Body Image: The third edition

The third edition of Body Image is out this month. 

This edition presents updated research literature, and considers what we know about body image in men, women, and children in the twenty-first century. The 2010s have seen a significant increase in cosmetic surgery, and over 20 million cosmetic procedures are now performed worldwide each year, mostly on women. Incidence of anabolic steroid use is increasing worldwide, and recent studies suggest that about 2.4% of Australian male adolescents and 6% of US adolescent boys use steroids to bulk up muscle mass in spite of serious health risks. Diet pills are also widely available on the internet and are used by both men and women to reduce body fat levels. Site enhancement oils such as synthol are also being used more frequently to create the appearance of trained muscle, and Botox to reduce facial wrinkles. Clearly there are important issues here that require understanding.

Since the second edition of this book in 2008, more researchers have focused on body image in children and men, and there has been an increase in the number of new measures that assess body image. Pressures to be more muscular and toned are more prevalent than they were in 2008, and new social media encourage objectification of women and men’s bodies. Meanwhile, activists and academics are trying to change how the fashion industry presents women’s bodies, and to find ways to promote positive body image.  This revised book covers work from academics based in a variety of disciplines including psychology, sociology, gender studies, and media studies, providing a summary of what we know about body image in the twenty-first century, and suggestions for how we might reduce body dissatisfaction and promote positive body image in the future.

Sarah Grogan is Professor of Psychology Health and Wellbeing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has been involved in body image research since 1990. She is interested in reducing body dissatisfaction in men, women, and children, with a particular focus on the impact of body image and related behaviors on physical health.

  

References

Sarah Grogan (2016) Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women, and Children (third edition): London: Routledge.