body image

Dictionary: body image

n.
The subjective concept of one's physical appearance based on self-observation and the reactions of others.

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5min Related Video: body image

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Towards the beginning of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend (first published in 1865), a scene takes place that illuminates the important role played by body image in the formation of our sense of ourselves. The episode, which occurs in a crowded junk shop, features an exchange between Mr Venus, a taxidermist, and Mr Wegg, recent amputee. Wegg has arrived at Venus's shop with the express purpose (now that he has the prospect of regular employment before him) of buying back his own severed leg, which Venus has purchased as part of a ‘miscellaneous’ lot from a local hospital. Wegg's account of why he wants to complete this transaction is both touching and surreal:

‘I have a prospect of getting on in life and elevating myself by my own independent exertions, ’ says Wegg, feelingly, ‘and I shouldn't like I tell you openly I should not like — under such circumstances, to be what I call dispersed, a part of me here, and a part of me there, but should wish to collect myself like a genteel person.’

As he makes clear, Wegg is worried that his body may be deficient or vulnerable to attack in its divided state: it is not, he fears, the body of a ‘genteel person’. What is at stake in this speech is Wegg's sense of his body: his imaging how his body is and how it appears to others. In fact Wegg has a complicated and multiple sense of how his body exists in the world. First, he knows what it is actually like; it's missing a limb, obviously. Secondly, he has the image of how it might appear to others; ugly, misshapen, perhaps. He is worried about this. Thirdly, he has a sense of how his body could look or perhaps how it should be. This anxious fantasy lies behind his otherwise ponderous sense of his potential gentility. If he can buy back his leg, he reasons, he can begin to restore his belief in his own body image.

The strange case of Wegg's lost leg makes clear what is implicit in all feelings about body image. Our sense of our own bodies emerges from a dialectic between our knowledge of it as a lived experience — its pleasures, its pains; the needs and desires of our physical selves — and a more ambiguous sense of how that body appears to others. In neither case is the knowledge we have, or feel we have, guaranteed to be true. Quite the contrary for most of us; we have no more sense of what we really look like than does Mr Wegg. We might feel we look right or suspect we look wrong; often this will depend on our mood at the time. Despite the potential for misapprehension inherent in our experience of our own body and its appearance, our ‘body image’, or sense of our physical selves, determines our interaction with the physical world and with other people. A confidence in our body image can reassure us at moments of crisis or indecision. This summary of body image accords with the common experiences of daily life. However, it is possible to codify these sensations, worries, and aspirations in a variety of ways; indeed, body image needs to be specified more closely if we are to appreciate its full significance. There are two ways in which body image has been defined: first, as a medical and psychological term for defining self-perception; second, as a social and cultural phenomenon, which enforces normative expectations. Both of these ideas are, in reality, interconnected — however, it makes sense in the present context to examine them separately.

From the perspective of a medical or psychological practitioner, the term ‘body image’ describes those perceptions of the self that are centred on the individual's sense of their own physical existence, both anatomical and physiological. Paul Schilder defined body image in the 1930s as: ‘The picture of our body which we form in our mind, that is to say the way in which our body appears to ourselves’. So defined, body image can be thought from a clinical standpoint to have two main states or modes — the normal and the traumatic. In the first case body image expresses our sense of our body's boundaries and capacities: principally our sense of our height, weight, and physical attractiveness as well as our expectation of the extent of our reach or the length of our stride. It is a normative idea that is held implicitly until we are shocked out of it by some event or remark.

This notion of our physical selves is of course evolving: progressing age, the process of puberty, and the changes of the menopause will cause an individual to update or revise the image of his or her body. However, accidents, surgery, disease, and diet can radically alter body image within a short time. This introduces the problem of a traumatic change in a person's body image. With this crisis in mind, modern nursing requires an understanding of how a patient's response to changes in their bodily reality will necessarily impact upon their recovery and sense of themselves. Someone who has undergone extensive surgery or who has suffered from a debilitating disease will often require care and support as they form a new image of their body, its shape and capacities. Without such assistance the process can be irreparably damaging to the patient's self esteem.

