Body image

Even among women with normal body shape and weight, physical appearance is the factor which shows the strongest relationship with self-esteem (Alice Penner, Louis Gleghorn, Body Image and Self esteem in normal weight women, 1989). So that means if you have any disquiet about your body, then you can expect to feel bad in some way.

In our society, women are required to be slim. This was not always so. In Rubens' day, women were attractive when they were plump and curvy. While what is fashionable in terms of women's bodies changes over time, women's actual body shapes remain the same. Women come in all shapes and sizes. Does that affect your love life? That might be an important question. Well, walk around the supermarket and have a look at the couples and families who are shopping. Married women come in all shapes and sizes.

Australian researchers Williamson & Delin (The development of body size dissatisfaction in primary school children, 1998) showed that girls as young as five show a clear preference for smaller body sizes and were already dissatisfied with their bodies. That can only be the result of the complex and constant barrage of information from the media, their friends, and other social pressures about what women should look like.

Hypnotherapy can help to refocus body image and come to terms with what is normal. Don't forget, fashion photography is an art form, we are not supposed to take it seriously. And even the stars have to be airbrushed. (see my blog of 4 August 2009)

Dieting just to achieve a socially acceptable shape makes us ill. Hypnotherapy can help.
www.carolinebrowntherapy.com