- Body Image and False Expectations
- June 2009
Buddhists claim that all suffering stems from false expectations. Extrapolating this statement, we can surmise that setting unrealistic expectations of our physical appearance, expectation which are invariably based on media images and social norms, will result in failure and mental/physical suffering.
This month we will take a closer look at the suffering (as defined above) of modern western women.
57% rated their bodies less than 6/10
25% gave themselves 4 or 5 our of 10
1% awarded their body 10/10
This collaborates the March 09 Glamour poll of 16,000 women, which found that that 40% of women are unhappy with their bodies, a number virtually unchanged since the they originally asked the question in 1984.
Interesting Glamour also found that women under 30 are now 22 percent more likely to say they are happy with their shape than older women are. “Older women” says Satoshi Kanazawa Ph.D, “usually felt better about their bodies after they grew out of the awkward teenager stage and into feeling more comfortable about themselves. Now women are finding that confidence much sooner. This is a real breakthrough and it has a lot to do with recent education efforts and seeing a variety of body shapes and sizes that are deemed beautiful.” On a less positive note, the increase in confidence among the young could point to increasing body image issues as women age.
We will now look at the issue from a celebrity prospective.
Shobna Gulati
Few would argue that Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati, who played Sunita
Alahan, is demonstrably both talented and attractive. In stark contrast to her
public façade, she has recently confessed to the Mirror that she suffers from
low self-esteem, particularly
following the birth of her son Akshay 14 years ago.
During the interview, Shobna revealed "I've always suffered from low self-esteem. By the age of 18, I was still straight up and down with no curves. All I had was lots of body hair. Then suddenly my boobs appeared and they were huge. I was a 32DD and my waist was 24 inches!"
"I lived in a small house in Oldham and I refused to have big mirrors in it," she said. "I just had a handheld mirror on the cabinet above the sink so I could check my teeth were clean.
"I couldn't stand the sight of my body and I had lots of stretch marks on my breasts and my stomach, which had gone all crinkly. To this day, I can't bear to look at myself in a full-length mirror."
In conclusion, it is crystal clear that women (even outwardly attractive and successful women) are suffering and will continue to suffer until they start setting realistic achievable expectations of themselves.