Female and Male Body Image and Self-Esteem
Body image is a person's perception of their own physical appearance. Someone with a poor body image will see themselves as being unattractive or even repulsive to others, while someone that has a healthy body image will see themselves as attractive or at least accept themselves as they are.
How a person views themselves is not necessarily based on how others see them; someone with poor body image may be considered beautiful by others while someone with a healthy body image may not. Body image is really based on the inner relationship we have with ourselves and a poor body image can damage us emotionally.
To measure your own body image, write down what you imagine your ideal body shape to be, using pictures and words to describe this. Then ask yourself how your actual body shape compares to this ideal. Your answer will signal the level of satisfaction you have with your body image.
Our life experiences shape how we feel about ourselves and our bodies. Our family of origin, parents, role models, schools, religion and childhood peers all give us an idea of what it is like to love and value a body. If we learnt negative views about ourselves from these important influences when we were young, then we usually grow up with a distorted sense of self, and poor body image and self-esteem.
Social scripts also impact on us on a daily basis through the media's portrayal of beauty. If we are not aware of this it can slowly wear away at our self image. Even those of us with a healthy body image can start to feel less positive about ourselves as our ideal image changes, although our bodies may stay the same.
I’m too skinny, I’m too fat, I’m too white, I’m too dark! If only I was shorter, taller, less freckles, more freckles, blonde hair, dark hair, straight hair, curly hair, bigger breasts, bigger penis, etc. the list goes on.
Following these scripts can result in a damaging internal dialogue. Learning how to recognise these scripts and rewrite them to reflect your authentic self can help you to love and honour your body, no matter what you imagine it looks like.
