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Very few cross-national studies on body image focus on Black African women. In this study, a comparative analytical approach and sociocultural theory framework was utilized in examining measures of body image among 209 Kenyan and Nigerian women aged 18–69 (M = 34.4, SD = 7.81). We examined both weight-related and non-weight-related aspects of appearance, including hair texture, skin tone, and other racialized features. The regional samples were compared on scores of internalized Eurocentric beauty ideals, skin color satisfaction, objectified body consciousness, racialized body image satisfaction, and other demographic metrics. Kenyan and Nigerian women showed differences across multiple body image measures. Nigerian women showed thinner body ideals compared to Kenyan women and also endorsed higher skin color satisfaction, racialized body dissatisfaction, and internalized Eurocentric beauty idealization. Kenyan women showed higher levels of objectified body consciousness. An indirect effect of nationality was observed with internalized Eurocentric beauty ideals mediating differences in racialized body dissatisfaction and objectified body shame. Attention to regional variation in appearance satisfaction may deepen understandings of the particular sociocultural influences impacting body image among populations of Black African women. • Overview of body image findings focused on Black African women living in Africa. • -Support for regional differences in measures of body image among Black African women. • -Internalized Eurocentric beauty ideals may explain differences in body dissatisfaction. • -Comparative approaches may highlight differential impact of body image factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of exposure to beauty, self-compassion, and travel (control) TikTok videos on young women's face-related appearance shame and anxiety, self-compassion, mood, upward appearance comparisons and thoughts. Undergraduate women (N = 115) were randomly assigned to view one of three compilation TikTok videos on either beauty tips, self-compassion strategies, or travel destinations. Upward appearance comparisons and thoughts were assessed at post-test only given the items related to video exposure; all other measures were assessed at pre- and post-test. Controlling for pre-test measures, results showed that face-related appearance shame and anxiety, and negative mood were higher, whereas self-compassion was lower in the beauty group relative to the travel control and self-compassion groups. Self-compassion was higher in the self-compassion group relative to the travel control. Women in the beauty group reported more upward appearance comparisons and appearance thoughts relative to women in the travel control and self-compassion groups. The self-compassion group reported more appearance thoughts relative to the travel control. Findings contribute to prior research by showing that brief exposure to beauty TikToks may have a negative effect on how young women feel about their appearance, but also how self-compassion videos may help young women feel more compassionate toward themselves. • Beauty TikToks were compared to self-compassion & travel control TikToks. • Beauty TikToks negatively impacted appearance shame & anxiety, self-compassion, & mood. • Self-compassion TikToks had a positive effect on self-compassion. • The beauty group reported more upward appearance comparisons & thoughts than the other two groups. • The self-compassion group reported more appearance thoughts than the travel group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows negative correlations between media exposure of body images in the context of hegemonic beauty ideals and body satisfaction. The present study deals with the underlying mechanisms and the effects of different exposure contents. In the online experimental study, a sample consisting of 226 individuals (82.3% female, 17.7% male) received a three-minute exposure to Instagram images of women and men in the context of either hegemonic beauty ideals in the experimental group or body diversity in the control group. A conducted Mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed significant group differences, including an increase in body dissatisfaction in the experimental group and a reduction in the control group after exposure. Statistically significant detrimental effects of exposure to images in the experimental group on women’s state mood as well as descriptive similar tendencies on men’s state mood were found. Moderating effects of the tendency to make upward social comparisons and the internalization of the gender-specific beauty ideal on the relationship between exposure content and the change scores of body dissatisfaction were found. Furthermore, a mediation model was calculated to investigate the effect of exposure content on post-measurement of body dissatisfaction, using the constructs “comparison processes regarding sexual attractiveness” and “assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness” as mediators. The model did not yield significant mediation, although significant relationships were found between the model components. Exploratory analyses were conducted on the influence of the assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness on related social comparisons and the intensity of engagement with Instagram content as a predictor of body dissatisfaction. The results highlight the relevance for psychoeducational purposes of addressing a critical engagement with depicted beauty ideals in social media. Moreover, the study proposes body diversity as an