Body Image and Appearance. The Ultimate Teen Guide

137 Pages·2009·2.77 MB·English

by  Kathlyn Gay

It Happened to Me
Series Editor: Arlene Hirschfelder
Books in the It Happened To Me series are designed for inquisitive teens digging
for answers about certain illnesses, social issues, or lifestyle interests. Whether
you are deep into your teen years or just entering them, these books are gold
mines of up-to-date information, riveting teen views, and great visuals to help
you figure out stuff. Besides special boxes highlighting singular facts, each book
is enhanced with the latest reading lists, websites, and an index. Perfect for
browsing, there are loads of expert information by acclaimed writers to help
parents, guardians, and librarians understand teen illness, tough situations, and
lifestyle choices.
1. Epilepsy: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kathlyn Gay and Sean McGarrahan,
2002.
2. Stress Relief: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Mark Powell, 2002.
3. Learning Disabilities: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Penny Hutchins
Paquette and Cheryl Gerson Tuttle, 2003.
4. Making Sexual Decisions: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by L. Kris Gowen,
2003.
5. Asthma: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Penny Hutchins Paquette, 2003.
6. Cultural Diversity—Conflicts and Challenges: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by
Kathlyn Gay, 2003.
7. Diabetes: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Katherine J. Moran, 2004.
8. When Will I Stop Hurting? Teens, Loss, and Grief: The Ultimate Teen Guide
to Dealing with Grief, by Ed Myers, 2004.
9. Volunteering: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kathlyn Gay, 2004.
10. Organ Transplants—A Survival Guide for the Entire Family: The Teen
Guide, by Tina P. Schwartz, 2005.
11. Medications: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Cheryl Gerson Tuttle, 2005.
12. Image and Identity—Becoming the Person You Are: The Ultimate Teen
Guide, by L. Kris Gowen and Molly C. McKenna, 2005.
13. Apprenticeship: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Penny Hutchins Paquette,
2005.
14. Cystic Fibrosis: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Melanie Ann Apel, 2006.
15. Religion and Spirituality in America: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kathlyn
Gay, 2006.
16. Gender Identity: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Cynthia L. Winfield, 2007.
17. Physical Disabilities: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Denise Thornton, 2007.
18. Money—Getting It, Using It, and Avoiding the Traps: The Ultimate Teen
Guide, by Robin F. Brancato, 2007.
19. Self-Advocacy: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Cheryl Gerson Tuttle and
JoAnn Augeri Silva, 2007.
20. Adopted: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Suzanne Buckingham Slade, 2007.
21. The Military and Teens: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kathlyn Gay, 2008.
22. Animals and Teens: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Gail Green, 2009.
23. Reaching Your Goals: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Anne Courtright, 2009.
24. Juvenile Arthritis: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kelly Rouba, 2009.
25. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Natalie
Rompella, 2009.
26. Body Image and Appearance: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Kathlyn Gay,
2009.
27. Writing and Publishing: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Tina P. Schwartz,
2009.
28. Food Choices: The Ultimate Teen Guide, by Robin F. Brancato, 2009.
Body Image
and Appearance
The Ultimate Teen Guide
KATHLYN GAY
It Happened to Me, No. 26
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 by Kathlyn Gay All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
Gay, Kathlyn.
Body image and appearance : the ultimate teen guide / Kathlyn Gay.
p. cm. — (It happened to me ; No. 26) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-6645-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-81086646-1 (ebook) 1. Body image in
adolescence. 2. Teenagers—Psychology. I. Title.
BF724.3.B55G39 2009
306.4'613—dc22
2009018469
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard
for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
1 A Look in the Mirror
2 What Is the “Ideal” Body?
3 Bodybuilding and Muscularity
4 Shaping Up via Surgery
5 Weight Bias
6 Don’t “Shortchange” Me!
7 Dwarfs Are Not Freaks
8 Disfigurement, Disabilities, and Body Image
9 Matters of “Acceptable” Appearance
10 Confronting Height, Weight, and Appearance Discrimination
11 Reality Check
Resources
Index
About the Author
1 A Look in the Mirror
Tania is surveying herself in the dressing-room mirror and hating herself
because of the plus-size clothes she wears. She exercises for hours each day and
worries constantly about what diet to try next. She is ready to do almost anything
to be able to buy outfits like some of her teenage classmates who wear size 2 or
6 or 8.
“My sense [of] self-esteem too often depends on how I see my
body.”
—Chris Godsey, a young man reporting on his body image1
Andrew is checking out his reflection in a full-length mirror and decides he
has a major problem. He is convinced he is not muscular enough to attract any of
the pretty girls in his high school class. He is planning to find ways to bulk up.
Mary Jo looks in her hand mirror and finds pimples marking her face. She is
about to panic. She has to cover up the blemishes with heavy makeup before her
date for the prom arrives. But she will be miserable all evening believing that
everyone will notice that her face is not picture-perfect.
Figure 1.1. This woman checks her mirror to make sure her appearance is acceptable.
Figure 1.2. This woman also checks a mirror to see how she looks.
Gordon is studying his stomach, sucking it in before the bathroom mirror. He
is only twenty years old, and he is certain that he is overweight even though the
scales say otherwise. He is thinking about a tummy tuck—cosmetic surgery.
While these are fictional accounts, many young people in the real world are
dissatisfied if not downright horrified with their reflections—sometimes
distorted reflections—in their mirrors. For example, on a website called
AdiosBarbie.com, one young man wonders why he spends so much time before
the mirror, “flexing and twisting and prodding and scrutinizing every part of my
body that I deem less than perfect.” He answers his own question: “My sense of
self-esteem . . . is increasingly affected (infected?) by a continuous, arbitrary
onslaught of images and messages that dictate the rights and wrongs of physical