Women’s Body Image: What Influences?

[sportychica]

Hi DejaFit,

In my opinion MEN contribute towards the negative views women have about their body, comments such as "give me J-Lo's booty anytime & I wanna bounce Beyonce" can make a woman with less curves feel unattractive. The side affects of such comments make thin women look in the mirror naked, grab a credit card & run to a doctor for butt implants & breast implants. The same applies to girls who under eat themselves stick thin. It's a mans world and women seek to be sexually desired by the opposite sex, women value the opinions of men (even men with no brains & beer gutt). Instead of blaming society & media we should blame men, the men who make derogative comments in & out of bed, the men who compare their wife’s & girlfriends to models & celebrities who don't look fantastic without PhotoShop and a stylist. Men need to accept that women are beautiful both inside and out, and compliment differences in women’s body shapes weather fat or thin, and female children need to be taught from an early age they are beautiful regardless of what the media say or what their icons are doing under the knife. If men re-address their speech & teach their daughters right the next generation of women will be extremely confident about bodily image.

 

[nicolaw]

I have never really been happy with my body, and am constantly trying to lose weight (i need to), i'm a little overweight. And I feel so uncomfortable around thinner, healthier people. But I accept that it's my responsibility to do something about it, not anyone else. If I want to get down to a size 10 or whatever, I'm going to have to work hard and sort my diet out. It's horrible what happens to some girls when they can never be happy with their bodies.

 

[esauer]

It's interesting I stumbled across this topic. I just took the little test fitometer or something like that. I'm not sure if I put something in wrong or what, but it told me I was over weight and needed to look seriously at ways to loose weight. The thing is I am 5'5 and weigh 118. I was a few poounds heavier but I was in the hospital and really sick a few weeks ago. But anyway I am on here to tone up a little but not lose weight. I am more interested in making sure I am living a healthy lifestyle that will keep me going. I am a really high energy person and I am always going so sometimes my business makes being healthy more difficult but I'm trying really hard.

I think a huge part of a women's self image actually comes from her up bringing. I had really supportive parents espcially my dad always gave me attention and reminded me of my "sweet spirit". I think that women that come from a loving and encouraging home tend to have a better self image. This is just my experience from friends and family.

Again great topic!

 

[BikeSwimLaugh]

I think we can all look around and see other people who are more fit, thinner, younger and more attractive then we perceive ourselves; nobody is "perfect" and even those who seemingly approach that level still look at their own flaws and obsess over trivial details. I've heard stunningly beautiful woman make reference to hating their nose, their butt, whatever. My point is, we ALL have our issues. I've tried to get a few of the gals in my spin-class to follow-up class with a swim in the pool; even the hard-body woman are terrified at the very thought of wearing a bathing suit in the gym!

What I notice is that some woman don't seem to care. One gal in spin joined me in the pool and she even wore a 2-piece bikini...you could see the stretch marks on her stomach and small rolls of fat. So the question is, why would a better looking woman be terrified of wearing a suit while a lesser in-shape woman not have an issue? Well, about the only thing I can imagine is that we all internalize the value of others perception and process accordingly.

Let's break this down; if nobody else were in the gym (all alone) nobody would have an issue about wearing a suit. Therefore it MUST come down to the public factor: we don't know what others are thinking, we'll never know and others may not even care. I myself may give a glance but beyond that, who really cares. What does that say about us? I've also seen guys at the beach just pull off their shirt and reveal their fat. I'm practically ripped compared to them and I tend to keep my shirt on...and when it comes off, I'll admit to keeping the abs just tight enough so it doesn't appear I'm trying.

I don't know if it has anything to do with our up-bringing and how confident we are in ourselves. I think each one of us just has a certain degree of self-image and just as some people like spicy food and others don't....some of us are more self-conscious then others.

Like I say...it's not what we think of ourselves, it's not what others think of us...it's how we perceive what others are thinking of us that we ultimately seem concerned with. Odd how that works.

 

[g8r80]

One gal in spin joined me in the pool

So, did you hit it?

 

[tjl]

It's interesting I stumbled across this topic. I just took the little test fitometer or something like that. I'm not sure if I put something in wrong or what, but it told me I was over weight and needed to look seriously at ways to loose weight. The thing is I am 5'5 and weigh 118.

If 118 is in pounds, then no way are you "overweight" -- the usual recommendations say that you are at the very bottom of the "normal weight" range, brushing against the "underweight" range. (Are you sure you didn't put in 118 kg instead of 118 pounds?)

However, a "low-normal weight" or "underweight" person may still have too high a body fat percentage for good health. But the remedy for that situation would be to try to gain muscle.

 

[BikeSwimLaugh]

So, did you hit it?

ROFL LMAO......The G8 swoops in and scores a classic!!!

Nah dude...she was all Israeli and if you put something into one of those chicks it doesn't always come out. Too dangerous, but I did appreciate her bikini.

I'm just playing the nice guy whose all harmless and friends with all the gals...that way the uber-hottie will soon perceive me as harmless and come forward; then and only then will I pounce and score the ultimate in humillation.