BODY SHAMING IN

TEENAGE GIRLS OF

PAKISTAN
 GROUP MEMBERS:

AISHA JAWWAD (11234)

RAFIA OBAID (11506)

SADIA QADEER (11903)

SHERISH

SUNDUS AKRAM (12047)

COURSE,

ACADEMIC AND PROFFESSIONAL WRITING

SUBMIITTED TO,

MAAM UZMA JAFFARI

1
CONTENT:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

3. CONCLUSION

4. RECOMMENDATION

5. REFFERENCES

6. APPENDIX

2
INTRODUCTION:

Body shame is a concept that is used for the individuals’ self-conscious, negative
emotional response against one’s self. It appears in the individuals’ misstep to meet
the ideal body standards, and the acknowledgement of this failure. For women in
the western countries, the ideal body contains standards for outward appearance,
for an example thinness and youth. Because meeting these standards is important.
Media exposure has not only revolutionized the culture but has also affected the
local population’s perception of body image, dressing habits, styles of living and
purchasing behavior. Whatever it is that we are doing, we certainly do it with our
bodies. From the moment we wake, we are consciously or sub-consciously relying
on our body. We may look in the mirror and notice changes in our body, and for
some of us, even the most minor changes may impact upon how we feel about
ourselves. Body image includes a person’s perception of attitudes and feelings
towards the physical body from head to toe. This body dissatisfaction has been
shown to occur in girls as young as seven years old. It affects both physical and
mental health.

3
LITERATURE REVIW:

Body shame is a concept that is used for the individuals’ self-conscious, negative
emotional response against one’s self .Although women has more complexity
about body shame than men. Previous Studies shows it can lead to poor
psychological health, for an example depression. More than a century of research
on social influence has shown that humans are highly attuned to the attitudes of
others (Latané, 1981). However, little work has probed the dynamics of implicit
attitude change as it occurs in everyday life .We harnessed the availability of
existing public datasets to assess the impact of real-world events on implicit
attitudes.
(Schilder PM. 1978) defined the physical appearance as a psychosocial aspect, in
which a person gets an idea in his or her mind of their body. Therefore, the impact
of the body image on the personality of an individual is very powerful because it
affects many human features like feeling, emotion, way of thinking, relationship,
etc.
Body appearance shows great impact on an individual satisfaction and personality
power .From the beginning there is dissatisfaction in children due to direct link
between weight and body, there is a relationship between appearance and
psychological factors. The continuous changer in our body may affect our
personality, body part may lead to pain or depression and this way people lack
interveinal skills, and there is a difference between men and women body which
shows great difference and made differ from each other.
Influencing women on the body image and motivating them by conducting
seminars lead then and the young girls to participate confidently in all the
activities. People are more concerned with social media. But it is proved that self-
esteems the first priority that leads an individual to have focus on the lifestyle,
health if a person high self-esteem, he will lead his life easily.
In conclusion, the phenomenon of celebrity fat-shaming can increase women’s
implicit anti-fat attitudes. Although comments of this nature may seem trivial, we
show their effects extend beyond the celebrity target. We believe this work is
timely: The rapid developments in communication technology and exponential
growth of social media have increased the speed at which cultural messages can be
communicated. These advances have also created more opportunities for
exponential dissemination of cultural messages throughout society at large,
augmenting the likelihood that cultural attitudes existing in the air will insidiously
find their way into the mind.

4
It examines the media exposure self-esteem and religiously influences body image
of Pakistan consumers. It is based on social comparison theory with self-esteem
and religiosity to understand the characteristic of body image consumers. Media is
effecting on the culture of Pakistan. The conceptual framework proves that the
media is affecting badly which is test through SEM. According to the research of
Wardle, Haase, and Steptoe in 2005 it was assumed that Asian females are the
happier with their body image. It was found that women with their healthier body
image were closer to God, prayed more often and consider then body as holy and
sacred while women who had lower perception towards their body image are open
in their religious beliefs. Minimum sample size of 100 to 150 will be sufficient in
SEM analysis.

