Beauty Demands

In today’s world, it can often feel like society writes the main definition of beauty for us, and in doing so gives a template for the ‘ideal’ body. From an early age, we are surrounded by images in the media, placed there for us to absorb and aspire to. It is perhaps not all negative; on some level I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be curious to and inspired by what we see around us. To me, the problem arises when doing so results in us bringing comparison into the mix and moving further away from who we are.   Growing up I can recall so many moments of wanting to know and follow the latest fashion trend and wishing I looked, or didn’t look, a certain way. Fast forward to 2016 when I was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer at the age of 27 and my relationship with my body and appearance changed almost overnight. It was only a matter of days before I was to enter the world of chemotherapy, surgery and menopause; all which came with their own set of physical and emotional side effe

I nterest in body image has increased in the last few years, and high-profile initiatives aiming to promote positive body image, such as the Dove ® Be Real Campaign , have highlighted some of the dangers inherent in the cultural idealisation of slender and toned bodies. Body dissatisfaction is important in its own right as a threat to well-being, and also because it is associated with various health-related behaviours, some of which present significant risks. For instance, the twenty-first century has seen a significant increase in cosmetic surgery and use of drugs such as anabolic steroids and ephedrine in men and women who are dissatisfied with their bodies. Indeed, health psychology research suggests that e ven relatively minor body concerns may lead to exercise avoidance, unhealthy eating, inability to quit smoking, and greater incidence of risky UV exposure . By identifying factors that predict dissatisfaction, we may be able to produce useful ideas for encouraging more positive

With recent discussions about potential harms of Instagram , particularly for teenagers, we revisit this 2019 post highlighting the need for relevant adults to become more digitally literate.  It is well established that young people make extensive use of social media. In the UK, 83% of 12-15 year olds have a smartphone, 99% go online for over 20 hours per week, and 69% have a social media profile . It is certainly apparent that social media is a key resource in the lives of contemporary young people and is a central space for the development of identities and relationships, as well as emotional regulation, self-expression, learning and much more. At the same time, many adults find young people’s uses of social media concerning. The dominant narratives that surround young people and social media tend to be associated with risk, and the potential for negative impacts, in areas including body image and body dissatisfaction. The key challenge is that the contemporary digital worl

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, we revisit this great post exploring the impact of breast cancer treatment on women's body image.  The month of October is a time when charities, individuals, brands and businesses in the UK raise awareness of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in the UK, and in any one month around 5000 women will be diagnosed with the disease (Breast Cancer Care, 2018). Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy are used to treat women affected, and cancer survival has doubled in the last 40 years (Cancer Research UK, 2018).   Procedures and therapies impact on women’s bodies physically and emotionally as they experience the changes caused by the disease and treatments.   Women might find it difficult to come to terms with a body that differs from idealised media images, and previous work on women’s body image and well-being after cancer treatment has focussed mostly

Earlier this year, Norway passed a law requiring that social media influencers who edit their appearance on promotional posts must add a disclaimer label declaring this editing. In this excellent post from 2018, Jasmine Fardouly explores whether such disclaimers are likely to be effective: (For more recent research with similar findings, see Livingston, Holland & Fardouly's 2020 article in Body Image journal) Whether you are reading a magazine, scrolling through social media, or just walking past shop fronts or advertisements, it is likely that you will come across glamorous images of thin women living a seemingly perfect lifestyle. These images generally promote a very narrow beauty ideal that is unattainable for most women. These images are also often edited, using appearance-enhancing lighting and photo editing filters, apps, and programs. Thus, the beauty ideal being promoted in these images is not real or achievable. Decades of research suggests that looking at these

When I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer two days before my 28th birthday, the first question I asked was “Am I going to lose my hair?” “Probably,” the nurse answered, as I felt the ground fall away from under my feet. My hair wasn’t the best hair in the world (it had recently recovered from a horrendous, self-imposed quarantine fringe), but it was still mine. Well-meaning comments of “it will grow back” and “it is only temporary,” whilst being true, delegitimised the very real sense of grief I felt. Every time I touched it in the lead up to my first chemotherapy session, I imagined it not being there and felt a lurch in my stomach. I couldn’t imagine my face without eyebrows or eyelashes, and in my obsessive reading about side-effects, I convinced myself that my nails were going to fall off. Of course, being bald temporarily was preferable to dying, but classic media images of cancer patients haunted me. It felt like my identity was being stripped away, leaving me with nothing