alternative content that can have a positive impact on body satisfaction, which can be actively sought during the individual Instagram user experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's conformity to beauty standards are influenced not only by external pressures but also by internalized beliefs, creating some complex issues with regard to women's agency question. Considering the Escape the Corset Movement (ECM) in South Korea as a critical case, this study examines how female college students who loosely participated in the ECM articulate its impact on their daily lives, especially the extent to which they assess its role in their attainment of freedom, liberation, and independence from societal beauty standards. The findings suggest that young female students experienced heightened self-enlightenment and recognition of beauty ideals, as well as a sense of comfort and safety from societal expectations and the male gaze. However, the accounts of women's ambiguous and critical reflections on the perceived transformations also serve to indicate whether the movement has led to fundamental changes in the prevailing power dynamics of gender systems and social structures. We contend that a nuanced perspective on women's adherence to beauty standards should be integrated into scholarly discourse, as women's perceptions present a complex issue regarding their agency in conforming to or resisting societal beauty standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows negative correlations between media exposure of body images in the context of hegemonic beauty ideals and body satisfaction. The present study deals with the underlying mechanisms and the effects of different exposure contents. In the online experimental study, a sample consisting of 226 individuals (82.3% female, 17.7% male) received a three-minute exposure to Instagram images of women and men in the context of either hegemonic beauty ideals in the experimental group or body diversity in the control group. A conducted Mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed significant group differences, including an increase in body dissatisfaction in the experimental group and a reduction in the control group after exposure. Statistically significant detrimental effects of exposure to images in the experimental group on women’s state mood as well as descriptive similar tendencies on men’s state mood were found. Moderating effects of the tendency to make upward social comparisons and the internalization of the gender-specific beauty ideal on the relationship between exposure content and the change scores of body dissatisfaction were found. Furthermore, a mediation model was calculated to investigate the effect of exposure content on post-measurement of body dissatisfaction, using the constructs “comparison processes regarding sexual attractiveness” and “assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness” as mediators. The model did not yield significant mediation, although significant relationships were found between the model components. Exploratory analyses were conducted on the influence of the assessment of one’s own sexual attractiveness on related social comparisons and the intensity of engagement with Instagram content as a predictor of body dissatisfaction. The results highlight the relevance for psychoeducational purposes of addressing a critical engagement with depicted beauty ideals in social media. Moreover, the study proposes body diversity as an alternative content that can have a positive impact on body satisfaction, which can be actively sought during the individual Instagram user experience.

Social media has affected how we relate to our body image. Digital makeovers have both reinforced existing beauty ideals and created new ones. This project investigated whether young adults' recognition of image filters was associated by the beliefs of beauty ideals and gender. Participants completed a visual detection task (forced choice paradigm) where contrast filter correction was assessed for images of female and male bodies that were thin, average, or curvaceous/muscular. Results showed that people respond faster, and accuracy is higher when filters are applied to bodies that represent the historical beauty ideals: thin female bodies and muscular male bodies. These findings suggest that the perception of low-level image features is associated to fit the beliefs about beauty., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article examines contemporary art of the Hispanic Caribbean as a counternarrative to the antiblack aesthetic ideals in the region. By exploring beauty standards on these islands through quotidian language and images that portray beauty, the prolif- eration of whiteness as the epitome of the aesthetic is exhibited in modern day Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba. This article follows the work of scholars who have theorized and evidenced that the post-independence narrative has dominated the islands’ perceived racial identities, marginalizing blackness and praising whiteness. We add that this discourse has also impacted its peoples’ daily beauty rituals, as most of them facilitate the ‘whitening’ of one’s appearance. Present-day art that extolls blackness and questions the exclusion of people of African descent on the islands thus serves as a powerful truth reveal; contrarily to the official history, negritude is not rebellion, rather it is the region’s nature and beauty. In other words, this research seeks to explore how this art portrays negritude as the face of the Hispanic Caribbean, normalizing and celebrating the appearance of the majority of its people.