RECOMMENDATION:
Body-image plays a very important role in our individualistic society, in which a
woman’s identity is closely related to her body. Because of the great emphasis on
5
body slimness, the currents of social thought suggest that self-esteem, material
success, and desirable personality.
There are so many reasons for body shaming but the influence of the media is wide
and has spread everywhere. A surprisingly large number of individuals, the
majority of which are young women, develop their body image in accordance with
the ideas advanced by the media, which judge women’s attractiveness based on
how thin they are.
Treating someone differently because of their body-style is the same as not
accepting and treating people on the basis of their skin-tone, race and their
nationality but it has become very common. People do judge others on the basis of
how they look without realizing it that it’s bullying.
What we should do for the young teenage girls on body shaming as their parents,
teacher and adults is to help them focus on more than just appearance we should
not criticize or tease our child about how they look. If they are overweight, praise
them for any efforts that they are doing to eat a healthy diet, get the right amount
of sleep, and exercise. It has been noted that the top wish among teen girls is for
their parents to communicate better with them. “This helps your child realize that
their feelings and thoughts really do matter” and that, “you are there for them
whenever they need you”. Focusing on what we do have rather than what we don’t
reminds us that there is more to life than our appearance and ourselves. Our bodies
really are pretty amazing in what they let us do every day.

"My great hope for us as young women is to start being kinder to ourselves so
that we can be kinder to each other. To stop shaming ourselves and other
people: 'too fat, too skinny, too short, too tall, too anything.' There's a sense that
we're all 'too' something, and we're all not enough. This is life. Our bodies
change. Our minds change. Our hearts change." —Emma Stone

CONCLUSION:

6
In conclusion teenagers worry too much about their appearances and society
influences them to be the “perfect” person. But not everyone is ok with how they
look but by not eating or staving yourself is not the way to handle it .Because
doing this will lead to a disease or even depression. With a healthy diet and
exercise you can improve your looks with being healthy as well. We need to stop
the rate of eating disorders going up. If you just help someone who has a disorder
you can make a huge difference in the world We must appreciate our self who we
are and thanks to God what they make us .If you or someone you care about suffers
with negative body image, please seek professional help and stop the cycle of body
hatred Women also avoid activities to protect themselves from negative body
image. Encourage everyone to try new things and find and express their real self
.Every women need to get adequate sleep, food, and exercise.

10 ways you can love your body:

1: Affirm that your body is perfect just the way it is.

2: Think of your body as a tool. Create an inventory of all the things you can do
with it.

3: Walk with your head high with pride and confidence in yourself as a person, not
a size.

4: Create a list of people you admire who have contributed to your life, your
community, or the world. Was their appearance important to their success and
accomplishments?

5: Don’t let your size keep you from doing things you enjoy.

6: Replace the time you spend criticizing your appearance with more positive,
satisfying pursuits.

7: Let your inner beauty and individuality shine.

8: Think back to a time in your life when you liked and enjoyed your body. Get in
touch with those feelings now.

9: Be your body’s ally and advocate, not its enemy.

7
10: Beauty is not just skin-deep. It is a reflection of your whole self. Love and
enjoy the person inside.

Quoted by Gadbourey Sidibe:

"One day I decided that I was beautiful and so I carried out my life as if I was
a beautiful girl. It doesn't have anything to do with how the world perceives
you. What matters is what you see."

8
REFERENCES:

SUNDUS AKRAM

Body Image of Pakistani Consumers by Tariq Jalees ∗ Ernest C de Run †

https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj
O2uq_hZrmAhWq34UKHaIjCiUQFjAAegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication
%2F264311587_Body_Image_of_Pakistani_Consumers&usg=AOvVaw0-
JIcosrVMR8f67BRynmdX

RAFIA OBAID

Body Image and Weight Concern among Pakistani Adolescent female by Nida
Tabassum Khan*, Jibran Jameel, Maham Jameel Khan, Saad Umer Abdul
Rehman, Namra Jameel

https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi
p2o_Oh5rmAhWwzIUKHSI8AI0QFjABegQIBhAC&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.mathewsopenaccess.com%2Fscholarly-articles%2Fbody-image-and-
weight-concern-among-pakistani-adolescent-
females.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1HdJIe1KZMd_gNQq-dcdIB

AISHA JAWWAD

Shaping the Body Politic: Mass Media Fat-Shaming Affects Implicit Anti-Fat
Attitudes BY Amanda Ravary ,Mark W. Baldwin, Jennifer A. Bartz

https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi
snpHVmJrmAhWix4UKHRbTASIQFjAAegQIBhAB&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fjournals.sagepub.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs

9
%2F10.1177%2F0146167219838550&usg=AOvVaw13IvsVgkDC3KcyPzGO6t
Xd

APPENDIX:
(SADIA)

