Body Image and Western culture

Why do we all want to be thin? It was not always so. Just after the war, women wanted to look fatter, and could buy thigh and bottom boosters, as well as stuffing hankies down their bras.

Western culture exerts pressure on women to conform to the current fashionable body shape, even though women have always come in all shapes and sizes. This pressure leads to unhappiness.

Research carried out by Northumbria University showed how Western culture is starting to put pressure on South African women to conform to Western ideals of beauty and the preferred body shape. These pressures were identified as coming from the pressure to please men. In the past, South African women had to be fat in order for their husbands and fathers to demonstrate their prosperity. Now, they can choose their size. So in one way, the report suggests, this is a sign of empowerment. On the other hand, the women also say that they want to be thin for their menfolk, who are also developing preferences for the Western ideal. The women said they wanted to be like the women in the adverts.

Striving after unachievable ideals of body shape only make us unhappy. When we are unhappy, we eat to comfort ourselves. Try hypnotherapy and break free.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com