Body Image, Ethnicity/Race and

Extensive research has linked adolescent media use with body image, typically finding that greater exposure to media representations of the thin ideal is associated with worse body image. Most of this research, however, has been conducted with samples that are exclusively white and female. Recent research exploring the role of [Page 116]race and ethnicity in the relation between media use and body image has considered how adolescents of color might interact with media images somewhat differently from white adolescents, and how media images convey race-related information about beauty and bodies. Findings indicate that, in some cases, girls of color may be resistant, but not immune, to the detrimental effects of media exposure.

The media have frequently been implicated in the preponderance of body image concerns among adolescents, particularly adolescent girls. Research with white adolescents typically finds that, the more a girl watches television or reads popular magazines portraying the thin ideal, the worse she feels about her own body and the more she aspires to having a thinner one. Recently, scholars have questioned whether these connections would look the same among adolescent girls of color and, indeed, have cited two specific reasons for expecting that they would not. First, comparison studies typically find substantial ethnic group differences in body image outcomes. Specifically, relative to white girls, body image disturbances are fewer among African American girls, comparable among Latina girls, and greater among Asian girls. Second, analyses of media images reveal that, in addition to being thin, the mainstream beauty ideal represented by the media is almost exclusively white. Women of color are severely underrepresented on television and in magazine covers and advertisements; those that are included typically have European hair, skin tone, and features. Accordingly, two arguments have been put forth: One argues that girls of color might be protected from the adverse effects of media use; the other argues that they might be at even greater risk than white girls.

Empirical research supports both arguments, although the bulk of this research has been conducted with African American samples. Qualitative data suggest that, compared to white girls, African American adolescent girls resist mainstream media images, describing them as more unrealistic and irrelevant. Although white girls also acknowledge that thin-ideal media images are unrealistic, they believe the ideals are endorsed by people around them and accordingly strive to meet these ideals. African American girls, on the other hand, report rejecting the images as both unattainable for themselves and unimportant to others in the black community. Instead of turning to the media to define the body ideal, these girls turn to family, friends, and boyfriends. Moreover, they report comparing themselves not to white women on television but to black role models and women they know. Although these social comparison processes have not been directly explored among Latina adolescents, focus groups with Latina young adults yielded similar results. Latinas reflecting on the role of media in their development acknowledged that the ideal presented by mainstream media is restrictive, but they argued that they had other outlets for learning about healthier body ideals, specifically their communities and Spanish-language media.

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