The Role of Racial Identity in Responses to Thin Media Ideals

Abstract

A survey of 286 White and Black female college students examined the racial differences in perception of thin media images and its relation to personal importance of thinness and fear of fat. Consistent with the intergroup literature and social identity theory, this study demonstrated that Black women rated thin media images less desirable and endorsed thinness less strongly than their White counterparts. Perceived desirability of thin media images was related to greater personal endorsement of thinness among both White and Black women but related only to White women's, not to Black women's, fear of fat. Racial identity interacted with race in predicting personal endorsement of thinness, with the highest ratings among high White identifiers and the lowest ratings among high Black identifiers. It did not, however, interact with perceived desirability of thin media images in predicting fear of fat.

Racial Identity and Body Image Among Black Female College Students Attending Predominately White Colleges

“…In the transition to college, our study found that women tended to maintain the same cultural identity and conceptions of body image they formed in their younger life. Our participants had a broad range of ideal body types, which is echoed in the research of Fujioka et al (2009) concerning thinness and media perceptions of Black and White female college students in the Southeastern United States.…”

“…Fewer studies have focused on ethnic and racial differences in adherence to the thin ideal (Abrams and Stormer 2002;Hermes and Keel 2003). Some research suggests that, in general, African American women both report a greater satisfaction with their body image in terms of body weight and are less likely to diet compared to their White counterparts (Belgrave 2009;Fujioka et al 2009;Gray et al 1987;Kumanyika et al 1993; Molloy and Herzberger 1998;O'Neill 2003;Parker et al 1995;Powell and Kahn 1995). Hesse-Biber et al's (2004) research on low-income African American adolescent girls found less body dissatisfaction among women of color compared with their White counterparts.…”

Is Big Really Beautiful? Understanding Body Image Perceptions of African American Females

“…Keywords body image, body dissatisfaction, cultural differences, ethnic identity Background African American (AA) women have traditionally been thought to have a much greater satisfaction with their bodies, less tendency to engage in disordered eating or related practices, less likely to diet and an overall more positive body image (Fujioka, Ryan, Agle, Legaspi, & Toohey, 2009;O'Neil, 2003;Parker et al, 1995). Studies that have been conducted on AA females in middle school, high school, and colleges have suggested they might have a more positive body image than Caucasian women due to a broader and more flexible definition of beauty, which in turn is connected to a positive body image (Wood- Barcalow, Tylka, & Augustus-Horvath, 2010).…”

Male Mammies: A Social-Comparison Perspective on How Exaggeratedly Overweight Media Portrayals of Madea, Rasputia, and Big Momma Affect How Black Women Feel About Themselves

“…Some studies suggest that Black women who have strong ethnic identity may be somewhat inoculated against the fear of becoming fat that plagues some White women (Fujioka, Ryan, Agle, Legaspi, & Toohey, 2009;Rubin, Fitts, & Becker, 2003;Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Caruthers, 2004;Zhang, Dixon, & Conrad, 2009). Bissell (2002), for example, found that both male and female European American respondents were tougher critics than African Americans in evaluating overweight models.…”

“…A meta-analysis of 98 studies of women's body dissatisfaction found that both Black and White women were dissatisfied with their bodies, but White women were slightly more dissatisfied (Grabe & Hyde, 2006). However, Black audiences still come to know the dominant group's expectations and worldviews through mainstream media (Fujioka et al, 2009), and what they see is that African Americans are portrayed less favorably than Whites (Mastro & Kopacz, 2006). A content analysis of advertisements in Essence found more lighter skinned models with Caucasoid features in , compared with 1985(Njoroge, 2007, suggesting that even a magazine targeted at Black women presents the dominant White culture's view of beauty.…”