Cultural, Media, and Peer Influences on Body Beauty Perceptions of Mexican American Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Social and cultural values are believed to play a role in the types of bodies that adolescent girls consider beautiful and desirable. In this article, the authors analyzed qualitative interviews from 27 Latina mid-adolescent girls (ages 14 to 16) regarding their perceptions of what body shapes and sizes are valued in Latino culture and European American culture, the nature of their conversations with friends about appearance, and whether boys and the larger community consider large body sizes to be acceptable. There was an overwhelming consensus that a slender but curvy figure is the ideal body type in Latino culture and that European Americans value unnaturally thin physiques. Themes drawn from the adolescents' responses point to their friends' opinions, perceptions of boys' dating preferences, norms in their communities, and body shapes of female celebrities in Latino media outlets as sources of beauty and desirability. These findings have implications for body image intervention programs that expose Latina girls to multiple possibilities of beauty when their physical body shapes exclude them from attaining the ideal that they perceive is appreciated in Latino culture.

The Associations Between Breastfeeding Duration and Body Dissatisfaction, Ethnicity, and Obesity Among Mexican Women, a Cross-Sectional Study, ENSANUT 2012

“…In western countries for many years, women were more likely to express a desire to be thin than women from nonwestern countries. 9,10 Furthermore, unfulfillment of such desire can lead to body image dissatisfaction (BID), a narrower construct of body image, which is defined as an individual's negative thoughts about her body, including negative evaluations of body size, shape, and weight. 11,12 Although BID is associated more with ''a western culture,'' 10,13 in recent years, it has been spreading to nonwestern countries as well.…”

“…9,10 Furthermore, unfulfillment of such desire can lead to body image dissatisfaction (BID), a narrower construct of body image, which is defined as an individual's negative thoughts about her body, including negative evaluations of body size, shape, and weight. 11,12 Although BID is associated more with ''a western culture,'' 10,13 in recent years, it has been spreading to nonwestern countries as well. 14,15 For example, in Mexico, along with its cultural shifts, the rate of BID is escalating.…”

Unhealthy weight control strategies: An outcome of body image and eating tensions in women of Mexican origin living in rural farming communities

“…A prevailing view in the literature is people of Mexican origin prefer a plump, curvaceous body shape signifying health, wealth and femininity (Diaz, Mainous & Pope, 2007; Romo, Mireless-Rios & Hurtado, 2015). Contrary to that view, participants in our study strongly and unanimously agreed that women of Mexican origin – members of their family, their friends and themselves - have significant concerns about their shape and worry about being overweight.…”

Konsumsi Sinergistik Produk Kecantikan (Studi Pembentukan Perilaku Konsumsi Sinergistik Pada Komunitas Perempuan Muslimat di Surabaya Oleh Produsen Kosmetik X)

“…Mereka yang melihat me-dia televisi mainstream menggambarkan keindahan sebagaimana gambar-gambar aktris yang ditampilkan. Bagi yang sering menonton media antimainstream meyakini bawah gambar-gambar yang ditampilkan oleh media tidak mewakili mereka (Romo et al, 2016).…”

“…Percakapan dengan Peer group juga berpotensi mempengaruhi citra tubuh, dimana godaan teman dan perbandingan sosial akan bentuk tubuh seperti kata-kata negatif untuk menggambarkan tubuh "gemuk" dan "pendek" turut memprovokasi perempuan merasakan ketidakpuasan akan tubuhnya dan berpengaruhi negatif terhadap citra tubuh serta penerimaan mereka terhadap diet (Romo et al, 2016).…”