We are always relying on our body. We may look in the mirror and notice changes
in our body, and for some of us some changes or features of body may affect our
personality. (Nettleton & Watson, 2002). Body shame is a concept that is used for
the individuals’ self-conscious, negative emotional response against one’s self
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). The Objectification theory have done much
research in the field of body shame and it has shown the actual ratio of people
regarding body shame (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Although women have
more complexity about body shame than men (Grabe, Hyde, & Lindberg,
2007) .Shame related to body can be painful and it can lead to depression, this may
forces someone to avoid people, and this way people lack interpersonl skills
(Roberts & Goldenberg, 2007). Previous studies shows it can lead to poor
psychological health, for an example depression (Grabe, Hyde, & Lindberg,
2007). Body shaming also gives eating disorders (Tiggemann & Slater, 2001).
Men who lack masculinity are often considered feminine and they feel body shame
(Grogan & Richards, 2002). 50% to 71% of male undergraduates are not satisfied
as the body they want and 90% of them want more perfect and muscular body
(Frederick et al., 2007). Women reported poor physical health with illness
behaviour as well as physical symptoms, than men because women feels more
body shame (Gijsbers van Wijk, Huisman, & Kolk 1999). It was found that
women scores higher than men in body shaming (Poulin, Hand, Boudreau, &
Santor, 2005) The results of this study shows men also feels body shame and they
got higher scale just as like women. Studies for body shame had done mainly for
women but now studies for men also increasing; however. This might be it was
stated that because women feel more body shame than men (Grabe, Hyde, &
Lindberg, 2007)

10
11
(RAFIA)

(Schilder PM. 1978) defined the physical appearance as a psychosocial aspect, in

which a person gets an idea in his or her mind of their body. Therefore, the impact
of the body image on the personality of an individual is very powerful because it
effect many human features like feeling, emotion, way of thinking, relationship, etc
(Cash TF and Pruzinsky T. 2002.) Body image is usually measured in terms of
an individual's weight status, thus revealing their association with body satisfaction
status. It has been observed in many cultural communities that a direct link
between weight and body dissatisfaction begins to develop in children at the onset
of puberty (Lee K, Sohn H, Lee S and Lee J.2004 and Davison KK, Markey
CN and Birch LL.2000). Body image is analyzed on the basis of person weight,
regardless of underweight, overweight or obesity, and in general, obese bodies are
usually discouraged among teenagers (Musher-Eizenman DR, Holub SC,
Edwards-Leeper L, Persson AV, et al. 2003 and Smolak L. (2004). So many
studies have proved that overweight adolescents in both sexes display a high
degree of body dissatisfaction (Newman DL, Sontag LM and Salvato R. 2006,
Ricciardelli LA, McCabe MP, Lillis J and Thomas K. 2006, Shunk JA and
Birch LL. 2004, Shunk JA and Birch LL. 2004, Wardle J, Waller J and Fox E.
2002). This study was conducted with adolescent girls from Islamia Girls College
Quetta, with the sample size of 100 girls selected randomly. The study was
performed using a self-developed and validated questionnaire and the Body Mass
Index Measured (BMI. Not surprisingly results were obese (62%), underweight
(27) and a very small proportion of adolescents were in the normal weight
category. No exercise followed by irregular meal schedules contributing to their
rapid weight gain and weight loss. Factors such as cultural norms, media
influences and religious practices can also be blamed for their weight. Results also
indicate that the high rate of body dissatisfaction (92%) is associated with body
image perception. During this phase of growth, adolescents develop self-awareness
about their body size or physical appearance, as it is obvious that underweight and
obese teenagers seem to suffer from bodily dissatisfaction. In addition, social
norms applied in the media, magazines, television, movies, advertisements, etc.
point out that women's self-esteem only rests on their physical appearance and
reflects a dominant image of female beauty (Richins ML. 1991, Silverstein B,
Perdue L, Peterson B and Kelly E. 1986). For example, according to one study,