Everyday lookism, by which I mean the widespread practice of commenting upon and judging the appearance of others, is often regarded as morally troubling. But when, and why, is it morally problematic? I argue that in many cases everyday lookism is wrongful because it involves morally objectionable appearance discrimination. I consider various respects in which everyday lookism can be morally objectionable in virtue of the acts of wrongful discrimination it involves. I argue that these acts are wrongful when they are demeaning, or when they have unjust consequences whether singly or cumulatively. There are a number of ways in which they may have unjust consequences. First, the appearance norms in which these acts are rooted may be biased in such a way that the acts contribute to creating an unjust distribution of benefits and burdens. Second, these acts may combine to make everyday lookism oppressive in virtue of impairing the personal autonomy of its victims or contributing to doing so. Third, these acts may be unjustly harmful in terms of their effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideal beauty has a significant impact on social life. Those who feel their body doesn’t meet the idealize body view, some might have body dissatisfaction and lower body appreciation. This study aims to explore a broader definition and understanding of the beauty as it is represented in Scars to Your Beautiful, a song by Alessia Cara, both its lyric and music video. Using content analysis and supported by the concept of the figure of Speech, cinematography, and representation by Stuart Hall completed the investigation on this beauty ideal. The result shows that Scars to Your Beautiful strive to redefine the term of beauty which cannot be determined only by certain criteria such as having a thin body, white skin, flawless and addressed to women only, but beauty reaches a broader definition in all shapes, sizes, colors, even the gender. These findings highlight the importance of self-love and self-acceptance in the social context. Keywords: beauty ideals, representation of beauty, body dissatisfaction

The widespread propagation of beauty ideals has made their influence inescapable for women worldwide. Numerous studies have suggested the negative consequences of the internalization of beauty ideals. However, researchers have mostly focused on Western cultures, with only a few studies addressing China. Given that Chinese traditional Confucian values emphasize more reproduction and family duties of women, women suffer more pressures in China. However, not all women experience and respond to cultural practices in the same way. The present study aimed to examine the mechanism underlying the link between the internalization of beauty ideals and ambivalent sexism and the differences in this link among subgroups of Chinese women. Data were collected from a sample of 293 (146 heterosexual women, 147 sexual minority women). The results showed that the associations of the internalization of beauty ideals with hostile sexism and benevolent sexism were mediated by the objectification of women. Furthermore, the link between the internalization of beauty ideals and the objectification of women depended on women's sexual orientation. More specifically, for lesbian and bisexual women but not heterosexual women, the internalization of beauty ideals was positively associated with the objectification of women. The present study addressed a major gap by examining how and for whom the internalization of beauty ideals was associated with increased hostile sexism and benevolent sexism among Chinese women. Sociocultural factors and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms are accused repeatedly of creating environments in which women are bullied and harassed. We argue that online aggression toward women aims to reinforce traditional feminine norms and stereotypes. In a mixed methods study, we find that this type of aggression on Twitter is common and extensive and that it can spread far beyond the original target. We locate over 2.9 million tweets in one week that contain instances of gendered insults (e.g., "bitch," "cunt," "slut," or "whore")—averaging 419,000 sexist slurs per day. The vast majority of these tweets are negative in sentiment. We analyze the social networks of the conversations that ensue in several cases and demonstrate how the use of "replies," "retweets," and "likes" can further victimize a target. Additionally, we develop a sentiment classifier that we use in a regression analysis to compare the negativity of sexist messages. We find that words in a message that reinforce feminine stereotypes inflate the negative sentiment of tweets to a significant and sizeable degree. These terms include those insulting someone's appearance (e.g., "ugly"), intellect (e.g., "stupid"), sexual experience (e.g., "promiscuous"), mental stability (e.g., "crazy"), and age ("old"). Messages enforcing beauty norms tend to be particularly negative. In sum, hostile, sexist tweets are strategic in nature. They aim to promote traditional, cultural beliefs about femininity, such as beauty ideals, and they shame victims by accusing them of falling short of these standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beauty ideals in the Caribbean are shifting with increased exposure to Western and