Autumn, 1998, Vol. 5, No. 1

Body Image: Heterosexual Females and Gay Males
Laurel Gideon, 2nd year Clinical

As the mental representation of the physical self, body image impacts one's sense of understanding and control over the world. The vehicle through which we experience our surrounding environment, the body comes to symbolize the individual and her or his emerging self. The visual, auditory, intellectual, and kinesthetic experiences of the physical self contribute to the formation of body image. Thus, this image shapes behavior, alters perceptions of the self and others, and defines our feeling of worth and value in the world. Body image, specifically a negative or distorted one, can affect one's physical health, happiness, and choice of lifestyle.

While the discourse on body image has centered primarily on the negative body images of young heterosexual women (ages 13-25), emerging research has begun to focus on the body image of gay men, its causes, and its subsequent effects on behavior and attitude. Although the implications of negative body image for gay men are not yet as widely documented as those for women, similarities between the two groups have begun to emerge. In the midst of cultural pressures to meet a rigid standard of physical attractiveness, some heterosexual women and gay men have struggled to maintain a positive body image. Consequently, concern over physical appearance contributes to the development of eating disorders.

Heterosexual Women

Individuals with negative body images perceive themselves to be unattractive and unappealing. Moreover, they feel that they do not meet societal expectations of beauty, nor do they feel worthy of positive acceptance by themselves or others. The majority of studies on body image have focused on subjects from the dominant, white middle-class culture in America, one laden with power imbalances, contradiction, and standards of perfection. Consequently, modern heterosexual women encounter conflicting gender-role expectations. While they are expected to fulfill many of the traditional maternal roles, including a sense of social compassion, they are also expected to assume traditionally male-defined roles. As women are often unable to achieve perfection in these conflicting roles, they are left with unintegrated concepts of their own identity (Claude-Pierre, 1997). Because women tend to receive more compliments on their looks than on other qualities, they turn to their physical bodies to gain a sense of identity, accomplishment, and control (Claude-Pierre, 1997). Therefore, such conflicting role expectations become closely associated with body image.

This contradiction results in the feeling of losing control, of constantly attempting and failing to achieve an impossible standard "We thrash about to form a self that meets the multiple demands of society, loved ones and our own ideals" (Zerbe, 1993). Women internalize these feelings into the context of their own body image. Thus, it becomes difficult to view the body, the physical manifestation of the self, in an integrated and positive way.

The physical appearance of the female body in our culture represents far more than just a physical entity. Men in our culture have a tendency to sexually objectify their partners. For heterosexual women physical attractiveness has become synonymous with the ability to attract a man. Physical attractiveness (defined as a thin, slender, and youthful figure), then, is an essential component of finding a mate (Siever, 1996). Women continue to face the challenge of proving to themselves and to others that they are more than the culmination of society's judgement of their physical assets and deficits, more than a sexual object.

These ubiquitous issues of sexual objectification and identity formation are often the central underlying dynamics of the most physically dangerous behavior associated with negative body image- eating disorders. The DSM-IV describes the two primary types of eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is defined as the refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight. Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise (APA, 1994). For both Bulimic and Anorexic women issues of identity, role confusion, and the ensuing struggle for control are prevalent. Almost invariably, individuals with eating disorders have no sense of self or identity except for the fulfillment of their extremely subjective perception of others' expectations (Claude-Pierre, 1997). The only sense of identity for these women lies in the fulfillment of these expectations by using their own bodies as the instrument for control.

Gay Males

While the prevalence of eating disorders still remains higher among heterosexual women than among gay men, the incidence of eating disorders among gay men is increasing. Of the studied population of men diagnosed with Anorexia, a significant percentage have expressed conflicts in their sexual identity (Gordon, 1990). Furthermore, evidence suggests a relatively higher prevalence of Anorexia and Bulimia in the gay male community than in the male heterosexual population (Rosenzweig & Spruill, 1987). This research indicates that there may be dynamics present in the gay male community that increase vulnerability for the development of a negative body image or a diagnosis of an eating disorder.