But why should our self esteem be so affected by our body image? In cultural terms this question can be answered by considering the forces and pressures that cause us to present our bodies — to ourselves and others — in a certain variety of ways. All societies have practices and codes that seek to regulate how the body is permitted to appear. Most often these are a combination of ideas of fitness, adornment, fashion, hygiene, size, and diet. These conceptions provide the basis for how a body is judged, defining the standards to which it is expected to conform. Failure to conform may be condemned, even considered obscene. Contemporary social ills such as anorexia and bulimia are connected, at least in part, with the pressure of these standards. The Western desire for slim figures, for bodies lithe and muscular, rather than rounded or corpulent, produces in some a destructive desire for excessive dieting, a form of self-denial which, they hope, will realign bodily reality with desired body image.

Women are perhaps particularly exposed to these pressures and are bombarded by more images that seek to privilege one ideal of female form over all others. However, it is not only women in Western cultures who are the recipients of demands upon how their bodies should appear. In other parts of the world, greater stress and more lavish praise is devoted to long necks, small feet, wide girths, and scarification than is generally consistent with European or North American ideals. Despite this apparent divergence, a similar desire to regulate and to judge, as well as to conform, dominates these conceptions of the body. Significantly, the cultural demands placed upon the body are subject to change and revision over time. Nonetheless these codes remain a huge influence on the individual's self esteem and sense of well-being. Our body image in fact is central, if ambiguously so, to our mental and physical well-being.

— Robert Jones

Bibliography

Price, B. (1990). Body image: nursing concepts and care. Prentice Hall, New York.
Schilder, P. (1935). The image and appearance of the human body; studies in the constitutative energies of the psyche. Kegan Paul, London

Food and Fitness: body image

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body schema

The perception, both conscious and unconscious, of one's own body and physical dimensions. Many people who suffer from eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, have a distorted body image and are often convinced that they are fatter than they really are.

Dental Dictionary: body image

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A person’s subjective concept of personal physical appearance. The loss of a limb, breast, or tooth may cause psychologic trauma because of unresolved conflict in the change of body image. A distorted body image may be a causal factor in anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Sports Science and Medicine: body image

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body schema

The perception, both conscious and unconscious, of one's own body and physical dimensions. See also self-concept.

Psychoanalysis: Body Image

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In psychoanalysis, body image is the mental representation one has of oneself, which gradually develops in each individual. The body image encompasses fantasies, especially unconscious fantasies, and also involves the environment. The body is one of the subjects Freud dealt with most frequently. In several of his papers, he referred to the constitution and development of the erogenous zones, their representations and importance in the formation of the body image.

The body image is constantly being created and recreated. Caresses and the first affectionate contacts with the people who surround the child during infancy are responsible for molding the body image, and return to the child the image of his own body through containment and eye contact. This is a dialectic process, in which the environment also plays a role. Piera Aulagnier (1991) says that to transform a sensitive region of the body into an erogenous zone, the physiologically sensitive reaction is not enough: time and subjective interrelation are required for the signs of somatic life to become signs of psychic life. In his work on the mirror phase, Jacques Lacan (1949/2004) describes a mechanism of identification that is established through the transformations that occur in infants when presented with a reflection: The mirror offers a tempting image of comprehensive unity, representing what is felt to be a precarious and fragmented self. It was Esther Bick (1968) who, on the basis of clinical material, studied the development of the concept of the skin and its relationship with introjection and projective identification. Didier Anzieu (1985) calls moi-peau (skin-ego) the image of the ego the infant uses in the course of the early phases of his development to represent himself as an ego, on the basis of experiences connected with the body surface.

Various models or clinical hypotheses, such as the neurotic body image, and the primitive-psychotic body image, may be postulated on the basis of clinical psychoanalytical work. The neurotic body image, closer to the notion of normalcy, is the unconscious mental representation of the skin, complete and whole, which envelops and contains warmly. This skin represents the mother's and father's support and warmth, which are in turn the basis for the containment of the self and the limits of the body image. Conversely, in the model of the primitive-psychotic body image, there is no notion of skin, but instead the notion of fluid as the nucleus of the primitive-psychotic body image. Thus, there is only a vague psychological notion of a wall that contains vital fluids, or blood, and fantasies of bleeding, or "emptying out" of those vital fluids. Sometimes this emptying out is linguistically expressed in a fast, uncontrolled speaking style.