12
nearly 76% of women's sitcom televised characters were underweight (Fouts G
and Burggraf K. 2000). It is often more than 20% underweight (Spitzer BL,
Henderson KA and Zivian MT.1999). Unrealistic media images created by
digital alteration, concealment and surgery have been adopted as standards for
women's self-evaluation (Thompson JK, Heinberg LJ, Altabe M and Tantleff-
Dunn S. 1999). Therefore, in such circumstances, it is important to implement
early interventions to help adolescent girls recognize and distinguish realistic body
images from unrealistic images (Attie I and Brooks-Gunn J.1989). It is therefore
not surprising that teenagers believe that magazine images influence their
conception of ideal body shape and therefore wish to lose weight (Field E,
Cheung L, Wolf A, Herzog DB, et al. 1999). The public evaluation may be an
important mechanism by which the press has a negative effect on the image of a
woman's body. Research shows that as soon as an attractive media model is
presented, the comparison for women begins automatically (Cattarin JA,
Thompson JK, Thomas C and Williams R. 2000, Dittmar H and Howard S.
2004. Data from this study show that adolescents' perceptions of appeal are
increasing social comparisons with media models. The awareness of the size of the
body image and the increasing body ailments about a higher weight status are well
established among the teenagers of this era. Therefore, it is necessary to mediate in
order to improve the problem of weight condition and obtain an ideal body that
does not exist.

(AISHA)
More than a century of research on social influence has shown that humans are
highly attuned to the attitudes of others (Latané, 1981). However, little work has
probed the dynamics of implicit attitude change as it occurs in everyday life, en
masse. We harnessed the availability of existing public datasets to assess the
impact of real-world events on implicit attitudes. We found that the phenomenon
of celebrity fat-shaming in the media increases women’s gut-level association that
fat is bad. This work extends prior research by demonstrating that implicit attitudes
are susceptible to change based on shifts in our broader social–cultural context and,
importantly, links these changes with specific events, supporting the notion that
public events do leave a private trace. Whereas other work indicates that high
profile, mass media communications and social movements can alter implicit
attitudes (Sawyer & Gampa, 2018), we show that even casual cultural messages—
13
more precisely, purportedly “harmless” comments about another’s appearance
primarily occurring in tabloids and/or blogs—can shape implicit attitudes to reflect
the cultural milieu. It is also worth noting that in contrast to the Black Lives Matter
events, these messages were not aimed at changing people’s attitudes.

Although our meta-analysis revealed a statistically reliable effect of fat-shaming on

anti-fat attitudes, the effect was small. It is worth noting that, presumably, not all
of our Project Implicit respondents were exposed to the media coverage, since
these events were not covered by the mainstream media. The notoriety analyses
support this hypothesis since notoriety—which indexes the event’s potential
exposure—was associated with the event effect size. It is also likely that
idiosyncratic characteristics of specific events may have made some events more
impactful than others and diluted the aggregated effect size (see Supplemental
Materials for further discussion). Notwithstanding the small effect, and as
Greenwald, Banaji, and Nosek (2015) argue, even small changes in implicit
attitudes can have important cumulative effects due to repeated influence across
many individuals. We cannot directly link an increase in implicit anti-fat attitudes
to specific negative outcomes with our available data; however, culture’s emphasis
on the thin ideal can contribute to eating disorders (Polivy & Herman, 2002),
which are particularly prevalent among young women (Nagl et al., 2016). It is well
established that media exposure is an important vehicle through which these norms
are communicated and internalized, not only for Western cultures but also non-
Western cultures: As Becker, Burwell, Gilman, Herzog, and Hamburg (2002)
showed, the introduction of Western television in Fiji (a previously media-naive
population) increased disordered eating attitudes and behavior among Fijian
adolescent girls.

Aside from the acute effects of celebrity fat-shaming on implicit anti-fat attitudes,
we observed an overall increase in anti-fat attitudes over time, an effect that was
not observed for other kinds of negative attitudes (i.e., race). This general increase
in anti-fat attitudes could reflect the fact that unlike other forms of stigma, the
expression of anti-fat attitudes is still seen as relatively socially acceptable
(Crandall, 1994; Puhl & Heuer, 2009). Indeed, as anyone who has stood in a
grocery store checkout line, walked past an airport newsstand, or scrolled through
a social media news feed can attest, it is difficult to escape such communications.
In light of our findings, it is interesting to consider that repeated fat-shaming (and

14
other public expressions of weight bias) over time may contribute to the increase in
baseline anti-fat attitudes; this is a question to be tested in future work.