Research conducted by Silberstein, Mishkind, Striegel-Moore, Timko, & Rodin, (1989) supports the hypothesis that gay male culture places a heightened importance on physical appearance. As compared to heterosexual men, gay men rated the role of physical attractiveness as more important to their sense of self (Silberstein et al., 1989). Gay men, similar to heterosexual women, experience a sense of self that is largely dependent on physical attractiveness. It appears that cultural pressures to achieve a certain standard of physical attractiveness have not only impacted women, but have also impeded gay men's ability to maintain a positive body image. Like women, gay men experience extreme pressure to be slim and youthful. They are, therefore, quite likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies (Siever, 1996). Again, similar to heterosexual women, an overemphasis on appearance and weight appears to heighten gay men's vulnerability to a negative body image and those characteristics associated with eating disorders (Silberstein et al., 1989). Research by Gettelman (1992) indicates that negative body image and concerns about weight and dieting are, in fact, very important variables related to the development of fully diagnosed eating disorders in gay men. Siever's (1996) results also indicate that gay men report a higher frequency of the attitudes and behaviors found in individuals with eating disorders.

Apparently to please and attract the attention of men, both heterosexual women and gay men seek to maintain their physical appearance and weight, specifically thinness (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986). Siever (1996) proposes that due to the historical sexual objectification that men have imposed on women, heterosexual women generally feel the most strongly about the importance of physical beauty. However, because gay men are exposed to a similar experience of sexual objectification, they resemble heterosexual women more than heterosexual men in the importance they place on their own physical attractiveness and overall body image (Siever, 1996).

While the results of these studies do not definitively prove a direct link between sexual objectification and concern over physical appearance, there are, nonetheless, several significant findings. First, both gay men and heterosexual women demonstrate a significantly higher concern over physical appearance than their heterosexual male or gay female counterparts. Second, gay men and heterosexual women viewed their physical attractiveness as central to being perceived as attractive in the eyes of a potential partner. Heterosexual men, on the other hand, were the least plagued with doubts or concerns about their own bodies, although they did place a high level of importance on the attractiveness of their female partners (Siever, 1996). In addition, while heterosexual men were more likely to view their bodies as tools with which to physically compete, heterosexual women and gay men were more likely to view their bodies as sexual commodities with which to attract men (Siever, 1996).

Our culture's preoccupation with physical attractiveness is proving to be increasingly hazardous for many heterosexual women and gay men. The importance physical attractiveness plays in establishing a positive sense of self and body image has very real dangers. Eating disorders, which are fatal in many cases, are ranked the highest in regard to mortality for all psychological disorders Gordon, 1990). In future research and discourse on eating disorders and body image, more diverse segments of the population should be included. Although many studies discuss the dynamics that foster a negative body image within the heterosexual female and gay male communities, these values and expectations are in large part determined by society. We, therefore, must work towards educating and including in our discussion a broad representation of people, one that truly reflects the diversity of those affected.

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Claude-Pierre, P. (1997). The secret language of eating disorders. New York: Random House, Inc.

Gettelman, T. (1992). Body image disturbance and dieting concern in homosexual and heterosexual males and females: real differences versus stereotypic perceptions. Dissertation abstracts international, 53 (09B), 4932.

Gordon, R. (1990). Anorexia and bulimia. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, Ltd.

Hatfield, E. and Sprecher, S. (1986). Mirror, mirror: The importance of looks in everyday life. New York: SUNY Press.

Rosenzweig, M. and Spruill, J. (1987). Twenty years after twiggy. International journal of eating disorders, 6, 59-66.

Siever, M. (1996). The perils of sexual objectification: sexual orientation, gender, and socioculturally acquired vulnerability to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. In C. Alexander (Ed.) Gay and lesbian mental health: A sourcebook for practitioners. New York: Harrington Park Press.

Silberstein, L., Mishkind, M., Striegel-Moore, R., Timko, C., & Rodin, J. (1989). Men and their bodies: A comparison of homosexual and heterosexual men. Psychodynamic Medicine, 51(3), 337-345.

Zerbe, K. (1993). The body betrayed: A deeper understanding of women, eating disorders and treatment. California: Gurze Books.

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