Body image differences and gender, race, age, etc

JLD81

I just thought I would see if anyone else had any thoughts, experience, or perspectives to share about this. I am a social worker who has a past history of eating disorders that started around the age of 14. I had started but never completed my masters degree in social work and while in the program I did one of my papers on how race and gender affects body image. Among women, white females had the highest rate of eating disorders, poor body image, and highest rates of body dysmorphia. African American women had very low occurrences of eating disorders and the best body image regardless of body size. Homosexual men tended to have thethe highest occurrence of eating disorders among men regardless of race. Any one have any thoughts on this? No hate posts or stereotyping please, I am interested in real discussion. Thanks for any input

minerva00

What an interesting topic! I think that there are many differences in body image by gender, by race, age and any of their combinations. I am a 30 year old Latina and while I have struggled with my body image, as many women have in the current society we live in, I don't think it's as bad as I have seen from my female Caucasian friends. My parents were not very physically active people and my mom especially always said that what was important was how I felt about myself and not how I looked. I was always heavier than most of my friends but not enough to make me self-conscious and uncomfortable.

The first time I was outside of a predominantly Latino/a community was in college and it was a culture shock for sure! One of the biggest observation I did during my freshmen year was how white female students dressed much sexier and revealing AND were much thinner than me or my Latina friends. I think back to these days and remember that during my freshmen year I got sick and lost about 20 lbs. I started noticing a lot more attention from all men but specially white males who had never really shown interest in me. This then caused me to join the gym to keep the new thinner body and with 2 part-time jobs and a full-time studying schedule made me lose another 10 lbs. and get even sicker! I was only eating around 600 calories a day! My doctor got very concerned and encouraged me to carry snacks around and eat at least 1500 calories a day. I remember my Latina friends saying I was too skinny and needed to eat more. I slowly gained weight back and kept it pretty stable until graduation. However, now almost a decade later I think that if I wouldn't have had a strong family and friend support I would have easily developed an eating disorder.

I think that statistic regarding body dysmorphia is more common in white females than Latinas is pretty accurate from my experience. I wonder if there is any correlation with Latino and African American preferring curvier bodies which are common in women of color?

sorry for the rambling but I am very interested in this topic and hope you find others who chime in as well!

JLD81

Thank you for your reply!

I have noticed many of the same things you have described. When i did my research on this topic in college, Latinas seemed to have lower occurences of esting disorders than white females but higher than African American women. It seemed in part to depend on their social environment. The Latinas who primarily associated with white females seemed to have more ed's than those who primarily had Latina friends and associates.

In my personal experience, I had a worse body image when growing up in a community where the female population was primarily white. I have a sibling who also suffered from ed's but she is 12 years older than me and lived with our dad i a separate home when i was growing up.

Several years ago i began working in an office that is very culturally diverse. I was very thin (with the exception of my butt that is always a junk i the trunk shaped butt) when i started at this office. When i started having health issuss and gained about 25lbs all of a sudden i got more attention from men in the areas surrounding my workplace. My body image improved dramatically when my female friends were much more diverse and the body qualities in myself that i had loathed for half my life (namely my "ghetto booth") was now the part of my body that i learned tk accept and appreciate

All this leads me to wonder how much about eating disorders is a genetic predisposition (such as my sister and i both having ed's and the studies that have shown that siblings with a same sex sibling with eds are much more likely to have an ed), how much i about body image is culturally learned, and how much is the cultural aspect affected by your social environment...

minerva00

I am so interested in your research findings! I taught high school for a few years and working on a masters in higher ed now. As I am currently struggling to lose weight and feel better about my own body image, I think about how I can be a better counselor/advisor/mentor to future college students who may be facing ED of their own.

AnvilHead

Very interesting topic. I hope it will continue along the path of rational discussion and not degrade into a hate-fest. I have lived and worked in very racially/culturally diverse communities for much of my life and my personal observations (anecdotal as they may be) concur with your research findings. I'd be curious to hear more about your findings amongst the male population. The form of body dysmorphia informally referred to as "bigorexia" (seeing oneself as not massive/muscular enough) seems to span cultural/racial boundaries, but IMO seems to be more prevalent among Caucasian and African-American males than any other racial/ethnic group. Your thoughts/findings?

wheezybreezy

Very interesting topic. I hope it will continue along the path of rational discussion and not degrade into a hate-fest. I have lived and worked in very racially/culturally diverse communities for much of my life and my personal observations (anecdotal as they may be) concur with your research findings.

I have noticed the same as a half black/half white female. I went to a predominantly white high school, and I was considered fat even though I was at a perfectly healthy weight. The boys at my school were not interested in me either. However, once I got my driver's license and started venturing into the dating scene elsewhere (blacks and latinos) a whole world of opportunity opened up lol. It's more accepted to be curvy or "thick" in those cultures.

gdbadass

Here's a very good video about the "Black Folks Don't Have Eating Disorders" myth:

http://youtu.be/O-F2q_SLun0

hedgiie

i notice that most asians are thin

maremare312

I did a paper on this in college and thought it was really interesting.

small_ninja

I spent a year in Japan in high school, and a few of my host sisters, whom I would've regarded as very slim, thought they were overweight. One was particularly upset about her figure, even though she would've been a size small-medium here in NZ. I thought it was ridiculous but, that being said, she was wearing a Japanese size large, which probably didn't help.

ravenknighte

Being half-asian, I think can maybe offer some personal insight from my own observations and my own research while I was trying to find an eating plan that would work for myself...

