Understanding Body Image Differences Between African American And White Women

Recent empirical studies have examined sociocultural factors that affec women's development of body dissatisfaction including the roles of media, peer influence, and racial/cultural standards. This study examines the influence of racial socialization, mass media, and peers in influencing African American and white women's body dissatisfaction. Specifically, focus groups are used from a sample of 25 African American and white college students between the ages of 18 and 22. This study draws on a social comparison theoretical framework which argues that individuals evaluate their self-concept based on their ideas, values, and attitudes similar to them. This study finds that African American women are vulnerable to white standards of beauty. However, they are more resilient to these standards because of how they are racially socialized. Further, white women are more susceptible to conform to normative ideals of beauty that equate beauty with thinness. .