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Body Image

Much has been written in the area of body image in pregnancy and postpartum. A person's body image is comprised of a multidimensional mélange of feelings and perceptions of their own body-filtered and reflected through sociocultural prescriptions of the ideal body size and shape. Body image fluctuates and is regulated by global self-esteem (the totality of thoughts and emotions regarding oneself). Societal prescriptions of size and beauty are intricately tied to global self-esteem. In fact, decades of research demonstrates a significant overlap between body image and self-image. In essence, body esteem arises out of a multidimensional experience, in which females compare their appearance against personal and social standards within their environment. Sanctioned by external forces and saturated with a barrage of the ultra-thin female body ideal, women's capacity to maintain a positive body image is threatened on a daily basis, particularly in the experience of pregnancy.

Self-Esteem and Body Image

Researchers demonstrate the powerful connection between self-esteem and body image. Social comparison with fashion models and exposure to unrealistic media images of female beauty is shown to lower body satisfaction and body image. Overall, researchers reveal that in Western countries, lower self-esteem and higher body dissatisfaction are more evident among females than males, despite the fact that obesity rates are higher among males. Women feeling discontented about their bodies is pervasive enough, even 25 years ago, for the term normative discontent to be coined and commonly used to describe the experiences women have in relation to their bodies. Normative discontent implies that being unhappy with one's body and feeling too fat is so common for women in our culture, that it is now considered a part of the normal experience of being a woman.

The societal value of thinness and society's tendency to base much of a woman's value on appearance bear tremendous significance on women's relationships with their bodies. Societal messages impress upon women that their physical appearance is of utmost importance. Culturally, women are schooled to relate to their bodies as objects, tools, or weapons in the marketplace of social relations. A woman's identity is deeply intertwined with a sense of her body and her attractiveness. The current media standard for female beauty is a young, white, thin woman (with breast implants); the perpetuation of this construction has extraordinary implications for the relationship women have with their bodies. Increased rates of dieting, weight preoccupation, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries are associated with the prevailing messages of thin female ideal, and social comparisons with impossibly beautiful models and images are highly correlated with personal body dissatisfaction. As such, the development of a personal and stable body image is extremely problematic and precarious for women.

Pregnancy and Body Image

Many women report being caught between two conflicting cultural messages: the standard of beauty requires a slim figure, and women draw self-esteem from being considered attractive. During pregnancy, body image may become an even greater issue for many women. Some women feel elated and embrace the changes in their pregnant bodies, while other women feel anxious, discontented, and have great difficulty accepting their changing body. Most of the time, a woman's experience vacillates between the two: disdain (feeling fat and ugly) and love (feeling pride) of her pregnant body. Notably, during pregnancy, a woman's body image may vary remarkably over the time period and continue postpartum. A positive body image may be more keenly felt in women who embrace the time in their lives when there is a socially accepted standard to have a larger belly and ample body shape. She may experience a renewed freedom to be heavier and enjoy signifying to the world that her body is producing life and that she will be a mother. For some women, the social status engendered with pregnancy induces further pride in identifying with the role that a maternal body inscribes.

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