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Do you think that mother's play a role in how body image for women develop?

Read my article and discuss how your mother felt about her body. Body Image for Women Shaped by Mothers
All of these are great suggestions. My mother always told me that I was fat. My stomach stuck out. Looking at pictures of myself as a child, I was really slender. Later in my life she told me what a "cute shape" that I had. She was worried about people hitting on me, so she wanted me to think that I was not that attractive. Sad.
I think your mother has very little to do with it and society has a lot more to do with it. Both my parents (my entire family) always told me I was so pretty. Que bonita, que linda, they would say but I never really believed them. Everything I saw in the media told me otherwise. The American stereotype of beauty was very different than it was in Mexico and than it is now.

I grew up watching Marcia Brady comb her long blonde hair and played with the fake boob blonde barbie and watched Marilyn Monroe and other tall big chested blondes in musicals and started thinking I was ugly because I didn't look anything like that and never would.

It's taken years of self development to undo that damage. People think the media isn't that damaging but it is and those beauty and body stereotypes are still so present (Brittney Spears, the Playboy girls, every Disney princess even the ones with darker hair, fitness models, beauty queens).

It's ridiculous how much beauty propaganda is hurled at you daily. This is the reason so many girls have eating disorders, become sexually active at a much younger age, have drug or alcohol problems, attempt suicide, etc.

I think the media is about 80% to blame for women's body image and self esteem issues. It doesn't matter how smart or skilled you are. If you don't look like they say you should look you're made to feel like an ugly loser. The good news is there are now many sites where girls can get help so girls today don't need to continue to put up with this.

Check out Stop Hating Your Body on FB
Forgiving our mothers who were more psychologically oppressed than women are today is a task for the collective feminine soul. Imagine how much your mother must have been hurting to say this to here little girl.
I completely respect your point of view. However, I believe that it is dangerous for people to completely blame some things on institutions in society.

It undermines our power as individuals. We must become conscientious of the children's books that we buy our children, the movies that we allow them to see, the toys that we allow them to play with etc... The media would lose money if people spoke up via the products that they choose to spend their money on.

African Americans remained slaves for over 300 years because they felt that it was impossible to tackle the institution of slavery.

Harriett Tubman is my hero. In her biography she stated that before she could become a free human being, she had to change her thoughts and never ever refer to herself again as a slave.

She believed that her thoughts created her reality. The slaves who looked only on the plantations did not see a way to escape to freedom. They felt hopeless.

If we aspire to something healthier, grander, and more peaceful we can't always look at the physical world in front of us, we have to become the creators of the world we wish to live in.

The buck must stop somewhere.
I agree that mothers play a role in developing body images. But she is not the only one who is developing it. Media, Peer group relatives and other people in your life also play their role. Some mothers used to develop distorted body images in their child if they feel insecure about them.But mothers can give their child such a great confidence about their body image that when they go out no one can distort their body image and they live their lives with the feelings of fulfillment.
Oh, I forgave my mother years ago. She was doing the best that she could in the only way that she knew how. She loved me and wanted to protect me.

Monica, my life was relatively untainted by tv, movies or Barbie. We were too poor to have any of them until I was a sophomore in high school.
Well I wish I had been that lucky Connie. I never understood why I had such low self esteem until I became a personal trainer in my early 30's. I do agree with Casandra that you can't blame because it does diminish your power but I think it's important to acknowledge just how much the media can affect young girls even when they are getting positive self image cues at home.
You are so right, Monica. It can and does shape them, especially if they don't fit the projected image.

I work in the urban core and my girls don't fit the media image of what a woman should look like. Many of them have their own cultural vision of how they should look, and it is refreshing. One night at a football game I was looking at our flag team and cheerleaders. Guess what? There wasn't a blond Barbie doll among the whole bunch. They looked like real girls.
That is so great to hear Connie.

We don't have t.v. here at home but my boyfriends 3 girls watch a lot of t.v. at their moms. They watch reality shows like dance moms and Eden's World and when they come here on weekends I hear the way they put each other down and it's horrible. The putdowns are always so looks oriented.

I had a magazine here in the living room the other day with Adelle on the cover and one of them said how sad it was that Adelle made money singing songs about being dumped. Maybe if she didn't look like that blah blah blah. I was shocked by this comment and said I thought Adelle was smart beautiful and successful so who cares if she's not stick thin.

My question is if they're not learning this from their mother and t.v. then who are they learning it from? Every weekend we have to spend time undoing the psychological damage they learn at their other house. It's frustrating.
Posted By: Encore DT Re: Body Image for Women Shaped by Mothers - 06/21/12 08:04 PM
Originally Posted By: Cassandra - Body Image Ed
Do you think that mother's play a role in how body image for women develop?

Read my article and discuss how your mother felt about her body. Body Image for Women Shaped by Mothers


There is plenty of research to support the fact that mothers play an integral role in shaping the body image of their daughters, as well as how secure they are in everyday life. Depending on how much support and nurturing we receive from the day we're born to, at least, teen years, lagely dictates how secure we end up being in our adult years.
Hi Connie,

The comments about Adelle being dumped because of her weight was a perfect time to tell them that Halle Barry,Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and many other female celebrities have been in multiple failed relationships and they are supposed to be some of the most beautiful women in the world.

This was a great chance to inform that how a woman looks on the outside is not a determining factor of whether or not she will be in a healthy and happy relationship--there are so many other factors that determine the success of any relationship.

Additionally, this was a good opportunity to ask them whether or not men are look at the same way when their relationships fail. Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson recently divorced is it because of their appearance?

When we as adults hear children saying insensitive and mean things about others, I think it is our moral duty to intervene, how else are children going to learn to think and act differently?
Your article has some wonderful suggestions and a girl's body image is absolutely influenced by her mother. The problem is we cannot separate the media's and mother's influence because media is also affecting mom! Before I decided to completely accept myself and my body I used to do silly things like remove half the bread from the burger before I ate it to reduce carbs. When my daughter was about 5 I noticed her start to do this too and I realized how important it is for me to lead by example. I think it's even ok to be neutral about your body. If you aren't really feeling great about your body, you don't have to lie and say you are but just don't criticize it. Knowing the truth about the way the media manipulates us also helps. If it helps, here is a post I wrote on the topic: [url=http://blog.crchealth.com/2012/06/25/3-big-lies-the-media-tells-that-increase-bad-body-image/]CRC Health Blog[/url] 3 Big Lies the Media Tells that Increase Bad Body Image
Posted By: Ice land Re: Body Image for Women Shaped by Mothers - 07/04/12 04:25 PM
I agree with the five tips to help mothers promote healthy body images for their daughters. Though I'm not married, but if I have a daughter in the future, I will follow your advice. Thanks for your article!
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