title: Gender and race matter: the importance of considering intersections in Black women's body image.
abstract: Traditionally, body image literature has used race as a variable to explain ethnic-specific differences in body satisfaction and the prevalence of eating disorders. Instead of employing race as an explanatory variable, the present study utilized a qualitative method to explore the relationships among race, ethnicity, culture, discrimination, and body image for African American and Black women. The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of how race and gender interface with and inform body image. Women were recruited through community centers in a major metropolitan city and represented a diversity of ethnicities. In total, 26 women who identified racially as Black (mean age = 26 years) participated in 6 focus groups, which explored body ideals, societal messages, cultural values, racism, and sexism. Narrative data from the focus groups were analyzed using grounded theory. The central category, Body/Self Image, was informed by perceptions of and feelings about not only weight and shape but also hair, skin, and attitude. Three additional categories, each with multiple properties, emerged: Interpersonal Influences, Experiences of Oppression, and Media Messages. These categories interact to explain the central category of Body/Self Image, and an emergent theory is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Capodilupo
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology.
authors.forename: Suah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D057215:Body Dysmorphic Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008402:Mass Media; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011822:Race Relations; D012933:Social Identification; D012951:Socialization; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult