Body dissatisfaction affects ethnic minority and white women alike.

Both the psychological literature and conventional wisdom hold that white women are unhappier with their bodies than nonwhite women, but that may be an oversimplification, according to a new meta-analysis in the July Psychological Bulletin (Vol. 132, No. 4).
University of Wisconsin–Madison psychologists Shelly Grabe, PhD, and Janet Shibley Hyde, PhD, compiled nearly 100 studies that examined body dissatisfaction among women of different ethnicities. They calculated effect sizes that compared the levels of dissatisfaction among each of the ethnicities.
“It’s very commonly accepted that white women have higher levels of body dissatisfaction than black women, in the literature and in pop culture,” Grabe says. “But there’s been a relative neglect of Asian-American and Latina women.”
Overall, the researchers found that white women were slightly less happy with their bodies than black women, but the effect size was only .29; an effect size of .2 is considered small, while .5 is considered medium. There were no other significant differences. White women on the whole were no less happy with their bodies than Asian-American or Hispanic women, and none of the ethnic-minority groups differed from each other.
The researchers also found some moderating variables. For example, some types of body-image satisfaction tests were more sensitive to ethnic differences than others. One test that asked people pick out pictures that represented their current body shape and their ideal body shape generally found fewer differences between black and white women than a body-dissatisfaction questionnaire.
And the greatest differences between white and black women showed up in adolescence and early adulthood: Young girls and older women were more similar across ethnicities than teens and twenty-somethings.
Overall, Grabe says, the study suggests researchers avoid lumping all ethnic-minority women into one category when studying body image. And, she says, psychologists need to be aware that all women, not just white women, can suffer from body dissatisfaction.
“Body dissatisfaction is a strong predictor of depression and eating disorders,” she says. “This reallyhighlights that women of color are not exempt from those concerns.”
For her next study, Grabe plans to examine how the types of media and popular culture that women consume influence their body image.
“There are a number of different ways that the ‘thin ideal’ is propagated,” she says.

LOVE YOUR BODY

The relentless number of images creating an unhealthy and unrealistic portrayal of women can ultimately be deadly. Tobacco advertisers have purposefully linked cigarettes with thinness, stress control and liberation ("You've Come A Long Way Baby"), and the result is that more women die from tobacco-related illness than die from alcohol, illicit drugs, car accidents, suicide and homicide combined. Alcohol advertisers objectify women and use themes of violence ("Hit Me With A Club"). The fashion and make-up industries spend billions each year in an attempt to convince women that everything needs to be fixed, from eyebrows to toenails.
These twisted beauty standards are promoted from babyhood through adulthood. Young girls are given glamorous heroines early on to idolize. Disney's animated female lead characters, such as Pocohantas and the Little Mermaid, are drawn with large breasts, tiny waists, and long slender legs, despite their youthful ages.
Adolescent girls are a growing target for advertisers', television's and movies' harmful messages. Millions of women and girls have eating disorders, many which begin in adolescence. In addition to promoting an unnatural standard of thinness, the media are finding news ways to shape young women's images. Fetish perfume recently ran an ad campaign with a photo of a teenager and text that read, "apply generously to your neck so he can smell the scent as you shake your head 'no.'"
Discrimination and bias based on physical appearance continue through adulthood. When women don't fit the media's standard of beauty, they often come under attack. Size discrimination, for example, can keep qualified employees out of jobs and careers; and race discrimination continues to pervade all areas of our lives. These biases perpetuate stereotypes that people with certain physical features are more qualified for positions of authority and responsibility. And the objectification of women and girls continues to promote violence, harassment and discrimination

I have suffered . share your stories...

I am an obese person because of which I exclude my self from several activities and group. WHY? because at times i am not confident about the way I look. Because I feel people will make fun of me. Their are several reasons. Its all a matter of my mental state. no one excludes me, its only i myself who refarins from things.
I dont dance because i feel i look funny. Why do I have those inhibitions.
There are many people like me whose find that their physical self is proving to be a hindrance for them. I am doing a project on the topic" LOVE THY BODY".
Ifyou have any stories to share where you have felt dejected or inferior because of your physical self please tell me or email me. You can choose to be anonymous about it.
It would be great to know that there are others also who suffer from a similar mindset.
Please pass this message along and ask as many people to contribute to the story chain.

Do you love what you see when you look in the mirror?

Are you ready to give a little boost to your body image? It’s essential to nurture sense of appreciation and respect for your body on a daily basis, since the body is where it all begins for women. How you feel about your physical shape affects how you think about yourself in general — as you walk down the street, as you stand in the shower, and as you find romantic time with your partner.
Instead of putting all your energy into clothing, beauty treatments, and dieting, try some body love that has nothing to do with changing yourself physically. Simply connect to your body, with no judgment or goal-oriented thinking. And remember not to compare yourself with airbrushed models in magazines. Keep it in perspective: Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 and if Barbie was a real person, her proportions would cause her to walk on all fours!

Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards.
TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance? Women and girls spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, fashion, magazines and diet aids. These industries can't use negative images to sell their products without our assistance.Together, we can fight back.