LECTURE EXTENSION Sex Differences in Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescence (p. 538) A study by Rosenblum and Lewis (1999) assessed body dissatisfaction, physical attractiveness, and body mass index among a group of male and female participants at ages 13, 15, and 18 years. Over the study period, girls' body image worsened, while boys' body image improved. Sex differences in body dissatisfaction emerged between 13 and 15 years of age and were maintained at 18 years. Although sex differences were not significant until age 15, even at age 13, 16 percent of the girls, but 0 percent of the boys were dissatisfied with their body image. The authors suggest that this change may be related to adolescents' emerging capacity for and increasing emphasis on self-evaluation. Further results revealed that adolescent girls became increasingly dissatisfied with the body parts affected by puberty-things, hips, waist, and weight. In contrast, boys exhibited increasing satisfaction with certain body parts such as height. The authors attribute girls' increasing dissatisfaction with their body image to physical changes that occur as a consequence of puberty (such as an accumulation of fat around the hips and thighs) that are at odds with the dominant culture's standards of beauty. Boys' increasing satisfaction is attributed to their increasing similarity to the masculine ideal of larger size and muscularity. Rosenblum, G. D., & Lewis, M. (1999). The relations among body image, physical attractiveness, and body mass in adolescence. Child Development, 70, 50-64. LEARNING ACTIVITY Critiquing Adolescent Magazines (p. 542)
Ask students to reflect back on magazines they read during adolescence. Did these magazines primarily target teenage boys or girls? Did students rely on these magazines as a source of advice about puberty and sexuality? If so, were the advice columns helpful in answering their questions? What types of images were portrayed in these magazines (such as, How were models depicted? Were they extremely thin or were models of different sizes included throughout the magazine? Were the images healthy?)? Did these images affect student's self-esteem and body image? Would students let their own children read/subscribe to these magazines? Why or why not?
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