Women's Body Image Theory and Research
A Hermeneutic Critique
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3756078 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Linda Ridge Wolszon (University of Missouri-Columbia Counseling Center, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 542-557 |
| Publication date | 1998-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0002764298041004006 |
| OpenAlex | W2074257070 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 28 |
Anxiety about body weight and shape, and related attempts to diet, start at an early age for females, and frequently take a serious toll on girls' and women's mental and physical well-being. Psychological research on women and body image has proliferated, yielding data on the prevalence and some of the psychosocial correlates of the phenomenon. This article argues that the existing explanatory theory and empirical research are severely limited in their explanations of the problem, and say even less about how individuals should respond to it. Drawing on feminist and hermeneutic perspectives, the article illustrates (a) how current theory and research is suffused with unacknowledged individualist ideology that leads to conceptual confusions and practical dilemmas and (b) how these approaches deflect attention away from the social, ethical, and political dimensions of the problem. The author argues that a hermeneutic view can help to clarify and deepen understanding of what is involved in women's body image struggles, and to articulate more fully the moral and ethical dimensions of body image struggles and their resolution
Empirical research · Epistemology · Ideology · Individualism · Phenomenon · Politics · Psychosocial · Psychotherapist · Sociology · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Empathy and Medical Education · Gender Studies · Law · Obesity and Health Practices · Psychology · Social Psychology
Articulating Adolescent Girls' Resistance to Patriarchal Discourse in Popular Media
Boosting Attachment Security to Promote Mental Health, Prosocial Values, and Inter-Group Tolerance
Media Exposure, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating in Middle-aged Women
Therapeutic Potential of Time in Nature
Slimness and self‐rated sexual attractiveness
Body image in physical education
Sociocultural context of women's body image
Continuity and change in women's weight orientations and lifestyle practices through pregnancy and the postpartum period
Mirror, mirror
What's Behind the Research? Discovering Hidden Assumptions in the Behavioral Sciences
The cultural contradictions of capitalism
The restructuring of social and political theory
Reconstructing Public Philosophy
Individualism and Aggression
The Ethics of Authenticity
Psychology and the status quo
Achievement American style
Psychology Reconstructs The Female
Physical attractiveness and evaluation of children's transgressions
Why the self is empty
Toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia
Revolutions in Knowledge
Democracy's discontent
In a different voice
What is beautiful is good
Gadamer, Hermeneutics, Tradition and Reason
Interpretive Social Science
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,3 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2023 (25) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |