For their 75th anniversary issue, Glamour polled 16,000 women about body image and related issues. This poll was a follow-up on a groundbreaking survey the mag undertook back in 1984, and covered much of the same ground.
The results tell us – among other things – that today’s young women are more likely to feel comfy in their own skins, that most of us recognize exercise as a way to increase our body-related confidence, but that 40 percent of us are still unhappy with our bodies for a variety of reasons.
That last stat surprised me. A lot. I honestly expected that figure to be more like 70 percent. Maybe I feel an affinity with women who have body image trepidation, since I have it in spades myself. I can’t think of a single woman in my immediate circle who just accepts and loves her body whole-cloth, and peering at that remarkably low 40 percent brought this quote immediately to mind.
Then again, maybe I’m just being an intolerable pessimist! After all, this was an anonymous survey. What reason would respondents have to lie about a question like that? Perhaps there are enclaves of body-loving women all around me and I’m just not SEEING them. One can certainly hope …
Have you seen this survey? What did you think? Anything surprise you – in a good or a bad way? Anything give you hope for the future of women and body image?
Image courtesy Glamour.com. (Sorry to spring this one on yas at work, but I just ADORE that image!)
UPDATED TO ADD: Please take a peek at the comments for this post, as we’ve got a pretty amazing conversation going on. I want to thank everyone for their honesty and consideration, and for bringing to light several important aspects of this matter that I hadn’t initially considered – in particular that respondents to a question about “being unhappy” about one’s body might have a wide variety of interpretations. Even in a multiple choice situation. I am a very black-and-white thinker, and assumed that if I wasn’t completely, 100% happy with myself all the time, I could never respond in the positive. But I AM happy with much of my body much of the time. Anyway, not to put too fine a point on it, a statistic this broad doesn’t tell us much at all. But it certainly has served as a FANTASTIC conversation-starter.
Thanks again, my girls. I believe many future posts will spring from your contributions to this discussion.
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m skeptical about that number too. Maybe the missing 30% responded in the way they thought they were “supposed to” feel about their bodies.
Wow that number really surprises me too. The only woman I know who loves her body is Samantha from Sex and the City. Oh wait, I don’t really know her…
I saw this too- and it is surprising-but it’s gotta be true, right? I also was really taken in with that picture of a women with a normal looking stomach and body- I wish these kinds of pictures were used more!
Honestly, as a Psych major, people lie on surveys all the time despite the fact that they are anonymous. There is a good chance that people felt like they should love their bodies so they responded that way, or frankly, you just got them on a good day. Or, the answer which is probably more likely: if you feel like shit, why would you respond to a body image survey? The people who are more likely to respond to that kind of survey are the one’s with strong feelings towards their bodies, and more likely than that, people with strong POSITIVE feelings about their bodies. As much as public surveys give us a general overview of the current situation, they are biased. Just because a totally unscientific magazine prints a survey, it doesn’t make it true. You can’t control the variables that may have caused the results of this survey to be as they are.
People are going to be pissed about this comment, aren’t they?
Gillian: No, you bring up good points. I was also interested to read that some psychologist or other commented on how valuable Glamour’s initial survey was back in the 80s … that it provided long sought-after data. Why not perform a more scientific survey for said data? Unsure.
I guess the thing that stymied me was that a big chunk of the survey results seemed pretty positive. Improvement from the last time. Then again, who knows how much we were shown and how much was omitted?
Anyway, I mostly just wanted to see what yon readership thinks of the idea that 40% of polled women dislike their bodies. Curious to hear if that seems on-target, based on our collective personal experiences. Science (mostly) aside.
Wow. I’m a little shocked that the number was that low, since honestly can only think of a few gals I’ve known who don’t have some issues with their bodies! Even the supposedly “beautiful and confident” gals I’ve known have been dissatisfied on some aspect. Note how the article said “more than 40%”; it could in reality be much closer to 50% than they were willing to print.
Well, based on my life experience, which is almost nil because I’m a zygote, I can say that I don’t think this survey is on target. I absolutely LOVE that you brought this survey up, though. I remember hearing about the 80s version, and wondering if they were going to do another, more current, one.
Well, I am going to post a contrary comment here and say that I know plenty of woman who have good body image. I feel pretty good about about my body. It is healthy and enables me to go about my daily life and my husband likes it. Who can ask for more than that.
