Throughout history, people in every culture have sought to change the natural appearance of their bodies. They reshape and sculpt their bodies and adorn them with paint, cosmetics, clothing, and jewelry. These customs, however, are diverse and particular to a culture at a specific period of time.

The diversity of body costumes has led anthropologists (e.g., Douglas 1970; Strathern 1996) to conclude that a body is both a physical and a symbolic artifact, forged by nature and by culture at a particular moment in history. Social institutions, ideology, values, beliefs, and technology transform a physical body into a social body. Bodies, therefore, provide important clues to the mechanics of society (Sullivan,2000).

What is Beauty? Isn’t it in the eye of the beholder? Symmetrical and “average” faces are seen as most attractive. –Become more attractive when average features are exaggerated (e.g., fuller lips and larger eyes in a women) Sociobiological explanations What is beautiful in women generally indicates fertility. In men, attractive traits tend to indicate ability to provide/protect. Males are more upset by sexual infidelity, females by emotional infidelity

Contributing Factors to Body Image Body Image Mood Imagination Self-Esteem Environment Physical Experiences

What is Self-Esteem? Ideal Real Ideal Real = Low Self-Esteem = High Self-Esteem

Research Question  How does exposure to these images influence how women feel about themselves and their bodies?  Perceptual distortion  Social Comparison – (comparison of self to others) What is the perfect woman? (Nichter & Nichter, 1991) - 5’7”, 100 lbs, - long blonde hair - blue eyes Most fashion models meet weight criteria for anorexia nervosa. (Kalodner, 1997) Media is everywhere!

Sources of our “Ideal”

Thin Thighs, Firm Butt, Flat Abs 5 super moves that tone you everywhere! Fitness  Dissatisfaction  Message behind the fitness images  Idea of achievability  But is it really achievable?  Exposure  GUILT  Dissatisfaction Firm All Your Trouble Zones Get lean and sculpted, melt inches Fastest Ab and Butt Toners Cardio shortcuts Blast fat in 10, 15, 20 mins.

Beauty  Distortion  Beauty images thinner than fitness images  Less guilt because only option of attainability is to take drastic, unhealthy measures (e.g., drug use, eating disorder) Average woman beauty fitness Weight

Physical Attractiveness As much as we deny it, we are swayed by how people look. Hatfield and Berscheid have both done research that indicates that the more attractive a female is, the more likely she is to date. –The effect is slightly less strong for males. Matching phenomenon –Couples (even friends) tend to be relatively equal in attractiveness. –When not true, less attractive partner usually compensates on some other factor (e.g., very wealthy older men marrying beautiful young women).

The Physical Attractiveness Stereotype “That which is beautiful, is good.” People within a culture, assume that attractive people have the traits that are valued by that culture. Adults and children are biased toward attractive people. Heck - even infants stare at attractive people longer than unattractive people! Lessons begin early – how many ugly heroes are there in children’s tales vs. the number of ugly villians?

Impact of Beauty Stereotype Attractive people have better jobs and make more money. Irene Hanson Frieze found that for each incremental improvement in attractiveness a person earns on average $2300 more each year. Attractive people are perceived to be more popular and outgoing. –This is probably reality, as they gain confidence from positive attention.

Is it all relative? Classic study indicated that men found women to be less attractive if they had just finished watching Charlie’s Angels. Men find their spouses less attractive after viewing centerfolds or pornographic films. True for self also, people find themselves less attractive after viewing other “more attractive” people.

Good News About Beauty Beauty is a two-way street. Although we like attractive people more, we also tend to find people we like to be attractive! The more in love we are with someone, the more attractive we view them, and the less attractive we view others of opposite sex.

One of the most memorable episodes of “The Twilight Zone” television series begins as a woman chats with a doctor in a hospital room with her head covered with gauze. This woman has undergone a procedure to make her look normal and she is anxiously waiting to see her face without the bandages. "I never really wanted to be beautiful”, she tells the doctor. “I just wanted people not to scream when they looked at me”… “I want to belong; I want to be like everybody else”.

However, the doctor warns her that because she has undergone so many procedures, it will not be possible to try again. If the procedure proves unsuccessful, she will be sent to a special area where people of her kind have been exiled. The doctor removes the bandages from the final surgery, and he and the nurses are horrified to discover there has been “no change”.

When the woman’s face is revealed to the camera, however, we see that she is beautiful by human standards, but, to our surprise, when the camera turns to reveal the faces of doctors and nurses, we see that they are hideously deformed. The message is clear: Beauty is in the “Eye of the Beholder”

Every period of history held its own standards on what was and was not considered beautiful.

We tend to regard our own culture’s customs as highly “civilized” and others’ as “savage”. Cultural Ethnocentrism