European standards of appearance. Previous research has shown a consistent link between internalization of Western beauty ideals and depressive symptoms and other forms of psychological disturbance among diverse populations including Caribbeans. We examined the association between internalization of Western beauty ideals and depressive symptoms as well as the potential mediating role of self-esteem on this relation in N = 222 students (155 females, 79 males) attending a tertiary institution in Kingston, Jamaica. Internalization of Western ideals was inversely associated with self-esteem (r =- .35, p < .01) and positively associated with depressive symptoms (r =.13, p < .05). In a model adjusted for age and sex, results revealed a significant indirect effect of internalization of Western ideals of appearance on depressive symptoms via self-esteem (estimate= .21, SE = .05, 95% confidence interval [.13, .32]). The potent effects of culture must be better understood as intercontinental travel becomes less important as a mechanism for cultural exposure and exchange, and there is a significant increase of digital and internet access in the Caribbean. The current study suggest that Caribbeans are at significant risk for internalizing Western ideals of beauty, subsequently diminishing their self-esteem, and ultimately increasing depression symptomatology. The benefits and consequences of cultural exchange should continue to be a topic for research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on black communities in Africa, in this paper, I attempt an African bioethico-aesthetic deconstruction of the falsehood in colorist definitions of beauty purveyed by the migration of non-surgical cosmetics to Africa. I provide a novel ethical evaluation of the act of skin bleaching using principles of the African ethic of communion. I argue that skin bleaching is morally wrong to the extent that it promotes disharmonious relations and false identity in the beauty industry in Africa. Drawing on scientific studies that link toxic ingredients in many skin-bleaching products to adverse health effects, I discuss the public health impact of bleaching cosmetics and other problems occasioned by their strategic expansion into African markets. I propose that there is an urgent need for a relational ethic of polycentric governance that would harmoniously regulate the production and distribution of cosmetic products across regions in order to avoid the exploitation of consumers in black African societies, while also protecting consumers' right to make informed choices through education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a Special Issue comprising four papers emerging from the Beauty Demands Network project, and maps key issues in the beauty debate. The introduction first discusses the purpose of the Network; to consider the changing demands of beauty across disciplines and beyond academia. It then summarises the findings of the Network workshops, emphasising the complex place of notions of normality, and the different meanings and functions attached to ‘normal’ in the beauty context. Concerns are raised here about the use of normal to justify and motivate engaging in beauty practices such as cosmetic surgery and ‘non-invasive’ procedures. Other workshop findings included the recognition of beauty as increasingly a global value rather than a culturally distinct ideal, and the understanding that there is no clear distinction between beauty practices that are considered standard and those that are considered extreme. These themes, especially the concerns around understanding of normal, are reflected in the recommendations made by the Network in its Briefing Paper, which are presented next in this introduction. A further theme picked up by these recommendations is the extent to which individuals who are not traditionally vulnerable may be so in the beauty context. Finally, the introduction highlights the key matters covered in the four papers of the Special Issue: regulatory concerns around cosmetic surgery tourism; the impact of digitally altered images from psychological and philosophical perspectives; the ethics of genetic selection for fair skin; and the attraction and beauty of the contemporary athletic body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the impact of digitally altered images on individuals’ body satisfaction and beauty aspirations. Drawing on current psychological literature we consider interventions designed to increase knowledge about the ubiquity and unreality of digital images and, in the form of labelling, provide information to the consumer. Such interventions are intended to address the negative consequences of unrealistic beauty ideals. However, contrary to expectations, such initiatives may not be effective, especially in the long-term, and may even be counter-productive. We seek to understand this phenomenon of our continued aspiration for beauty ideals we know to be unreal and even impossible. We draw on our respective disciplines to offer psychological and philosophical accounts for why this might be. We conclude that beauty ideals are deeply embedded in our aspirations, practices, and in our constructions of ourselves. Given this, it is not surprising that simply increasing knowledge, or providing information, will be insufficient to challenge