Patricia
Hmmm, the number surprises me, too. But at 50, I grew up with a generation of women who hated their bodies. We weren’t thin anough, smooth enough, our hair wasn’t straight enough etc.
My 17 year-old daughter isn’t haunted by these things. She has some insecurities, but they are normal, growing-up kinds of things, not the irrational body hating stuff I dealt with.
The difference between us was that I did not let fashion/beauty magazines into the house. She didn’t grow up mooning over fashion models like I did and she is so much better for it.
~Emma
I agree with Gillian, but I also want to add that I would be one of the ones who reported that I am comfy in my own skin, and it’s not because I love every inch of my body.
I have things I dislike and I have “fat” days, but overall, I’m happy and healthy and I don’t let myself obsess too much. I don’t let myself fixate on what I can’t change, and I don’t want plastic surgery.
So I guess my answer depends on how you phrase the question…
Patricia: Rock ON. And your comment makes me realize … perhaps the respondents were feeling similarly. Not focused on the little things they dislike, but seeing the overall picture and feeling grateful for their bodies.
Emma: The survey pointed out that younger women – those in your daughter’s age group – had fewer issues than their 1884 predecessors. I wonder if more moms are doing what you did and banning mags.
brown-eyed grrl: I wonder how they DID phrase that question … if it was just “are you happy with your body?” or something more specific.
I must say, it’s awfully strange that Glamour Magazine, one of the biggest perpetrators of women’s poor body issues, is doing a survey on women’s body issues.
Isn’t that like a crack dealer doing a survey on drug abuse?
Emma: Why do you consider Glamour, specifically, to be so detrimental to women’s body image issues? (Not being combative, I’m honestly curious.)
That image is absolutely gorgeous! Her body is beautiful and I love that you gave us all this wonderful reminder Sal, thank you!
xo
Melis
I love that photo, too–especially the model’s little tummy pooch. I’m guessing this is not a recent photo?
I’d like to start a Luv My Tummy Pooch club.
As far as younger women not having as many issues–I can just echo Emma, and say I think the current generation of mothers are way more conscious of what we feed our daughters in the way of images and messages. We can’t protect them from everything in the media, but we can at least talk about what’s in the media and point out the irrationalities of it. That wasn’t done when I was a teenager. I’d never heard of anorexia until Karen Carpenter had already died of it.
Interesting and thought provoking post as always!
The statistic strikes me as strange, what with how eating-disorders and such are being found in increasingly young women, plus the fact most of my friends seem to have at least some sort of problem with their bodies– even my best friend, who is literally a size 0 (she hates being skinny, but she can’t gain weight… she’s one of those women that people like me envy– it feels like I can eat a potato chip and gain a pound). I read Gillian’s comment, and I think she’s right in that a lot of factors could be playing into the fact that the statistic was really low. God, now I feel really pessimistic….
That number surprises me too. It seems that every woman I know, no matter what size or shape she is, wishes that she were 10 pounds lighter.
Hi Sal!
I love how natural shes is!
a kiss and a hug for you friend
Kira
Women’s magazines (and the male variety, as well) are geared toward making the reader feel inadequate so they will buy the products that are advertised in the magazine. It’s a fact, the magazines exist as a vehicle for advertisers, not as a resource for women.
The magazine articles show strangely perfect women. Unnaturally perfect women. Women no one can live up to–not even the models themselves (they are often photoshopped to that “perfection.”) The reader, exposed to this unnatural beauty begins to feel less-than, and looks for a way to feel better.
The most insidious of all ad campaigns is the Dove Real beauty Campaign. While they are telling women that their natural beauty is fine, they are introducing the idea that perhaps their underarms aren’t all that pretty. Underarms? Really, Dove? My underarms need a beauty product?
Ca-ching. Products sold, and almost no one is the wiser.
Emma: But is Glamour more guilty of this than any other women’s mag?
Also, funny you should mention the Dove campaign … I’ve been cooking up a post on that for some time now …
It is a bit of a surprising number, but I guess I wouldn’t say I’m “unhappy” with my body… there are a million things I’d like to tweak if I had the chance… let’s call it somewhere between thrilled and unhappy. I guess the way I think about it is, if I had the chance to shuffle the cards and draw a new body from the deck (so to speak), would I? No, absolutely not!
I’m fat and I’ve been fat my whole life. For most of my life, I looked at myself and could only a super gross fatty fat fat who’d never have love, success, happiness, or whatever because fat people don’t deserve those things. I sure as hell didn’t think I could EVER be pretty, sexy or feminine. It’s only in the last three or so years that I’ve started to undo a lifetime of bullshit social conditioning and realize that, yes, I’m hot and vibrant and beautiful… and fat. My body is nothing to be ashamed of or apologize for.
Anyway, I took this survey when it was online, and it made me SO MAD. I thought nearly every question was designed so that they’d get the results they wanted. The multiple-choice, choose-only-one-answer format of the questions made it pretty much impossible for your answer to be anything other than some variation of “I feel inadequate”.
Sharon: For serious? Damn. Now I REALLY wish I’d gotten a chance to see the actual survey questions. Did you complete the survey, or decide not to?
Also, if you feel comfortable doing so, I’d love to hear more about what you’ve been doing in recent years that has helped you recondition your self-image! (You can drop me a line at sally@alreadypretty.com if you don’t want to comment publicly.)
I have a day or the occasional moment when I wish for a tweek but I’m really happy with my body and the one time I wasn’t I did something about it and it was job done. I do think more women are getting to have better expectations of body size and there is more proper info about eating and exercise but I doubt with all the media pressure and female images that the issue of women and concerns about body will go away for a long time.
Oh, Glamour isn’t more guilty than other magazines. I said that they were one of the biggest perpetrators. Oprah magazine is for women, and I don’t get the same feeling it as I do mags like Glamour, Cosmo, etc.
But the vibe is there, in all magazines. Even Parents Magazine makes moms feel inadequate because they are not making homemade baby food, and specialty cupcakes for school, all the while looking fabulous and well rested while they’re doing it.
It’s all to sell products
Clearly a lot depends on the phrasing of the question … I think the 40% statistic could be accurate. Another point to note is that if it’s a Glamour survey, surely it’s going to reflect Glamour’s readership, which is not the same as the population at large.
I am certainly not unhappy with my body. I don’t hate any part of it, and there are lots of parts that I like. Yes, I want to lose some weight, but I’m doing that through more exercise and healthy eating and I’m comfortable with the fact that it’ll take time – and I can still like my body while it’s changing.
One other thing – in terms of talking about body image with friends/relatives, etc, I think if you’re in a conversation where everybody’s going “Yeah, so, I really want to lose another 10 pounds … oh gosh I hate my thighs …” it’s really hard to pipe up and say “My thighs are pretty much like yours, but I quite like them.” and very easy to say “oh, I know what you mean, absolutely … look at my skinny arms …”.
The 40% surprised me too when I read it. But there was another statistic in the magazine version of the article that trumped that somehow. I remember it being something like 70% of women feeling a bit inadequate. And I would be able to quote it directly if I hadn’t dropped the mag in the bathtub one day and so got rid of it!
I hope more moms are watching what is passed down to their daughters.
When I was 12 I would say I was “on a diet” and wanted to do workout videos. It’s not that I thought I was fat or hated my body, it’s that my mom did those things, and I wanted to do everything she did. I didn’t starve myself or deny myself dessert, ever. Just liked to say the things grown-ups said.
And I turned out perfectly fine, and I think I have a good body image, but if I have a daughter, I’m still going to watch what signals I’m sending to her.
Also, I don’t believe in dieting or diet foods or 99 percent of the crap we’re sold for losing weight, so I don’t think it will be too much of a problem.
@kittyscreations:
I don’t wish I was 10 pounds lighter. A gym was trying to get me to buy a membership, and their “assessment” was that I should lose 20 pounds. I told them I hadn’t weighed so little since before puberty, and I never went back. I was a size 6 at the time.
I’m delurking to say Thank you. I have recently put on some weight, and have been feeling down about my body. I’m not overweight, just bigger than I’m used to being. This post with a picture of a beautiful, healthy woman and your earlier post about your winter body is helping me learn to love my body, to work out and eat right for my health, not just vanity. Thanks for an inspiring blog.
Rickelle: You’re a total star. Thanks for delurking, and for reading, and I’m so glad to hear that my little blog is giving you some of the support you need!
