The cult of the body and its psychological consequences among adolescent girls

Abstract

Taking into consideration the problem of “the cult of the body” among young women, the sociocultural context of their upbringing should be analyzed. Nowadays, it can be observed that many young women actively participate in promoting “the cult of the body”. The aim of the aforementioned actions is to get a slim, attractive figure consistent with the trends of women’s attractiveness promoted in the media. The analysis of the social networking sites and blogs indicates that more and more often women themselves are encouraged to promote their attractive, thin image in the Internet. This article will attempt to characterize the phenomenon of “the cult of the body”, in which adolescent women are engaged and which shapes their image of the body and has a potential influence on psychological and physical aspects of their existence. The analysis of the results of the research takes into account the analyzed subject and developmental conditioning of the time of adolescence in the context of sociocultural changes.

Secondary School Students’ Well-Being as an Effect of Outdoor Physical Activity versus Indoor Activity and Inactivity

“…The lack of differences in self-esteem and current mood between outdoor and indoor groups of physically active young people may be due to the fact that people planning activity-based health training are not in nature for nature's sake, but more for the opportunities it provides as a health-forming space through physical activity. This effect may be caused on the one hand by the growing cult of the body embodied in physical activity [39], and on the other hand by the gradual weakening of modern man's relationship with nature, which particularly affects children and adolescents [40]. This deficit is often the result of an intergenerational interaction in which parents who shun nature pass on this pattern of behaviour to the younger generation [41].…”

Predictores de dismorfia muscular en levantadores de pesas universitarios mexicanos (Predictors of muscle dysmorphia in Mexican college weightlifters)

“…El fenómeno del culto al cuerpo está presente en las sociedades contemporáneas, refiriendo a dicho culto como la admiración hacia el cuerpo, posicionándolo en el centro de interés, y asegurando un alto puesto dentro de una escala de valoración jerárquica (Iwanicka, et al, 2018), en donde es posible notar como la alimentación y el ejercicio físico se han convertido en los medios más destacados para darle valor (Martínez, 2014). Mientras que en el culto al cuerpo femenino la delgadez es un ideal aspirado, en el caso de los hombres alemanes consideran el cuerpo atlético como más atractivo, incluso despertando emociones altamente positivas cuando se les presenta (Voges, et al, 2019).…”