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Body
image distortion in women:
results, and art therapeutic intervention
Alexandra
Daszkowski
Eva
mixed media on paper, 1998
Body
image is defined as the mental image we have of our own physical appearance.
It does not have to be identical with our actual body shape, it is rather
the "body of our imagination". Body image includes attitudes
and emotions towards one´s own body, and cannot be considered
without its cultural context. Even though vitality and physical appearance
are mainly biologically determined, attitudes displayed towards them
are formed by social standards. Human bodies are expected to conform
to established norms, especially the ones that belong to women. Nowadays
corsets are worn in our heads. Many girls and women concentrate their
entire thoughts and actions on shaping their outward silhouettes. Their
actual body shape is dismissed as being deformed. Research shows that,
above all, women with eating disorders suffer from distinct distortions
concerning body size perception, i.e. body dysmorphic disorders. Increasingly
girls and young women fall ill with anorexia and bulimia: disorders
which result from a high level of psychological stress. But when does
this start? Do not women who behave inconspicuously already suffer under
heavy pressure to obtain a figure which is culturally acceptable? How
small is the step for girls, who are aware of socially desired body
shapes, to slip into a disastrous body dysmorphic disorder? The all-pervasive
ideal of beauty is a skinny, feminine-androgynous child-woman composited
from various types of body build and largely contradictory to the natural
range of women´s bodies. In comparison with her almost every woman
must feel inadequate. The aim of the following study was the verification
of this hypothesis.
Assuming
that subjective body image is influenced by the prevalent ideal of beauty,
110 women (age 20-39) were interviewed concerning the perception of
their own body. Body-related attitudes, level of self-consciousness
concerning different body parts and body weight-related aspects were
recorded with the help of questionnaires. The assessment of the women's
personal body shape, aquired with the help of body-build rating scales
was related to actual body build. The ideal of beauty was chosen from
a range of body silhouettes.
The
results show that the present beauty norm is internalized. Body-related
satisfaction is influenced by the image of one's own body. The degree
of negative attitudes toward one's body is related to the extent of
deviation between the idea of one´s own body and the ideal body.
Women who come nearest to the prevalent ideal of beauty have the most
positive attitudes. However, there is no group that is completely satisfied
with
its personal body shape. Reality generally does not correspond to a
subjective body image. The degree of distortion is linked to a negative
assessment of one´s body. The extent of objective body mass and
width correlates with the degree of the test persons´ body satisfaction.
This particularly holds true concerning the dimensions of a specifically
female body fat distribution, which relate to an embarrassed body assessment.
Furthermore, a distinct discrepancy between self- and outside perception
of one´s body mass was found.
The
results can be viewed in a cultural context referring to aspects of
female socialisation and a modern beauty cult. An extremely slim, unnatural
beauty norm considerably influences the fact that many women dislike
their natural figure. Compared with the present ideal of beauty almost
every female body shows supposed "defects". The question arises
to what extent normal, young women are put at risk by the noxious body
image disorders which are caused by cultural influences, i.e. culture
bound syndromes. In conclusion, the necessity is emphazised to foster
an inner body experience, so that outward appearance may become less
important. Intervention in order to fight manifestations of body dysmorphic
disorders prophylactically may be possible. Particularly measures which
may encourage women to change their body perception positively are recommended.
The aim is to cease misinterpretation of one´s body as a mere
maleable object, and learning to respect it as a valuable part of one´s
self.
Art
therapy offers possible intervention. The art therapeutic method of
"body charts" was extented within the scope of a
body image workshop. On large sheets of paper, life-sized body outlines
were drawn, which were then creatively enriched step by step through
thematic interventions. The issues in question are highly relevant
from a feminist psychotherapist's point of view (i.e. body boundaries).
Playful construction of such "body images" enables women
to express their body-related emotions, and aims at discovering a
new, positive approach towards one´s own body. In this manner,
the needs as well as the strength of the body are perceived realistically,
thus improving the level of acceptance of one´s body. The body
chart - being a visible body trace - provides evidence of such an
improvement, i.e. the expansion of body-related perception. This process
effects a long-term strengthening of the participants´ potential,
for an unrealistic mental image of one´s body silhouette is
finally overlapped by a real, creative body silhouette.
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T.F.; Winstead, B.A. & Janda, L.H. (1986): Body Image Survey Report.
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Studie über subjektive Körperwahrnehmung unter besonderer
Berücksichtigung des Körperbaus. In: Homo. Journal of Comparative
Human Biology. Suppl., 18.
Garner, D.M.; Garfinkel, P.E.; Schwartz, D. & Thompson, M. (1980):
Cultural expectations of thinness in women. Psychological Reports, 47,
483-491.
Henriques, G.R.; Calhoun, L.G. & Cann, A. (1996): Ethnic Differences
in Women´s Body Satisfaction: An Experimental Investigation. Journal
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biography/cv
 Name:
Alexandra Daniele Daszkowski
Born: January 28, 1966 in Hamburg, Germany
Address: Institute for Human Biology;
University of Hamburg. Allende
Platz 2,
D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
I hold an M.A. in anthropology (Hamburg, University, 1998) and am presently
a doctoral candidate at the Hamburg University, where I am pursuing
an interdisciplinary research project on gender and body image. I am
employed as a socio-psychotherapeutic consultant at a women´s
counselling and referral center. In addition I regularly attend professional
seminars leading towards my certificate as an art-therapist.
University education
Formation:
University of Hamburg: physical and cultural anthropology, psychology,
biology.
Degree: M.A. (Magister Artium; Master of Art), 1998
Master´s thesis: Body image and the female.
An empirical study on subjective body perception.
Doctoral studies:
University of Hamburg: Psychological Anthropology, since October 1998.
Grant: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 1999-2001.
Papers:
University of Hamburg; public lectures 1998;
lecture series: "Human biology: the link between natural and cultural
science"
Congress of the German society of Psychology, Dresden, Germany 1998;
lecture series: " Men and women"
Congress of the Society for Anthropology, Göttingen, Germany 1998;
lecture series: " Co-evolutionary processes between man and environment"
Teaching experience:
Direction of a body image workshop, 1997; in: Abraxa, meeting-place
for
women, parents and children, Hamburg
Professional membership:
Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie [Society of Anthropology]; since 1999
Berufsverband gestaltorientierter Kunsttherapeuten [Professional Association
of gestalt-oriented art-therapists]; since 1999
Scientific publications:
Body image and the female. Abstract. In: Homo. J. Of Comparative Human
Biology. Suppl., 18., 1998.
Body image and the female. An empirical study on subjective body perception
specifically considering the body build. In: Schultz, M.: Proceedings
of the GFA´s third conference. In preparation.
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