them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to highlight and pose commentary on the issues arising from the body embodied knowledge which, I, as a woman possess around the impact of media on body image satisfaction. With focus placed on the awareness many women intrinsically have regarding expectations placed on their bodies by social constructs, particularly beauty trends. The discussion centres around the commentary offered in the physical theatre production Curvature, created and performed by Ashley Kim Wakefield, as the site for Performance as Research. Presented autoethnographically, this article further serves as an embodied investigation into the notions around embodied beauty norms. These ideals include trends - such as Strong Is The New Skinny (SITNS) - and how these impact on the lived experiences of women in society and in/through performance. The discussion draws on The Beauty Myth and Feminist theories around representation as a basis for the writing, creation and performance of Curvature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to highlight and pose commentary on the issues arising from the body embodied knowledge which, I, as a woman possess around the impact of media on body image satisfaction. With focus placed on the awareness many women intrinsically have regarding expectations placed on their bodies by social constructs, particularly beauty trends. The discussion centres around the commentary offered in the physical theatre production Curvature1, created and performed by Ashley Kim Wakefield, as the site for Performance as Research. Presented autoethnographically, this article further serves as an embodied investigation into the notions around embodied beauty norms. These ideals include trends - such as Strong Is The New Skinny (SITnS) - and how these impact on the lived experiences of women in society and in/through performance. The discussion draws on The Beauty Myth and Feminist theories around representation as a basis for the writing, creation and performance of Curvature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New beauty ideals and particular types of plastic surgery beauty have emerged in South Korea from the early twenty-first century. By defining Gangnam-style plastic surgery as a hybrid of old Westernized beauty ideals and a new science of beauty with variations and contradictions, I intend to twist the simplistic understanding of non-Western plastic surgery as an effort to resemble the white westerner’s body. I also draw political implications from a case of monstrous Gangnam-style beauty made by excessive plastic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study aims to investigate the relationship between culture and body image. We intend to know how socio-cultural factors influence the levels of satisfaction with body image. The emphasis is given to the cultural values as represented by the sociocultural norms of societies such as the United States of America and Europe. It is argued that through the media, the values of these industrialized societies are dissipated throughout the world provoking cultural changes and uniformization of behavioural standards. From the literature review, it is possible to conclude that body dissatisfaction is a reality to both sexes and a direct result of the non-conformity to cultural-esthetical patterns promoted by the profit-oriented societies.

Marketing messages socialize individuals into believing that (amongst other practices) consuming cosmetics is the key to beauty and such messages are now being targeted directly to pre-adolescents. Research shows marketing portrayals of beauty ideals are associated with body disillusionment; however, there is a lack of knowledge on how 'tweens' enculturation of the necessity to consume beauty products influences their personal development and perspectives of others. The present study examines tweens perceptions of girls who own makeup; 111 girls between 6 and 12 years drew and described a child who owned makeup and a child who did not own makeup, resulting in 222 drawings. The drawings and descriptive words were coded inductively using emerging themes and differences between the two drawings were analysed using SPSS and chi-square analysis. Findings revealed girls who owned makeup were perceived to be more attractive, happy, and popular than girls who did not wear makeup, however, they were also perceived to be 'nastier' than girls who did not own makeup. The findings revealed tweens are enculturated into contemporary beauty ideals and hold strong stereotypes regarding owning makeup. Interpreted through the lens of sociocultural theory and the Halo Effect, findings are discussed in terms of how such ideals shape tweens expectations of others and ultimately may shape their own personal behaviour with regards to social interactions, roles and activities engaged in. We argue that the beauty ideal stereotypes associated with tween cosmetic ownership may be in reality, less than ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest "girlhood crisis" sparking controversy in academic and popular culture discourse is the premature sexualization of girls' media and consumer-product environments, which has been termed the "Lolita effect" by media studies scholar M. Gigi Durham (2008). However, the high-profile books about the effect's repercussions