Sexuality and Exercise Motivations: Are Gay Men and Heterosexual Women Most Likely to be Motivated by Concern About Weight and Appearance?

Grogan, Sarah; Conner, Mark; Smithson, Helen

doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9110-3

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Furthermore, a majority of participants described exercise and dieting as a tool to try to gain their perceived ideal figure, suggesting that there is a pressure among nonheterosexual women to conform to mainstream body ideals. These findings are in line with research by Grogan, Conner and Smithson (2006) who found that lesbian women engaged in similar levels of exercise and dieting as heterosexual women, in order to achieve a thinner, more toned, body. Furthermore, three participants discussed having experienced eating pathology at some point in their lives, suggesting that non-heterosexual women are also at risk for eating disorders, in line with previous research (e.g.…”

Section: Body-related Pressures and Influencessupporting

confidence: 91%

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Body image and sexual orientation: The experiences of lesbian and bisexual women

2017

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Western cultures promote a thin and curvaceous ideal body size that most women find difficult to achieve by healthy measures, resulting in poor body image and increased risk for eating pathology. Research focusing on body image in lesbian and bisexual women has yielded inconsistent results. In total, 11 lesbian and bisexual women were interviewed regarding their experiences with body image. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed that these women experienced similar mainstream pressures to conform to a thin body ideal. Furthermore, participants perceived additional pressure to conform to heteronormative standards of beauty since the normalisation of homosexuality and the increase in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender representation in mainstream media.

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Section: Body-related Pressures and Influencessupporting

confidence: 91%

“…More recent research has suggested no significant differences in body dissatisfaction between heterosexual and non-heterosexual women (e.g. Grogan, Conner, & Smithson, 2006;Huxley, Clarke, & Halliwell, 2014;Peplau et al, 2009;Tiggemann, 2015), as well as similar levels of eating pathology (e.g. Austin et al, 2004;Feldman & Meyer, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body image and sexual orientation: The experiences of lesbian and bisexual women

2017

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Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adding to the complexity of clothing needs, age, sex, and physical activity, sexuality contributes to social pressure for physical attractiveness (Conner et al 2004). It has been found that heterosexual women and gay men experience more pressure to attain a slender figure than lesbians and heterosexual men (Grogan et al 2006).Due to the lack of published research on exercise clothing, this study analyzes what obese heterosexual women wear, their perceived choices, alternatives, and satisfaction in clothing for exercise. As an exploratory study, the authors did not want to limit discussion of exercise clothing to active wear specialty items.…”

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confidence: 99%

Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

2016

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IntroductionParticipation in physical activity has dramatically decreased over the past decade, especially among American adult women over the age of 18 (Physical Activity Council Report 2015). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 69.1 % of the population in the United States is considered overweight and within this group, 35.1 % is classified as obese (2015). Consumer reports (Cox 2012) show that over 65 % of women in the US wear plus-size clothing, which is defined as apparel over a US size 14 (Alexander et al. 2012). Prior research supports that weight bias is a barrier to physical activity (Ball et al. 2000;Vartanian and Shaprow 2008). Having desired clothing for exercise can promote physical activity and help obese women overcome weight bias (Lou Watkins et al. 2014). However, there is a lack of research on exercise clothing, especially with regards to the plus-size market. AbstractOver the past decade participation in physical activity for adult women has decreased while body size has increased. Overweight and obese individuals are considered the majority demographic in the United States; however, plus-sized clothing sales are minimal in comparison to other segments. Furthermore, there is little known about the clothing practices of obese women who engage in physical activity. The current study addresses this research gap by exploring obese heterosexual women's clothing practices for exercise, with an emphasis on what women wear, their perceived choices, alternatives, and satisfaction. Lowe and Anspach's (Home Econ Res J 7(2):121-127, 1978) notion of freedom of dress was the guiding conceptual framework for in-depth interviews with (n = 56) obese women. A majority of the women perceived having limited freedom in dress, and reported crossdressing in men's clothing to engage in physical activity, which resulted in a perceived lack of gender expression. Crossdressing is wearing clothing of the opposite sex and gender expression is a way in which a person acts to communicate gender within a given culture. Women in this study indicated and the authors discuss that as clothing size increases, perceived freedom in dress decreases. In order to increase freedom in dress, our participants tended to believe it is their personal responsibility to lose weight. Christel et al. Fash Text (2016) et al. Fash Text (2016) 3:11 According to the International ASTM standard table of body measurement, clothing designed for women with a 35.5″ waist circumference correlates to a plus-size 18 (ASTM D6960-04 2004). Plus-size apparel often costs more and is offered in fewer styles, colors, and varieties than apparel in standard sizes (Greenleaf and Kauffung 2015). In turn, plus-size consumers have a difficult time finding outfits that fit well, and many of these women feel excluded and frustrated during shopping experiences (Otieno et al. 2005;Scaraboto and Fischer 2013). Not having appropriate clothing for exercise can lead to further body issue concerns, and the desire to not participate in physical a...

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“…Dieting is more frequent among women than among men [15], who tend to practice physical exercise rather than diet to change the look of their bodies and to lose weight [16,17]. Moreover, improving body image, particularly by reducing its importance in one’s personal life, plays a role in enhancing eating self-regulation during weight control in women [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual measurements by means of a new index and level of physical activity in Italian university students

et al. 2014

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BackgroundBody image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem. This study examined the body image perception, the degree of dissatisfaction and the weight status perception inconsistency in relation to sex, weight status and amount of physical activity in a sample of university students.MethodsThe participants were 734 university students (354 females aged 21.5 ± 2.9 yrs and 380 males aged 22.1 ± 3.6 yrs) recruited from the second year of the Sport Sciences degree program. A self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire socio-demographic and sport participation information. Height, weight, BMI and weight status were considered for each subject. Body image perception was assessed by a silhouette matching technique. A new index, FAI (Feel status minus Actual status Inconsistency), was used to assess weight status perception inconsistency.ResultsA large proportion of the sample had normal weight status. On average, females chose as feel status a significantly higher figure than the males (4.7 versus 3.8) and they would have liked to have a significantly thinner figure than the males (3.4 versus 3.6). Therefore, the mean FID (Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy) values (positive in both sexes) were significantly higher in females than in males, meaning higher dissatisfaction. The mean FAI values were positive in females and negative in males, indicating a tendency of the women to overestimate their weight status and of the men to underestimate it. Men were more physically active than women. Less active women showed significantly lower body weight and BMI than more active women. Men less engaged in physical activity showed significantly higher FID than more active men.ConclusionsThese results show greater dissatisfaction and higher weight status perception consistency in females than in males among Italian university students examined. Our findings suggest that the FAI index can be very useful to evaluate the perceived weight status by body image in comparison to actual weight status assessed anthropometrically.

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Sexuality and Exercise Motivations: Are Gay Men and Heterosexual Women Most Likely to be Motivated by Concern About Weight and Appearance?

Cited by 29 publications

References 15 publications

Body image and sexual orientation: The experiences of lesbian and bisexual women

Body image and sexual orientation: The experiences of lesbian and bisexual women

Coping by crossdressing: an exploration of exercise clothing for obese heterosexual women

Body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual measurements by means of a new index and level of physical activity in Italian university students

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