Asians appear thin (particularly the older generations) partly due to the traditional diet - small portions of chicken/fish/pork, larger portions of vegtables, and of course rice and rice-based starchy foods. The traditional diet was based around what foods were available. This was pretty much true throughout most of the world before industrialization came along in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Prior to western influence, subsitence agriculture was a way of life for most global societies. Hence the large amount of plant based foods and starches - sweet potatoes, rice, etc. as well as other garden-grown vegetables. Most peasant-class families could only afford to keep a few chickens - usually one or two roosters and a few laying hens, and when hatchlings were allowed to mature they became food that was then preserved and rationed since feed for livestock came out of crop yields and meant that there was that much less to sell at market or be consumed by the family. In some societies, like Asia and Polynesia, being at what we nowadays consider a healthy weight (or even being overweight or obese) was eqated to being prosperous - it meant that a particular family or group were usually land owners of some social rank or status (like nobility class, or ruling class - lord, chieftain, etc.), therefore more livestock was able to be kept and fed, either for family consumption or sale at market, more land was owned for farming, etc... Just as a comparison, life in Hawaii and other parts of Polynesia were similar to life in Japan during the same time periods, with regard to food and concepts surrounding eating.

Nowadays, food choices have changed. Beef is more readily available, pork/chicken have become less expensive (relatively speaking, when compared to availability historically - since livestock is now ranched/cultured/grown as an industry) and lifestyles do not depend on agriculture and farming the way they used to - this is pretty much true throughout a lot of the world in general.

The Asian physiology of them looking thin is due in part to the historically traditional diet. However, through time, as the diet changed, the Asian physiology has adapted. Younger generations are eating differently - not so much of the traditional diets (mostly vegetables and starch with meat as a supplement) so they are physically getting taller and heavier.

Clothes made in asian countries are still sized to fit the traditional body size of asians, even though the physical size of the people has changed. This is a cultural thing - "the nail that sticks up gets pounded down," my asian grandma used to say. What she meant was, "Don't rock the boat." Change comes slowly with some things. And cultures are a big thing to change.

Sorry for the lengthy post, and I don't mean to sound preachy - just wanted to share some of my observations...

pkw58

I have googled this several times,but how do you define eating disorder? It is only when some one is aneroxic or obese? Or is it the inability to maintain a sound nutrition and activity plan.? The charts for my age, height and weight ranges about 30-40 pounds.. I feel much better at the lower range…

I guess what I am trying to say is, I think eating a diet that leads to health issues even if you are in the "healthy weight ranges" was not good for me, I how I feel about my body and my energy level is a world away from where I was 40 pounds heavier…

For the record, white, caucasion, and had horrible body images in my teens (5'8" and top weight in high school 119) hope that your research is published!

nxd10

I'm a developmental psychologist and just reviewed several studies of this.

Body image problems go up with income - one of the reasons they're associaetd with ethnicity. That is true in all countries. As people become wealthier and more Westernized, they value thinness more and also are more subject to eating disorders.

In the United States, Latinos and African-Americans prefer curvier figures than Whites. Asian-Americans prefer the slimmest body types. That tends to be true in Asian countries as well, although most of that research has been done in South Korea and Japan.

In general, guys tend to be less concerned with their weight, although men and women (and boys and girls) have similar weight problems. Men (and boys!) have become increasingly concerned with their bodies - but want a more athletic body, not a thin one. Men with eating disorders tend to be much more psychologically vulnerable (read, more ill) than women.

Income and ethnicity are major predictors of obesity in kids in the US. And this is going to hurt all of our kids, as each generation of kids has become more overweight for the last several decades. That will hurt them over the long haul, as it sets them up for a life of health problems. And as people with less income tend to be heavier, and kids born to heavier moms tend to be born heavy and get heavier, that is particularly problematic. It means the people with the most health problems will have least access to medical care.

gdbadass

Just a warning against generalizing for race, class or ethnicity.

Most ethnic groups are not authoring these studies themselves - self-determination is often a big factor in how these things are understood.

Again, I recommend the series "Black Folks Don't _____" for one example of how the answers vary when the questions are different, or are asked from a different perspective.

Here's a good article with a link to the video:

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2012/07/black-folks-dont-have-eating-disorders-one-web-series-challenges-this-myth/

FireBrand80

Just a warning against generalizing for race, class or ethnicity.

Most ethnic groups are not authoring these studies themselves - self-determination is often a big factor in how these things are understood.

Again, I recommend the series "Black Folks Don't _____" for one example of how the answers vary when the questions are different, or are asked from a different perspective.

Here's a good article with a link to the video:

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2012/07/black-folks-dont-have-eating-disorders-one-web-series-challenges-this-myth/

This is an excellent point. I think there are cultural differences in how these problems are viewed, and when treatment might be sought, etc.