| Summary: | Magister Psychologiae - MPsych === Women and their bodies are at the very center of a prevailing cultural obsession
regarding strict standards of body weight, shape, and image. The pressure to achieve
unattainable body-beautiful standards has given rise to women having a negative
relationship with their bodies. This preoccupation with body image has resulted in an
increased sense of body dissatisfaction, chronic dieting, and anxieties associated with
self-worth and appearance.
The primary aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship a group of female
participants has with their bodies. The major thrusts of this study are: to explore on a
deeper level how they make personal meaning of the concepts of body and body
image within their own lives. To explore how women understand their
broader social context, as playing a role, in their perceptions and attitudes
of their bodies. In this respect, a closer examination of their awareness of the more
complex gender issues will be undertaken, employing the emerging discourses
within the research process.
Whilst this study generally locates itself within a social constructionist understanding
of body image, it actively draws from feminist theories. The literature review outlines
empirical, feminist, and social constructionist approaches to body image and explores
the social constructionist approach more broadly. It utilizes discourse analysis and
therefore positions itself within a qualitative paradigm. Three one-and-a-half-hour
focus groups were conducted with eight women who are psychology honors
students. A discourse analysis was carried out on the transcriptions of the three focus groups. The findings revealed that the participants were aware of how the wider cultural context impacted on their perceptions and attitudes regarding their
bodies. They understood how body image is socially constructed and
specific to the current cultural context. They identified the current body ideal (norm),
to be waif-like and very slender. Despite this understanding of the body ideal as
socially constructed, they continued on a personal level to evaluate themselves against
the body ideal, giving rise to personal feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction.
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