I’m happy with the statistic …although I wish it were lower. Too many women spend far too much time worrying about their bodies …I understand maybe as a young adult, early twenties, late teens, when you’re trying to figure out who you are, you gravitate toward body image …but the older you get the less it should consume ..especially knowing that men do not like women who look like adolescent boys …something women strive for. which always blows my mind. Great post.
Wow, that 40% does seem awefully low to me as well! I too have body issues from time to time – i think its only normal but its also great to know that only 40% of people surveyed have these issues!
40%?!?
That stat reminds me of Charlotte’s response in the SATC movie, when one of the other characters asked her how often she was happy: “Every day. Not every moment of every day, but I do feel happy every day.”
Likewise, I like my body every day–not every moment of every day, but for the most part I like it.
I wonder if this stat reflects the number of women who are comfortable with their bodies every moment of every day, or every day but not every moment.
i took the body image survey and got these results: “You may need a body-image overhaul.”
i’m of the general mindset that more than 40% of women don’t like at least SOMETHING about their body. or maybe i’ve just been surrounded by women who are like me…constantly angry at themselves for eating that cheeseburger, trying new exercise routines or diets, complaining about our jiggly arms and flabby bellies and fat knees.
i believe my poorer body image stems greatly from the fact that i have an older sister who has struggled with anorexia and bulimia for the better part of 22 years. at one point, she weighed 75 pounds. and i know this sounds horrifying, but when i am around her, i feel physically inadequate. maybe not when she was 75 pounds…but…when she weighed about 100 or 105 and i felt like a giant next to her weighing 120.
Glamour isn’t more guilty than other magzs out there I think…I prefer to read interior magz! I don’t hate my body…I dislike it sometimes then I would grab something rich to munch on…we are complex creatures I tell you.
Oh 40%???As far as i know most of woman have dislikes on their body,but not that they hate their selves..They just want to improve some skin parts of their body.And a lot of woman just want to maintain it for good..=)
I think they just manipulating the survey..;D
Peace..;D
Have a good day to all.=)
“Perhaps there are enclaves of body-loving women all around me and I’m just not SEEING them.”
It’s much less socially acceptable for those of us who love our bodies to express it than it is for women with body image issues to do so. It’s easy for female friends to commiserate about their body image issues. If a girl wants to diet, though she probably doesn’t need to, her friends will sympathize and support her. If a girl genuinely loves herself the way she is, she is probably viewed with spite, derision, or at least suspicion-just like the suspicion that you have about the amount of positive survey respondents. Granted, this survey could be skewed many ways to give those results. But I guarantee there are more body-loving women around you than you realize, and they keep it to themselves because they feel the negative body image crowd will view it as bragging or doesn’t want to hear it.
very cool blog! I’m so glad I found it!
I actually just started one myself. Right now I actually am having a fashion-themed contest. You should check it out sometime!
Anonymous: You bring up some fascinating points, and ones I hadn’t fully considered. Thanks for that.
I hope that women who love and accept themselves would never fear being ostracized for their acceptance. I can understand how general social acceptance of self-focused body-snarking might make a woman who has nothing but love for her own bod reluctant to express herself. But a woman who has learned to love herself could provide a hopeful example to those of us who still struggle. I’d hate to think of that being snuffed out by fear and negativity.
But I also hope that you’re right, and that there are more body-confident women than I realize. Because my suspicion of this statistic stems from my personal experience, which, by definition, is limited … but still encompasses a social and familial and professional network of women all of whom struggle to view their bodies with love and acceptance.
I constantly ask women to cast off their self-focused negativity and accept their own beauty. But maybe it would be equally beneficial to encourage women who have ALREADY accepted themselves as gorgeous beings to say as much. Aloud. And remind the still-struggling potential audience members that such declarations are brave and inspirational acts, not indicators of conceit. Personally, I feel nothing but frank admiration when I hear a woman expressing body-pride and self-love. I wish I could hear such things more often. Honest.
OK, this is getting as long as a post. More on this later!
oh, so many possible things to say! what an interesting conversation. i would agree with the charlotte satc quote–i mostly feel great about my body. it is strong and able has so much potential, and i am fortunate to have all my limbs and be able to walk around on my own two feet, and bike, and run and skip! that makes me sound like i am twelve.
i rarely read beauty magazines because they do make me feel ugly–however, i have been getting some weird mystery subscription to glamour for the last few months and i saw this article in print. i was glad they printed “normal” girls, but for normal girls, i really thought they picked some very ideal-looking ones. the girl in the photo (totally beautiful) implies that she is a size 14. i am a size 14 and that is NOT what i look like. so it’s almost more discouraging to me to see the beautiful girl in the picture whose body looks way better than mine and still think of how much bigger i am than she, or how far i have to go to look like that. eh, maybe i’m just tired. i jumped into a very complex conversation.
