Body Image, t he Media and Fat Talk

1. Body Image, the Media and Fat Talk

2. Statistics • 80% of women say that the images of women on television and in movies, fashion magazines, and advertising makes them feel insecure. • 81% of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. • More than half of teenage girls are, or think they should be on diets. About 3% of these teens go too far, becoming anorexic or bulimic. • 93% of young adult women participate in fat talk that can consequently lead to a negative body image.

3. 4 out of 5 U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance • Most runway models have a BMI that meets physical criteria for Anorexia. • Ten years ago, plus size models averaged between size 12-18. Now the majority are between 6 and 14. • 69% of girls said that magazine models influence their idea of the perfect body shape. • Images of women on television and in movies provide unrealistic representation of bodies and make women feel insecure • The National Eating Disorders Association reports that up to 20 million American women have eating disorders

4. What is body image?

5. Body Image Body image is how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind. It encompasses: • What you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations). • How you feel about your body overall and your height, shape, and weight. • How you sense and control your body as you move.  How you feel in your body, not just about your body.

6. What do you think influences body image?

7. Culture Friends + Family Media + Dieting Industry Fat Talk

8. The Media • Research is clear that media doesindeed contribute to body dissatisfaction. • Studies link exposure to the “thin ideal” in mass media to negative body image. • The effect of media on body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and disordered eatingcan be significant for young adults • Pressure from mass media to be muscular also appears to be related to body dissatisfaction among men.  This effect may be smaller than among women, but is still significant.

9. Fat Talk “I need to go on a diet.” “Do these jeans make me look big?” “I am definitely not ready for swimsuit season!” • Fat Talk can negative influence a person’s body image • Fat Talk can encourage others to engage in similar self-shaming talk • Fat Talk is not seen to be associated with any increases in positive health-related behaviors

10. Ways to develop or maintain a positive body image • Appreciate all that your body can do • Keep a top-ten list of things you like about yourself • Remind yourself that “ true beauty” is about the inside and out • Surround yourself with positive people • Wear clothes that you are comfortable and that make you feel good about you • Do something nice for yourself • Use the time and energy that you might have spent worrying about food, calories, and your weight to do something to help others. • Eliminate fat talk from conversations. Strive for a “healthy ideal” and know that this will look different for everyone. Focus on health, not weight or size.

11. Wrap Up • If you hear someone participating in fat talk, change the conversation to something healthier and more enjoyable for everyone. • Be aware of digital editing of human bodies and the misrepresentation of bodies in the media. • Keep the mindset that just because someone's body shape is different, that doesn’t mean that yours is wrong.

12. Resources • The Elisa Project www.theelisproject.org • Tiggemann, M. (2015). Considerations of positive body image across various social identities and special populations. Body Image,14, 168-176. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.03.002 • What is Body Image? (n.d.). Retrieved July, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-body-image