Fiction, Fashion, and Function Finale: An Introduction and Conclusion to the Special Issue on Gendered Body Image, Part III

Abstract

Culture specifies standards for women's and men's body appearance and display. In Western cultures, these standards are both concentrated and ubiquitous in the media, represented as gendered body ideals for citizens to aspire toward. Because gendered body ideals are revered, individuals try to construct and portray their body consistently with these ideals. Furthermore, because gendered body ideals are narrowly defined and restrictive, individuals constrict their behavior, relationships, and perceptions of themselves and others to fall within the parameters of these ideals. The third and final issue of this series showcases innovative studies within two streams. The first stream investigates the many ways individuals invest effort into constructing and/or portraying their body to fit the gendered body ideal. The second stream addresses the diverse ways internalization of these ideals constrict individuals' relationships, freedoms, and perceptions of others' bodies and lifestyles. We discuss the empirical articles alongside points raised in films by Jhally (2009) and Clark (2009) that emphasize how media portrayals of gendered body ideals foster body-related constructions and constrictions in viewers. We emphasize intersectionality when presenting the articles, recognizing that gender combines with multiple identities (e.g., sexual orientation, race, political affiliation, and age) as well as individual difference variables to mold the degree to which individuals construct and constrict themselves and others to fit gendered body ideals. We end with a discussion of how these articles can be used to generate social change by deconstructing and delegitimizing gendered body ideals.

Objectifying Women’s Bodies is Acceptable from an Intimate Perpetrator, at Least for Female Sexists

“…Arguably, the deification of the body has characterized Western cultures in the 21 st century, thereby causing the body to become a main element of gender identity. The human form has been subjected to a gendered standard of beauty (for a review see Calogero & Tylka, 2010; Tylka & Calogero, 2010, 2011), and these deep-seated norms have imposed preconceived reference points, leaving little room for other body types (Butler, 1990). As such, human bodies are compared to beauty standards and “are not allowed to naturally develop into a diverse range of shapes, sizes, and attributes” (Calogero & Tylka, 2010, p. 1), instead stigmatizing fat body types (Murray, 2005, 2008; Puhl & Latner, 2007).…”

The Salt without the Girl: Negotiating Embodied Identity as an Agender Person with Cystic Fibrosis

“…Conversely, I have faced a slew of other challenges to my self-concept and ability to articulate it to others that my male-assigned peers often have not. Just as athletic pursuits are considered a marker of virility and thus worth in male-looking people, similar pressures apply to female-looking patients with respect to physiognomy (Tylka and Calogero 2011). Whereas U.S. residents who are assigned male at birth are often expected to become sturdy and muscular as they grow, those assigned female face similarly strong expectations to stay slender, but not too slender (Paechter 2006).…”

The Salt without the Girl: Negotiating Embodied Identity as an Agender Person with Cystic Fibrosis

“…Conversely, I have faced a slew of other challenges to my self-concept and ability to articulate it to others that my male-assigned peers often have not. Just as athletic pursuits are considered a marker of virility and thus worth in male-looking people, similar pressures apply to female-looking patients with respect to physiognomy (Tylka & Calogero 2011). Whereas US residents who are assigned male at birth are often expected to become sturdy and muscular as they grow, those assigned female face similarly strong expectations to stay slender-but not too slender (Paechter 2006).…”