Body Image

The fourth chapter of "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”is about the identity development in adolescence. It is said that when black children are growing up, they engage in many of the white culture’s beliefs and values as it is all around them. It is not until a little later where they begin to recognize the impact of racism. This can happen around the early stages of adulthood. It might even happen around the junior high age. Gender also comes into play around this time as well. A black girl wouldn't be acknowledged for her beauty in a white setting as she is not in the society's standard for beautiful. Since the black girls aren’t considered beautiful, they begin to feel devalued. The black youth are beginning

Near the middle of her article, Perry argues that even though statistics show black girls having the highest self-esteem of their physical appearances, the rate will fall as they “move into adolescence and their bodies come under scrutiny” (138).

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. In her journey from a young age to her college years she has learned better ways to deal with negative body image through therapy. 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 problems but are not open to seeking help or expressing it. Sirena points out three factors that influence body image in the lives of women.

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

But after reading her writing piece I think I was, I don’t know like, proven wrong. Like I just had a thought that instead of feeling uncomfortable I should feel proud of who I am and also my skin tone. 1st Body Paragraph: To begin, I must say that to form one’s identity, you need to follow a path. In my opinion a path is something that can change your entire life.

No one would guess by her wild, nappy, black hair that she was the top of her class. No one would guess by the ashiness of her elbows or the shake of her neck that she had an eloquent vocabulary. To everyone she is the average black girl, to everyone she is a stereotype until you actually get to meet her. No one would guess that this black girl would amount to anything. People automatically assume the worst when they see someone's skin color. They assume the worst when they see the average black girl with her ashy elbows and nappy hair. This is the story of the average black girl to Ernestine Johnson, who wrote the spoken word, "The Average Black Girl," which explains how twisted societies views of black girls. The first part of her poem talks about how her ex's mother was surprised by her because she talked so white for being a black girl. The mother's surprise calls into question how society sees black girls; since when did talking eloquently associate to talking white? Overall, society has a distorted assumption that black is bad and white is good, allowing people to make assumptions based on stereotypes, cultural clichés and misconceptions.

Eating disorders is an issue that women have been facing throughout history, yet there are different factors that have been associated with African American women opposed to other racial groups. Research has been done to prove that environmental factors, cultural factors, different types of identity, and others are the cause of these disorders. It is possible African American Women might have different factors than women of other minorities, due to racial segregation and treatment throughout time. The objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997) suggests that today’s culture plays a significant role in viewing the female body as an object, which can lead to self-consciousness, mental health disorders, and eating disorders. Yet in specifically African American women, this can also cause shame of their racial identity in addition to body image.

As a result of these different ideals, Black women are praised by their race if they have some fat and appear curvy. Therefore, women of different races experience

To be frank, I also once had a view that only people who are skinny can be considered as beautiful. However, there is one incidence that changes my perception on the idea of what is the meaning of beauty and ‘perfect’ body. When I was in high school, I had a best friend named Alice—she was chubby and curvy. She was so obsessed with the America’s next top model shows. One day she expressed her desire to lose weight to me and I supported her. She also said that her boyfriend asked her to lose some weight to be more beautiful. She said that she really wants to look like the models and also to fulfill her boyfriend’s wish. After three months, she was hospitalized and I was so shocked with that news. She was hospitalized because there was something wrong with her intestines caused by her unhealthy diet. When I went to visit her, she looked very different—she looked sunken and sick. Begin on that day; I realized that it is really impossible to be like the models that we see everyday in the media and I also afraid on how good media is in order to distort society’s idea of beauty.

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.

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

It does not come as a surprise that women, in large, are dissatisfied with their bodies. This widespread body dissatisfaction amongst women was coined “normative discontent” (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984). Although body dissatisfaction seemingly plagues women as a whole, there are several factors that can either serve as a protective factor or a risk factor for the development of body dissatisfaction. Much of the research regarding this normative discontent excludes culturally relevant factors for African American (Black) women. Looking specifically at African American women, the factors that affect body image and body dissatisfaction greatly differ from those that affect non-minority White women. Skin tone or complexion,

compare the thinness model among two different ethnic groups. During the interview the girls read the articles in the magazines and it gave them advice on tips about how to fit into the in crowd (pg. 196). As a result, with the interviews she concluded that black adolescent girls have a different perspective that than white adolescent girls. African-American teens criticized the thin-ideal are profoundly less affected by the media advertisements (Granatino and Haytko 2013).

Early then goes on with his essay by describing the hardships his daughters have faced when trying out hairstyles. He appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience by describing a real life account of his daughter being made fun of at school. When his daughter Linnet got an afro style haircut one group of black girls at her school refused to play with her. She was told,”You look so ugly with that hair.” Early adapts a sad tone when Linnet describes herself as, “I don’t think I am beautiful at all. I think I am just ordinary.” Early uses an emotional appeal along with a sad tone in order to inform the nation of what many African American girls deal with. He does this to inform the reader of self-consciousness a particular “African- American” disease.

White women are socialized from a very young age to believe that it is important to be slim and maintain a certain body image (Sally Jessy Raphael Show, Aug. 17, 1990). Young girls often begin the treacherous cycle of diet and exercise by trying to win the affection and respect of their fathers. This is particularly true of the daughters of professional white men. These men know what it takes to achieve success in professional society and often instill the same values in their daughters. Research indicates that fathers who do not believe their daughters "to be very intelligent tend to want them to be slim," so that they present the image of an intellect (Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, Vogel and Fantini, 1986, pg. 907). Not only do young girls begin internalizing these norms in their homes, but also in school. Many young white girls consistently compete for the attention of young men. These girls feel that they must look like models in magazines and be thin to attract boyfriends. "I just want to have a boyfriend," says one anorexic teen (People, 1996). Searching for social acceptance, young girls often take their