on judgments of strangers and mates”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 159-167. 14. Martin Willett. (2007), “In Praise for Big Women” [Internet], Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 15. Richardson, Matthew. (2007), “Ideal body images' affect eating habits”, [Internet], Daily Illani, Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 16. Richins, M. L. (1991), “Social comparison and the idealized images of advertising”, Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 71-83 17. Seid, R.P.(1989), “Never too thin: Why women are at war with their bodies”, NewYork: Prentice-Hall 18. Silver, Austin. “Do Men Want Skinny Women?”, Ask Men, Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 19. Silverstein, B., Perdue, L., Peterson, B., & Kelly, E. (1986), “The role of the mass media in promoting a thin standard of bodily attractiveness for women”. SexRoles, 14, 519–532 20. Tomi-Ann Roberts, Jennifer Y. Gettman. (2004), “Mere exposure: gender differences in the negative effects of priming a state of self-objectification”, [Internet], Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Available at , Accessed on August 14, 2007 Read More