Body Image In Sirena Riley's 'The Black Beauty Myth'

As stated above, African-American women have been subjected to measure themselves against white women. White women are viewed, in this society and since the beginning of the concept of race, as the epitome of beauty. Logically, African-American women attempt to emulate the white standard. This creates an inferiority complex, because the epitome of beauty is white woman, than any other race can be deemed as inferior; this deteriorates African-American women’s self-worth. To remedy worthlessness, many body modification techniques have been made to fully mimic white women in terms of beauty. This emulation still is being done and it is continuous, because of the psychological ‘white fantasization .

The first one features thin models, the second one shows average-size models, and the third one shows no models. The authors try to prove that the exposure of thin ideal bodies in the media does negatively impacts young women’s body images. It was concluded that women that were exposed to thin ideal bodies resulted in a higher body-focused anxiety than those who are exposed to average-size models and no models. This article will be able to support my thesis because it shows the negative effects of exposure of thin ideal bodies to the female public and my thesis is about the negative impacts of ideal bodies exposure on self-esteem and self-image. This article will be used in the psychology section of the

The author of “The Black Beauty Myth” Sirena Riley has encountered multiple experiences concerning body image throughout her life. At a young age, she started to feel the pressure to have a perfect body. The struggle of making herself perfect ultimately lead to eating disorders for instance, bulimia and compulsive exercising. In her journey from a young age to her college years she has learned better ways to deal with negative body image through therapy. In her article, she states “I was in three body image and eating disorder groups with other young women on my campus. I was always the only black woman.” (Riley 2002, 229) This quote supports her belief that black women have body image issues but are not open to seeking help or expressing

In the context of physical appearance, black woman are only featured with body parts- mainly their “large, rotund behind” (Perry 137). The presentation of the face is mainly limited to white or lighter-complexioned women. The highest idealization of women is one that possesses a “‘high-status’ face combined with a highly sexualized body read by the viewer as the body of a poor or working-class woman” (Perry 137). Perry further substantiates her claim by stating that “women are created or valued by how many fantasy elements have been pieced together in their bodies” (137). She debunks the opposition arguing that the bodies of black women are appreciated by pointing out that only a minority of black women have such attributes, and those without are pressured and struggle to achieve such proportions.

Body image has always been a huge part for women in their lives. In the beginning of the essay Bordo gives a great opening with a good description that open your eyes. She speaks about how a young girl standing in the mirror who thinks she is fat when in actuality she is the right size according to her doctor’s chart. The young lady only thinks she fat because of what she sees on TV and how actress, singers, and artist’s bodies looks. With the media it has people thinking

This may seem a basically simple task, though her spin and the overall diction she uses to describe what she sees in the first few sentences suggest what will follow. For example, “…slender body, flawless (and more often than not white) skin; delicate, even facial features enhanced by makeup, carefully coifed hair…” Para 2). She then provides anecdotes from teens regarding their own body image before delving into the beginning of the 20th century, where she draws upon Brumberg’s 1997 book, “The Body Project. An Intimate History of American Girls”; a starting point for the conversation ahead. Lipkin then begins a chronicle of certain diseases associated with poor body image followed by the response of a specific cosmetic branding company. Lipkin closes her article by not providing a clear solution to the problem, but rather reinforcing the idea that women are seen as, “…both bait and targets…” (Para

As a cornerstone of the black community, their bodies are under constant scrutiny as both a mother figure and a sexual symbol. Within black communities, black women are encouraged to be curvy, with an amply bosom, slim waist, and fuller hips, thighs, and behind. This physique doesn’t come naturally to all black women and many try to attain it, and those who have it maintain it. Skinny Black women are constantly asked about their weight and diet. They are told that they “need a little more meat on their bones”. These are the same young girls who grow up praying puberty hits them, giving them bigger breast and a bigger butt. Black women who lack a curvy physique are quickly viewed as being less of a woman, as if there is a direct relationship between Black womanhood and weight. Skinny Black women are deemed as weaker, less able to cook or even have kids by family members and friends. Black men also contribute to skinny-shaming. In Jada Pinkett-Smith’s words, “You don’t think I want to be a couple of pounds heavier? Black men like their women with a little meat. All my life Black men have told me how flawed I am”. For such a strong, beautiful dominant Black actress, Jada still feels her body is not up to the heavier body standards of the Black

In the article, “The Negative Effects of the Media on Body Image” by Esther Vargas, there were several issues discussed about the negative effects that media has on body image in society. Many girls

Today we live in a society that over the years has become so obsessed with body image and how an individual should look. Different cultures have different standards and norms that help to define their ideal body image. African Americans because of their differences in culture have gone against most cultural norms and have set their own definitions of beauty, body image, and body satisfaction. Because of these key differences, the African American community is less likely to feel the pressures that come with body shaming that typically leads to many eating disorders. Through research of different studies, surveys, and interviews, we can begin to learn why African Americans have set their own set of standards and how they have decided to fit into todays society.

Self image has been a stigma for African Americans since slavery. According to Kerri A. Reddick-Morgan, these notions of negative self image have only been perpetuated by misrepresentations of black beauty/culture in the modeling industry, cosmetic corporations, and the media as a whole. As stated in Reddick’s Emulated through Images: The Globalization of Misconstructed African

They found that black women overall prefer a more voluptuous and robust body shape; the women seem to correlate this with wealth, stature and fitness across cultures (Ofuso, Lafreniere, Senn, 1998). Another study that looked at how women view their bodies supports these findings. This study shows how perceptions of body image vary between African American and Caucasian women. African American women tended to be happier with themselves and have a higher self esteem. The women were all college women from two small community colleges in Connecticut; this is very important that their surroundings are essentially the same (Molloy, Herzberger, 1998). Although these studies reveal that African American and Black women across the world have different cultural constraints and body image ideals than other ethnic groups, other studies urge researchers not to forget that Black women are not unsusceptible to eating disorders and low self esteem. One literature review cautions that the dominant culture of a society may impose its views on individuals and cause a deterioration or change in values and perceptions (Williamson, 1998). Interestingly, Black women with high self-esteem and more positive body images also possess more masculine traits than other women studied.

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

Preview of Main Points: I will begin by explaining how the perfect body image shown in the media is unrealistic, then, I will talk about how the unrealistic images lead to both men and women to have a low self-esteem and eating disorders that develop due to people wanting to look like the images shown in the media. Lastly, I’ll talk about a solution we can do to stop the portrayal of an unrealistic body image.

Often, people of all ages, race, and gender catch themselves gazing into mirrors for hours, blaming themselves for the way they look, not realizing that the media is actually the one to blame for many people’s body image. Body image is the way people see themselves, or how they assume other people see them. It is not likely to see a plus sized model in a magazine or a model on the runway with blemishes on her face. A person’s negative perception of their own body is not because they think it is wrong to look and be healthy; it is because the media is telling them that being a size 2 with flawless skin is healthy and beautiful.