Reports that there have been an increase in women who are unhappy
about their self-image compare to men. How women before 1970 felt about
their bodies; Why there has been an increase; Comments from Alan
Feingold, a Yale psychologist.
By
Katherine Billie,
Camille Chatterjee, published on September 01, 1998
The sexual and feminist revolutions may have brought women and men
closer toequality in work and play. But in at least one area, the social
upheavals may have led the genders further apart: more women today suffer
from poor body self-image than do men.
Since 1970, the number of women unhappy with their appearance has
drastically increased, while the number of discontented men has stayed
virtually the same. Yale psychologist Alan Feingold, Ph.D., and research
assistant Ronald Mazzella arrived at that conclusion after analyzing data
on body image and physical attractiveness gathered from men and women
during the past 50 years.
Women before 1970 actually showed little displeasure with their
bodies, reports Feingold. Why the subsequent increase? He speculates that
women's newfound independence ironically exacerbated the biological need
to look attractive to draw a mate and produce offspring.
"Until the 70s," he notes, "the typical woman got married and had
children. She didn't have to dress up: she wasn't visible." But as women
began working, they had to compete for acceptance, responsibilities, and
promotions--and appearance counted. "In the workplace, women face
heightened pressure to be attractive, which makes them more vulnerable to
poor body imaging," says Feingold, who believes the strain also explains
why eating disorders have flourished among women in the past 20
years.
Happily, the number of women dissatisfied with their bodies seems
to have leveled off, and Feingold doesn't expect the gender gap to widen
further. Says Feingold: "It would be hard to duplicate the sociocultural
changes that altered women's lives in the 1970s."
PHOTO (COLOR): Building Better Bodies: Is work making women more
than men feel the need to work out?
Tags:
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better bodies,
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Body image,
body imaging,
displeasure,
feingold,
gender,
gender gap,
genders,
mazzella,
newfound independence,
photo color,
revolutions,
self-esteem,
social upheavals,
typical woman,
women,
women and men,
work,
work and play
