Twenty-five years after their first body-image survey, Glamour Magazine revisited the task of polling 16,000 American women on how they feel about their bodies.  Interested readers could participate in the poll voluntarily by filling out a survey online so it doesn’t necessarily represent a random sample of women (particularly those who would choose NOT to answer questions about their body image).  While this wasn’t a scientific study , it does offer a rare glimpse at the collective state of female body image in our country and the results were recently discussed on NBC’s Today Show. 

Unfortunately, in order to read about the survey results online we are confronted with some of the reasons why our body image may suffer in the first place.  Be prepared.  Despite an opening line in the on-line article that reads, “We at Glamour think your body is fantastic”, you will simultaneously be bombarded by diet advertisements, offers to join weight loss and work out clubs, and countless airbrushed images of models whose bodies are not representative of 98% of us.  While reading, we are reminded to love our bodies as they are, yet targeted by countless internet ads and competing headlines convincing us of the best ways to change ourselves so we can look “better”.  While these mixed messages are certainly frustrating, this article is worth reading and is an opportunity to practice “critical viewing of the media” which involves a self-censoring of messages and images that are false, misleading or otherwise unhealthy for our self-esteem and body image.  Remember to focus on the article and the positive information it conveys such as suggestions from real women in the survey about ways to improve your body image, including:

• Focus on professional achievements and look for validation in places other than in the mirror
• Give compliments to other women often, and choose to believe and accept the compliments you receive from them! 
• Ditch the dieting scene
• Surround yourself with people who make you feel good about yourself

The poll also turned up several interesting statistics regarding body image including the fact that younger women (under 30) were 20% more likely to say they are happy with their bodies than older women.  Is this a result of a successful shift towards self-love for our younger generations?  Or, does this stem from increasing cultural and media pressures on women in their 40s, 50s and beyond to maintain an image that was previously only expected of teenagers and twenty-something’s?  What do you think?  We’ve started a thread on our discussion board, and we would love your feedback. Be sure to leave your comments after reading the full article, which you can find here: Glamour’s Body Image survey.