title: Another body project: the thin ideal, motherhood, and body dissatisfaction among Mexican women.
abstract: In this article, we examine the bodily experiences of Mexican women, to investigate their acceptance of the thin ideal and resulting body dissatisfaction. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 30 adult participants in Mexico City. Interviewees accepted the thin body ideal, but experiencing their bodies as signifiers of motherhood protected them from body dissatisfaction. Instead of a personal body project, they engaged in a project of caring for their children's bodies. We suggest that health campaigns directed to adult women should consider the relational aspects of their lives.
authors.affiliation: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico ietzabojorquez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ietza
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bojorquez-Chapela
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Unikel
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico.
authors.forename: Maria-Eugenia
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico.
authors.forename: Fabiola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Lachica
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D065840:Protective Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body image; culture; dissatisfaction; protective factors; women’s health