9/23/14- Talwar 2012

The abstract for this article was actually pretty good so I included it below. I also included some interesting points and observations from the article. 

ABSTRACT:

“Body dissatisfaction is a highly prevalent experience among women across the world; however, there is minimal research relating to this topic for the different ethnic groups in New Zealand. In this study, 45 New Zealand female university students who identified either as Tāngata Whenua1 Māori or New Zealand European completed questionnaires measuring body dissatisfaction and ethnic identity. Although there were many similarities between the groups, there were also interesting differences. Body mass was related to body concerns more so among European than Māori participants. Furthermore, strength of Māori ethnic identity was shown to be associated with lower levels of weight concern.”

The article talked about some things regarding body image and body dissatisfaction…

-Body dissatisfaction is so prevalent among females in western female populations that it’s even seen as normal.

-Body image standards seem to vary across different ethnic groups Here’s an example: Large bodies in pacific communities tend to represent wealth, status, and good health. In Westernized societies, it’s the opposite.

-Something interesting that research has found is that women tend to pick ideal figures that are thinner than what men tend to find attractive, and women seem to think that men prefer thin ideals. So basically, the perspective of most women is totally distorted.

-Research found that across different ethnic groups, body dissatisfaction immerged at different levels of body mass, telling us that a lot of body image is cultural.

-Cultures differ widely on the ideal body sizes

-Thinner ideals may be increasing in Pacifc female populations.

Pretty much what I got from this article is that body image can be heavily influenced by ethnicity and culture. Also, exposure to other cultures/ideals can shift a culture’s ideal. Overall, though, those who have a strong sense of ethnic identity and culture tended to have better body image and less dissatisfaction with weight.