This means that the primitive-psychotic concept of the body breaks through and invades what up to then was a different type of mental functioning. These experiences may be expressed through words or through body language, as in psychosomatic disorders. Some patients may have hypochondriac ideas related to the primitive-psychotic body image, such as alleged blood infections, leukemia or hemophilia.

Some concepts related to body image are: hypochondria, body fragmentation, delusions of denial of parts of the body (known as Cottard's delusion), and somatic delusion. Hypochondria based on the psychotic primitive body image may lead to suicidal accidents.

Bibliography

Anzieu, Didier. (1985). The skin ego. New Haven-London: Yale University Press.

Aulagnier, Piera. (1991). Un interprète en quête de sens. Paris: Payot.

Bick, Esther. (1968). The experience of the skin in early object relations. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 49, 558-566.

Lacan, Jacques. (2004). The mirror stage as formative of the I function, as revealed in psychoanalytic experience. In his Écrits (pp. 3-9; Bruce Fink, Trans.). New York: W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1949)

Rosenfeld, David. (1992). The psychotic aspects of the personality. London-New York: Karnac Books.

History

From the point of view of psychoanalysis, the French child psychoanalyst Francoise Dolto has developed a theory concerning the unconscious body image.^[1] Negative feelings towards a fat person's body can in some cases lead to mental disorders such as depression or eating disorders, though there can be a variety of different reasons why these disorders can occur.

Within the media industry there have recently been popular debates focusing on how Size Zero models can negatively influence young people into feeling insecure about their own body image. It has been suggested that size zero models be banned from cat walks. Many celebrities are targeted by the media due to their often drastic weight loss and slender frames, examples of such personalities would be Victoria Beckham, Nicole Richie and British Super Model Kate Moss. Some examples of celebrity men targeted in a similar fashion can be found, but the media seem to focus principally on the effect that the Size Zero phenomenon has on young women. Media however, is generally quick to denounce celebrities endorsing fad diets, including popstars who describe girls who are not under a peer pressurized size, a "social suicide"^[2].

Body image is often measured by asking the subject to rate their current and ideal body shape using a series of depictions. The difference between these two values is the amount of body dissatisfaction. Monteath and McCabe found that 44%^[3] of women express negative feelings about both individual body parts and their bodies as a whole. Psychology Today found that 56% of the women and about 40% of the men who responded to their survey in 1997 were dissatisfied with their overall appearance.^[4]

The desire to lose weight is highly correlated with poor body image, and more women than men desire to lose weight. Kashubeck-West et al. reported that when considering only men and women who desire to lose weight, sex differences in body image disappear.^[5]

Men's body image is a topic of increasing interest in both academic articles and in the popular press. Current research indicates many men wish to become more muscular than they currently perceive themselves to be, often desiring up to 26 pounds of additional muscle mass.^[6]

The desire for additional muscle has been linked to many men's concepts about masculinity. A variety of research has indicated a relationship between men's endorsement of traditionally masculine ideas and characteristics, and his desire for additional muscle^[7]. Some research has suggested this relationship between muscle and masculinity may begin early in life, as boys' action figures are often depicted as super-muscular, often beyond the actual limits of human physiology.^[8]

Body image and the brain

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Definition and origin

According to Vilayanur S. Ramachandran of the University of California, San Diego, the nature of self has five defining characteristics. One of them is the sense of embodiment and ownership of a body. Although we do in fact have a body, the brain is responsible for the construction of a "body-image," a term introduced in the writings of neurologist Henry Head. Your sense of having a body involves the visual system, the vestibular system, and proprioception: the sense of body position and movement (a term coined by Charles Scott Sherrington in his published work entitled, The Integrative Action of the Nervous System). Proprioception correlates with dynamic body maps in the somatosensory, motor, and parietal cortices. Most notable is the primary somatosensory receiving area (S1) in the somatosensory cortex, where the sensory homunculus or "little man" resides. The neurons in this region are responsible for cutaneous (skin), visceral (organ), and proprioceptive sensation, as they fire to represent each part of your body (from the genitalia to the internal organs) with the help of sensory input that travels from peripheral nerves, through the spinal cord, and into the brain.^[9]

Neurological phenomenon

Ablation of the sensory nerves that carry sensory input from proprioceptors to the brain results in a loss of proprioception. A person may experience such a loss in certain limbs, or throughout the entire body. In Oliver Sacks book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, he describes a patient named Christina who suffered from a selective neuritis—an infection in her spinal fluid that disconnected her entire body from the parietal cortices in her brain, causing a total loss of proprioception and therefore a sense of disembodiment. Christina would flail and overshoot her limbs. Her body flopped around like a rag doll. Standing or sitting straight was nearly impossible for her.

