Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children [Paperback]

Sarah Grogan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 11, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0415147859 | ISBN-13: 978-0415147859 | Edition: 1

Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children presents a review of what is presently known and the results of some new research on body image. It compares the effects of gender, sexuality, social class, age and ethnicity on satisfaction with the way we look and suggests how these differences arise. Why, for instance, are heterosexual men much happier with their body images than women or gay men?
Sarah Grogan discusses the effect of media presentation of the ideal body and other cultural influences. Surprisingly, despite the almost exclusive media preference for very young female bodies, she finds that older women are not less satisfied with their bodies than younger women.
Written for readers from a variety of disciplines, this clear and eclectic book will make the ideal text for students from psychology, sociology, gender and media studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...readers will find its [the book's] timely cross-cultural research and comparisons interesting and somewhat surprising.
–R. E. Osborne, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Throughout the book, [Grogan] advocates a positive, realistic, healthy view of the body through increased self-esteem. Similarly, she criticizes self-imposed efforts to comply with popular and trendy body proportions. Highly recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries.
–Library Journal, 1/99

About the Author

Sarah Grogan has been involved in research into body image since 1990. She is particularly interested in promoting positive body image in men, women and children, with a particular focus on the impact of body image and related behaviors on physical health.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415147859
• ISBN-13: 978-0415147859
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,614,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should be titled Body Shape not Body Image, March 4, 2007

By 

kristen "aromaalchemy" (Amsterdam, NL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children (Paperback)

While I really enjoyed the book, I felt it concetrated may too much on issues of thinness and weight. I think the author did a good job of looking at a variety of studies and including both psychological and sociological studies; however, I feel that body image satisfaction and dissatisfaction goes way beyond just looking at body shape. If you're looking to read about body image outside of the 'weight debate' look elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Responsible and Fascinating Research Review, April 10, 2005

By 

A. Fawson (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children (Paperback)

I am a lay reader. I read few research reviews, but I found this book to be clear and insightful.

The body of studies reviewed seems comprehensive, and the author strikes me as being very fair and responsible in the way she reviews the research. She points out particularly interesting findings as well as places where more research would be helpful. From page 111: "An interesting difference between interviews with men and with women is that adult men tended to see media images as realistic goals. There was a general feeling that they could look like the media images if they wanted to, but that they did not care enough about the way they looked to spend time weight training." Her own voice in the book is not overbearing, and when she does provide her opinion, it is very insightful. She also does a nice job of reporting on literature (not only on studies). The author's own research and interviews are helpful and fill in areas where information may have otherwise gone missing. She provides helpful information about men and body image. She discusses solutions for body dissatisfaction, though not in the same depth as other subjects. I found this book left me with a different and less biased view about bodies and body satisfaction-an impact I wasn't expecting.