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Body Goals: In Stereotyping of the Female Body

The unrealistic images of both super-slim and curvy models are the most trending "ideal body goals" for many women today.

These new body goals are overpowering women, affecting their lifestyles, how they look at themselves, and even how they look at other people.

Television, magazines and social media all play a role in the creation of new female body stereotypes.

WHAT ARE "BODY GOALS?"

Let's define the term "body goals."

According to the website Urban Dictionary, a community-fueled index of slang, pop culture and Internet culture terms, "body goals" is when a person admires another person's body and aspires to have the same.

TELEVISION AND MAGAZINE

Small framed. Tall and thin. Hourglass shaped body. Big boobs. Big butts. Long slender legs.

These are some of the traits of many female actresses and models on TV and in print/digital magazines.

Studies have shown that unrealistic physical ideals may cause self-doubt and low self-esteem especially in women who are presently overweight.

Take for example a TV commercial of any kind of slimming product. This kind of advertising may give overweight girls the perception that there is something wrong with their body, that there is something ESSENTIALLY WRONG in being bigger than these TV models.

Overweight girls may begin to feel insecure because the "ideal" or "admirable" body type on TV is slim. These girls may also feel discriminated against. When you feel discriminated against, you feel like an outsider.

Because of the dissatisfaction with their bodies, these women will try to achieve "body goals" in order to fit in and gain more self-confidence. From another angle, this might not be a bad thing, if an overweight person is able to attain a more ideal weight for health purposes. However, there are many instances that the impact is more negative than positive.

Some researches state that achieving body goals is one of the main causes of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia, etc.

Anne Becker, a psychologist who conducted a research in Fiji, said that after the arrival of broadcast TV in Fiji, more girls were trying hard to lose weight because they thought these actresses were role models. They were really struck by how thin these girls were on TV. They began to want to look like them.

According to the researchers in the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Journal of Communication in 1997, the highest reported prevalence of disordered eating occurred between the decades of the 1920s and the 1980s. This was the period where the 'ideal woman' was slimmest in US history.

According to the literature, mass media played a huge role in promoting the slim standards of bodily attractiveness that became fashionable among women, and as these standards continued to propagate throughout the population, eating disorders became increasingly common, too.

Remember Kate Moss, the famous waifish model of the Calvin Klein ads in the early 1990s?

During her time, the emphasis of ideal female body type shifted back to skinnier, waif-like body types and she became the epitome of the stereotype.

So obviously, in the industry of models and actresses, size matters - a little too much, if I may say so myself.

Ultra slim bodies become the standard of the society for what is sexy/attractive/beautiful.

Stereotypes are generally harmful, because they don't really inspire people. They cause insecurity, and people go great lengths just to attain what is perceived as the ideal figure or appearance of the female body.

Unfortunately, it's not just actresses on TV and in magazines that are helping propagate unrealistic body images. Social media has been shown to do the same thing.

SOCIAL MEDIA

In recent years, social media has been aiding the stereotyping of the female body, too.

In 2018, a CNN report stated that health experts are warning people of the dangers the "selfie" phenomenon and social media culture. The rise of Instagram and YouTube has allowed the idealization of the bodies of everyday people - no longer just the bodies of supermodels.

The website UConn Today writes: "The "selfie" culture is another example of being excessively concerned with physical attributes to the neglect of other, more meaningful qualities about a person."

In the world of social media, the prettier, sexier, and the more attractive you look on your photo, the more attention you gain from the other social media users.

It is common for women who post pictures of themselves in sexy clothes and bikinis to receive a ton of likes, comments, and shares on social media. These women can easily catch the attention of other users. They will receive more positive comments and gain the 'admiration' of other users. They will now be included in the long list of girls with bodies worthy of emulation on social media.

Women with no curves, or are either overweight or underweight, will likely feel insecure when viewing photos of these "ideal girls."

Many will feel that if they post pictures similar to what these "ideal girls" or posting, they might be ignored, or worse, they might even get unpleasant comments. They will begin to worry of what other social media users might think of their bodies, even before they've shared such images.

Sadly, some mobile apps are not helping quell female body stereotypes at all.

On Instagram and in Facebook, the number of followers, likes and emojis (emotion reactions) tend to cause competition between users.

The Hot or Not rating app on the other hand, lets users judge the attractiveness of other people based on a series of given photos. Tapping either the heart sign or the X "measures" the popularity of groups of images of people.

This kind of app will surely cause self-confidence issues in women who receive more X taps than heart taps.

Fortunately, some women on Instagram are now fight back. Many women now post pictures to shatter the stereotyping of female body. They aim to spread body positivity to everyone.

* * *

So for all women like me, no matter what your size is, be confident. No body goal should make us feel like outcasts in society. We should aim to spread body positivity.

Beautiful, sexy and attractive are not about trending body goals nor the standards of society. It's about seeing yourself as your own definition of these words.

Sources:

Urban Dictionary. (2017, Apr. 17). Body Goals. Retrieved hJune 30, 2018 from www.urbandictionary.com

Casa Palmera Staff. (2011, Jan. 19). Secondhand TV-Watching Influences Eating Disorders. Retrieved June 3p, 2018 from www.casapalmera.com

Howard, J. (2018, Mar. 09). The history of 'ideal' woman and where that has left us. Retrieved June 26, 2018 from www.cnn.com

Pennington, C. (2015, Feb. 03). The Impact of Social Media on Body Image. Retrieved June 30, 2018 from www.today.uconn.edu

Knorr, C. (2017, Jan. 12). How girls use social media to build up, break down self-image. Retrieved June 30, 2018 from www.cnn.com

Miharia, A. (2017, Dec. 21). These women are shattering stereotypes & spreading body positivity one insta image at a time. Retrieved June 26, 2018 from scoopwhoop.com

|| This column is for the segment "AESTHETICA" by Patrisha Badalo -one of the columnists of the Katipunan ng Alternatibong Dibuho, Liriko, at Titik.