Challenge beauty norms – to change you mind, not your body!

The Problem

It will come as no surprise to discover that idealised media images of thin, attractive models can negatively affect how women evaluate their own bodies. Such images convey the idea that thinness and beauty are linked with success, happiness, popularity, acceptance and an ideal life! This unrealistic and unobtainable beauty standard often produces feelings of incompetence and dissatisfaction.

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Researchers in the Netherlands have found a way to reduce the amount of attention women pay to images conveying these generic beauty ideas. The answer: challenge beauty norms. The researchers found that women who read norm-challenging information (e.g. statements like “thin women score lowest on life satisfaction”) subsequently paid less attention (i.e. looked less) at appearance-related advertisements that depicting a thin model in a bikini, compared with norm-confirming statements (e.g. “thin women have more friends and social contacts”) or information of no relevance to beauty norms. Moreover, this effect of challenging beauty norms was particularly strong in women with low self-esteem. The authors state that “our results show that the importance women place on being thin can be altered by challenging the idea that women need to live up to the unattainable beauty standards to be valued and successful in life” (see source below, pg. 322). The take home message: challenge beauty norms – to change your mind, not your body!

Source: Mischner, I. H. S., Van Schie, H. T., Engels, R. C. M. E. (2013). Breaking the circle: Challenging Western sociocultural normal for appearance influences young women’s attention to appearance-related media. Body Image, 10, 316-325. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.02.005