Body Image: What Is It and How Can I improve it?

Body Image

Why Men and Women are concerned about their body image?

Body image is not just what we see in the mirror. It involves memories, assumptions, and generalizations, according to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA). Throughout history, humans have given importance to the beauty of the human body. Society, media, and popular culture often shape how a person sees their own body, but popular standards are not always helpful.

What does body image mean?        

Body image refers to a person's emotional attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of their own body. These feelings can be positive, negative or both, and are influenced by individual and environmental factors.

Body image relates to: 

• What a person believes about their appearance.
• How they feel about their body.
• How they sense and control their body as they move.
• How they feel about their body, including their height, weight, and shape.

What is a positive body image?   

A person with a positive body image has a true and clear perception of their body shape and appearance that other people would agree with.

The person is happy about the way they look, and they accept and feel good about their body and their appearance, even if it does not match what the media, family, or friends suggest is desirable.

They are aware that how they look is not their personality. They are proud of the way they look and feel confident in their body.

A healthy lifestyle, with a balanced diet and exercise, can contribute to a positive body image. Part of having a positive body image is the ability to separate how we value ourselves from how we look.

People who realize that self-worth is not linked to appearance tend to feel good about how they look.

What is a negative body image?

A negative body image can arise when a person feels that their looks do not measure up to what society, family, friends, and the media expect.

They may frequently compare themselves with others, and they may feel inadequate when doing so. They may feel ashamed, embarrassed, and lacking in confidence. They often feel uncomfortable and awkward in their body.

Some people develop a disorder known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). A person with BDD sees their body, or part of their body, in a negative way. They may ask for cosmetic surgery to "correct" their nose size, for example, when to everyone else, it appears normal.

Where does a negative body image come from?

A body image does not develop in isolation. Culture, family, and friends convey positive and negative messages about our bodies.

The media, peers, and family members    

can all influence a person's body image. 

They may encourage men and women, 

and even young boys and girls, to believe

 that there is an ideal body. The image is 

often an unnatural one.

Advertisements may suggest that all men should be tall with large muscles, and all women should be slender. 

This is not always realistic, because everyone is made differently. As viewers compare themselves to clinically underweight professional models and reality.

TV stars who have undergone radical cosmetic surgery, some feel pressure to set themselves unrealistic and unnatural targets.

As the body changes with age, this can affect a person's body image. Illness and accidents, too, can have an impact. 

A mastectomy for breast cancer or a limb amputation can cause people to rethink how they appear to themselves and others.

Emotional insecurity can make someone more susceptible to developing a negative body image.

Studies have shown that girls and women with greater resilience, linked to family support, gender role satisfaction, coping strategies, fitness and wellbeing are more likely to have a positive body image.

"Fat talk" happens when people, most often women, get together and comment on how "fat" they look or feel.

It can be a way of bonding and making oneself and other people feel better by showing that they are not alone in "feeling fat." 

It can also lead to further negative feelings, low mood, and negative eating patterns.

Are women are more dissatisfied with their bodies than men?  

It is commonly believed that women are likely than men to be dissatisfied with their bodies.

However, studies that men are also concerned about their appearance. As per study, 95 percent of male college students are unhappy about some aspect of their bodies.

Studies suggest that there are many similarities between a negative body image in men and in women, and that they share many of the same factors. However, men tend to be "quieter" about their discomfort.

As per the study found that women's attitude to their body image tends to remain stable throughout their lifespan, although the importance of shape, weight, and appearance decrease with age.

Tips for improving body image  

Here are some tips for improving how you feel about yourself:

• Celebrate what your body can do: run, swim, dance, sing, and so on.
• List 10 things you like about yourself and pin it up where you can see it.
• See yourself in the mirror as a whole person, not as a nose or a thigh.
• Think positive: Overpower negative messages with positive ones.
• Wear comfortable clothes that look good on you.
• Avoid or be actively critical of media messages and images that make you feel as if you should be something different.
• Use the time you would spend fretting on volunteering, exercise, or a hobby.
• Avoid "fat talk," and encourage your friends to do the same.
• Do something nice for your body, for example, a massage or a haircut.

Body image and physical exercise

Exercise can help a person to be more confident in their strength and agility, and it can contribute to maintaining a healthy weight and body size. It can also reduce anxiety and depression. However, people exercise for different reasons.

In 2015, researchers found that people who exercise for functional reasons, in order to be fit, tend to have a more positive body image. Those who exercise to improve their appearance feel less positive about their bodies.

The authors suggest emphasizing the functional benefits of exercise and de-emphasizing the motives that related to outside appearances, to help people foster a more positive body image.