I agree with a lot of the other posters. I think it is now less socially acceptable to be critical of our bodies than it was 20+ years ago, which definitely had an effect on the respondents. In our culture, I think it is impossible to be fully satisfied with one’s own appearance. Even changing norms can’t change that.
Sal, thanks for your positivity and eloquence. I think it is so important to accept declarations of self-love (including those made outside of body-conscious atmospheres) as brave acts, rather than indicators of conceit, as you put it. You definitely have a positive influence on a lot of us readers!
I love my body. It’s not ‘I love every feature of my body’ but I love it in general, for being awesome and letting me move, and for my boyfriend finding it superbly sexy. I dunno, I mean, why should I care that I have a tum or cellulite if no one else does?
Great post Sal..You’ve just made a very informative conversation here.;D
Hope to see more from you girl.Have a nice day..
As I’ve gotten older, I have fewer issues with the way my body looks and more with the way it works. I can live with my weight and my minor flaws in appearance, but I get frustrated with the fact that the gut and the back and the big toe joints aren’t working like they used to. If you asked me right now, “What do you hate about your body?” I’d say, “That crick in my hip that hurts when I get up in the morning.”
I am short and round, and come from a line of short, round women. I was never close to a “magazine” type. The last time I fit my age/weight range (as dictated by magazines, etc.), I had mono and radically lost about 15 lbs. So I’ve never fit “model” types–even in articles about nonmodel bodies.
Despite that, I have always felt I had pretty feet, a good haircut, an hourglass figure (little more sand gets thru these days than used to, if you know what I mean), and the right proportions. I learned early to dress for my figure and taste rather than fashion. Recently, I lost 16 lbs by changing my diet and I am now working on exercising off another 15, which will put me back where I was 15 years ago and where I can maintain my weight.
I think I look good for my mental and actual age (not the same). My continuing change is to find stylish clothes for my height and weight that are not matronly, fit well, and make me feel attractive. Places like Chicos and Talbots don’t suit me. But I think I look good, even though I will never be confused with Angelina or Cameron (too thin anyway!).
okay, so everyone else may have moved on to the next blog post, but i had sort of an epiphany about this (during salsa aerobics, as i shimmied awkwardly to loud latin music in front of an alternating row if fat and skinny mirrors). if i have to single out one component of ME, like my body, i don’t know that i would say i love it. but the whole package? i think i have a pretty good one. i can see so much growth in so many areas of my life, especially in the last few years. so if i put together my brains, my heart, my personality, and my body, i would say emphatically, “yes! i love myself and who i am turning out to be!” we all have weaknesses, of course, but we all have strengths, too! so my body might not be my best feature, but i have other great features that make up for it–even enhance it. maybe the question glamour should have asked was, “do you love yourself?”
I agree with Laura! They really should ask if you love “yourself” as a person – because there is a lot more to someone than just their body. It would also be interesting to see how liking oneself as a person corresponded to whether or not they liked their body?
I’m also coming out of semi-lurkdom to commend Sally for creating this little haven of positivity in the blogosphere!
Mo
Ooh that model is gorgeous, but I am itching to put her in some bigger knickers. Y’know, that fit.
I love my body; I love what I can do. I can dance! People compliment me on my trim figure, and I think who the hell CARES, I’m fit and I can go uphill without getting puffed – THAT’S the good stuff, not having people think you’re slim.
You had a great dialouge going here, I wish I had seen it sooner!
The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt recently wrote a blog entry about the survey (if you want, feel free to check it out at http://eatingdisorder.org/blog/2009/06/13/glamour-magazines-2009-body-image-survey-insight-with-a-heavy-dose-of-mixed-messages/)
One of the stats that stuck out was that younger women (under 30) were 20% more likely to say they are happy with their bodies than older women. Do you think this a result of a successful shift towards self-love for our younger generations? Or, does this stem from increasing cultural and media pressures on women in their 40s, 50s and beyond to maintain an image that was previously only expected of teenagers and twenty-something’s?