ABSTRACT
Previous chapters have identified gender-related differences in body image, and specifically in body satisfaction. The participants in most studies have been groups of white, middle-class college students, aged 18-25, and of unspecified socioeconomic status and sexuality. Although most psychological research relies on this age group due to convenience for the academic investigator (Christensen, 1997), the results are necessarily limited in generalizability. This chapter focuses on studies that have compared groups differing in age, social class, ethnicity, and sexuality. First, there will be a review of evidence for changes in body dissatisfaction throughout the life span, to identify critical periods for dissatisfaction and to look at development and change in body dissatisfaction in both women and men. This will be followed by a discussion of the historical links between “slenderness” and the middle and upper classes, with a review of studies of social class differences in body dissatisfaction. Following this, work on the effects of ethnicity on body satisfaction will be evaluated, considering in particular the negative effects of white Western values on body image in black subcultures. Finally, the impact of sexuality on body image will be investigated, looking at differential pressures on men and women to be sexually attractive, and establishing links between heterosexual, gay, and lesbian subcultures and body image.