In contrast to implicit attitudes, we did not find that celebrity fat-shaming increased
people’s explicit anti-fat attitudes. Implicit attitudes are thought to be more
difficult to consciously control, whereas explicit attitudes are thought to be
controllable and, consequently, vulnerable to censorship from defensive processes
(Banaji, 2001) and/or such influences as social norms, personal standards, beliefs,
and values (Crandall & Eshleman, 2003). Although there has been an increase in
weight bias discrimination (Andreyeva et al., 2008), there has been a recent
burgeoning of body acceptance movements (Afful & Ricciardelli, 2015). The
effect of celebrity fat-shaming on implicit but not explicit attitudes may reflect the
tension between these two opposing factors and reinforces the notion that implicit
and explicit attitudes operate differently (Greenwald et al., 1998). That said, our
measure of explicit attitudes is composed of only three items, whereas our measure
of implicit attitudes is composed of many trials on the IAT. Thus, the lack of
findings with the explicit anti-fat attitudes may simply reflect a measurement issue.

In conclusion, the phenomenon of celebrity fat-shaming can increase women’s

implicit anti-fat attitudes. Although comments of this nature may seem trivial, we
show their effects extend beyond the celebrity target. We believe this work is
timely: The rapid developments in communication technology and exponential
growth of social media have increased the speed at which cultural messages can be
communicated. These advances have also created more opportunities for
exponential dissemination of cultural messages throughout society at large,
augmenting the likelihood that cultural attitudes existing in the air will insidiously
find their way into the mind.

15
(sherish)
“Body Image and Women’s Mental Health: An Evaluation of a Group
Intervention Program
Vivienne Lewis and Sowmya Devaraj (2010)
Lewis and Devaraj (2010) analyzed the impact that how body image perception
affects women’s mental and physical health. So, a sample of 47 female participant
were voluntarily recruited through advertisements placed in the portals of
University of Canberra, Australia. Additionally, the female participants were sub-
divided into two groups namely; intervention and controlled group. The
intervention group receives treatment of the variable that is being tested in the
study. Whereas, the controlled group receives standard treatment or no treatment of
the variable being tested in the study. Similarly, participants in both the
intervention and controlled group completed pre and post questionnaire consisting
of broad range of scale measuring cognitive and body image scale namely:
Rosenberg Self – esteem Scale (RSES), Body Areas Satisfaction Subscale (BASS),
Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBC) and Body Image Quality of Life
Inventory (BIQLI). However, all the participants volunteered to complete the
questionnaire at pre and post intervention of six weeks which included different
seminars and workshops related to Body image projecting physical and mental
health. Consequently, the result suggests that all the women in both intervention
and controlled group experienced body dissatisfaction, Body image and
surveillance indicated negative impact on their quality of life. So, positive body
image programs ae effective in increasing adults’ women satisfaction with their
bodies and self- esteem and reducing their body image related anxiety and
surveillance.

16
(Sundus)

It examine the media exposure self-esteem and religiously influence body image of
Pakistan consumers. It is based on social comparison theory with self-esteem and
religiosity to understand the characteristic of body image consumers. Media is
effecting on the culture of Pakistan. The conceptual framework proves that the
media is affecting badly which is test through SEM. European females are
concerned about their weight. Upon the research of university students of Delhi a
high coo-relation between negative body image and maladjustment have been
arisen. According to the research of Wardle, Haase, and Steptoe in 2005 it was
assumed that Asian females are the more -happier with their body image. While
the case study found by Mahmud and Crittenden in 2007 it has been assumed that
Australian female have lower self -esteem and dis-satisfaction than the Pakistani
females. It also found that there is two comparisons while inferior is downward
comparison. According to the case study of field etal 2001 mass media considered
to be the strongest influences on body image. Advertisement in television have
been increased substantially in the united-states. Media image have become a
benchmark for prettiness and attractiveness to most people in society due to which
incidents of body dis-satisfaction have been increased. Self-esteem plays a
significant role. Other researchers refer self-esteem as a favourable or unfavourable
self-assessment (cooper and Tayler, 1998). Religious philosophy provides a frame
of reference on how to live and behave in a society (weaver and agle, 2002). It was
found that women with their healthier body image were closer to God, prayed
more often and consider then body as holy and sacred while women who had lower
perception towards their body image are open in their religious beliefs. Minimum
sample size of 100 to 150 will be sufficient in SEM analysis (Anderson and
Gerbing , 1998). The sample size used in this study is 193. The researcher had used
quota sampling by allocating 225 samples to five high income of the city (Karachi,
Pakistan). Data was collected through mall intercept method. It need to develop a
conceptual framework for understanding consumer attitude towards body image.
Parents and teacher should motivate youth to get constructive physical activities
and hobbies.

17
18