for girls' healthy physical and emotional development do not include data elicited from preadolescent girls about their interpretations of this archetype; instead, authors base their conclusions on adult-centric assumptions about how this representation of idealized femininity might affect girls. Projecting presumptions about the effects of media sexualization and objectification on adult women onto girls' lived experiences both underrates the importance of the broad array of meanings that girls ascribe to the imagery of idealized femininity and inappropriately equates a specific type of objectification (sexualization) with all manners of treating the body as an object to control and manage. This article addresses the theoretical and methodological limitations of conflating sexualization with objectification in the context of preadolescent girls' performances of archetypal femininities, arguing that the assemblage of consumer purchases and grooming techniques that produces the Lolita effect's image is also required to fashion other archetypes of idealized young femininity that permeate media constructions of neoliberal American girlhood. Drawing from Erving Goffman's (1959) framework for dramaturgical analysis of social behavior and recent ethnographic studies with preadolescent girls, the article argues that the key determinant of the gender scripts that girls employ in fashioning their subjectivities may be their perceived audience for their performances of femininity, which for preadolescent girls includes not only boys, but also their female peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preadolescent girls in the US consume more commercial media, much of which emphasizes a narrow conceptualization of ideal beauty, in more varied formats than any generation preceding them. This study used qualitative methods including participant-created photo collages, email diaries, and in-depth interviews to elicit information about how a racially and socioeconomically diverse group of 9- to 11-year-old US girls interacted with traditional and new media, envisioned the beauty ideal, and interpreted the need to subscribe to beauty and body maintenance practices. This analysis identified the contours of the “just-right ideal” to which girls aspire, the “Disney Girls” who embody it, and the complicated ways in which girls integrate the beauty practices prescribed by this ideal into their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on female editorship and sexual politics in late Ming and early Qing China, using Hua suo shi, an anthology edited by the courtesan poet Xue Susu, as a case study. It traces textual production and transmission, and reconstructs the literary and cultural contexts of this work to explore the courtesans editorial gaze and representation of gender through a close reading of it. The analysis of its two main themes--women as commodities, and women as agents--shows how the courtesan editor re-imagined China's cultural landscape from her point of view. New examples of female agency are discovered in analyzing the cultural process of editing as a "web of discourses," providing a window on the emergence of a new female editorial voice in early modern Chinas cultural discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People use various practices to shape their bodies into culturally defined ideal physiques, and media both construct and reinforce beauty ideals. However their meanings and ideological effects depend upon viewers' interpretations. The aim of this study was to explore ways in which men and women talk about female and male bodies typically presented in media. Two same-sex friendship groups discussed a set of 11 media images. Discursive analyses showed participants employed three main interpretative repertoires in their discussions. Together these led to a dilemma in which men's space of resistance involved hegemonic masculinity, which emphasised their body's functional ability, but simultaneously repositioned women in the space female participants sought to resist: namely, identities using hegemonic femininity with undermined functionality. Examination of alternative ways of 'doing' gender is needed, as is attention to the negotiated and reciprocal nature of resistance, gender and positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every day, millions of children, tweens, and teenagers sit down and watch their favorite television shows on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. A large segment of this audience is female, and many of them are reaching an age where they are developing an awareness of self and comparing that self to the ideals presented in the media. While this comparison is well-documented, little research has looked specifically at the beauty ideal messages of live-action television shows specifically targeting this group. Through a content analysis of nine Disney and Nickelodeon shows, beauty ideal messages were analyzed, with results suggesting that the thin, white beauty ideal that is present in adult programming is also alive and well in programming for a younger audience. Furthermore, the idea that “beauty is good” is reinforced through verbal messages to thin characters. These results and implications are discussed in the context of Social Comparison Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]