Many amputees who have lost limbs continue to sense the presence of them as their body image remains intact. Even those born without arms or legs can experience such phantoms. Often, the presence of these phantoms is so convincing that patients may attempt to step out of bed onto phantom legs or feet, or attempt to pick up cups with a phantom hand (Ronald Melzack, 1992-2006).

A phantom limb is integral to wearing a prosthetic, in which the phantom fits like a glove. The body image of the missing limb must be present, otherwise a prosthetic cannot be used effectively.

There are many types of phantoms. Some are paralyzed; frozen in unusual positions. Many phantoms are like photocopies: exact replicas of the missing limbs. Others are grossly distorted and disproportioned. They may even be disconnected from the rest of the body and dangle in mid-air. Some disappear, only to be resurrected decades later. Interestingly, a woman may have a phantom penis with phantom erections.^{[citation needed]} While the overall sex of a human being is determined by DNA, it is possible that the sex of the brain itself is determined by the hormones an embryo is exposed to while in the womb. Nonetheless, a man may have a female brain, and a woman may have a male brain. This phenomenon may explain transsexualism, according to Vilayanur S. Ramachandran.^{[citation needed]}

The somatosensory system has been known to be involved in phantom limb syndrome. According to V. S. Ramachandran, motor signals contribute to phantom limb phenomenon as well. The motor cortex is primarily responsible for voluntary movement. But when motor signals are sent to muscles, a duplicate signal is sent to the parietal lobes as well in a feedback loop, thereby eliciting a sense of proprioception in the missing limb.

Footnotes

^ Francoise Dolto, L'image inconscient du corps. Paris: Seuil, 1984.
^ Online audition website peaks traffic
^ The influence of societal factors on female body image. J Soc Psychol. 1997 Dec;137(6):708-27
^ Psychology Today: Body Image Poll Results
^ Separating the effects of sex and weight-loss desire on body satisfaction
^ Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia 2000
^ McCreary, Saucier, &Courtenay 2005; Kimmel & Mahalik, 2004
^ Pope, et al. 1999
^ Ramachandran, V(1996). Illusions of body image: What they reveal about human nature. [electronic version]The mind-brain continuum: Sensory processes. p.29-60

Sources

Blakeslee, S. "Out-of-Body Experience? Your Brain is to Blame." New York Times, October 3, 2006.
Debra L. Gimlin, Body Work: Beauty and Self Image in American Culture (University of California Press, 2002) ISBN 0520228561
Grogan, Sarah. Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women, and Children.
Melzack, R. “Phantom Limbs.” Scientific American, Secret of the Senses. 2006: 53-59.
Olivardia, R., Pope, H.G., Borowiecki, J.J., & Cohane, G.H. (2004). Biceps and body image: The relationship between muscularity and self-esteem, depression, and eating disorder symptoms. Psychology of men and masculinity, 5, 112-120.
Pope, H.G., Phillips, K.A., & Olivardia, R. (2000). The Adonis complex: The secret crisis of male body obsession. Sydney: The Free Press.
Ramachandran, V.S. A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.
Ramachandran, V.S. and Rogers-Ramachandran, D. “Its All Done with Mirrors.” Scientific American Mind, August 2007: 16-18
Ridgeway, R.T., & Tylka, T.L. (2005). College men’s perceptions of ideal body composition and shape. Psychology of men and masculinity, 6, 209-220.
Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.
Sherrington, C. S. The Integrated Action of the Nervous System. C Scribner's Sons, 1906.
Smetacek V, Mechsner F (2004). "Making sense". Nature 432 (7013): 21. doi:10.1038/432021a. PMID 15525964.
Volkow N., & O'brein C. "Issue For DSM V: Should Obesity Be Included as a Brain Disorder?" The American Journal of Psychiatry. Vol. 164, 5, 708 (May 2007)

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		World of the Body. The Oxford Companion to the Body. Copyright © 2001, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved. Read more
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