It’s a small world ……………………..

I have not considered during my research any deviation for race, creed, culture or colour as I see body image as a discrimination that would be equal to any female dancer regardless of colour, race or culture and my inquiry question is really about body image issues that affect all female dancers and how it can have detrimental affects on their health and well-being and not specifically about any other type of discrimination in dance,( eg; racial) , not that I don’t think that’s an important issue, I do, but I think it would open my question far too wide and be a whole new debate.

I think in hindsight I didn’t ever relate my research to white women in isolation, perhaps naively,  I presumed body imagery related equally to all creeds and cultures. Certainly, thinking back to my own personal experiences, I can’t recall any difference in the consideration of body image with any of my college peers. I went to college with girls from all cultures and creeds and we all shared the same body conscious issues. One of my best friends in my first year at college was black and we shared the same body ‘hang ups’.

I also think (just my opinion) that there are some castings that would be, for obvious reasons specific to a certain culture or skin colour and this is not discrimination just good sense casting. For example in ‘Hairspray’ there has to be black members of the cast and white members to make the story line about prejudices work, the role of Tyrone in ‘Fame’ has to be black, again for the script to work, the role of Tuptim in the ‘King and I’ has to look Siamese and so it goes. I think I naturally accept that as a white, blond haired, blue eyed female I would never be cast in the role of Anita in ‘West Side Story’ for example, for obvious reasons.

However as I was travelling to my classes this morning on the bus, by chance I was reading ‘The Sun’ newspaper, rather than my usual choice of my free Metro (basically because I have to buy the Sun for the next 9 days to get my tokens to save up for free Alton Towers tickets - oops, I digress as always,) and there was an article in the women’s section (page 34) entitled “Black women tend to be heavier and happier”.

Immediately this sparked my interest and reminded me that Adesola had hinted in a comment on another of my blogs that I might wish to consider how my inquiry question related to black women and so I  had to read the whole article and here I share the findings …………………interesting to those of us concerned with body image issues.

According to a new poll, a US survey found that 66% of overweight black women have high self esteem compared to 41% of thin white females.  X factor star, Alexandra Burke, says “I am curvaceous but I like having an ass. I don’t feel pressured in any way. Those people who want to go out there and be a size zero is not a great reflection on how a woman should look.”

The article goes on to discuss, “what is it that makes some black women happy with their curves while many white girls are addicted to dieting?”

The article reports,

“A recent survey of 1,936 adults conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that while black women are heavier than their white counterparts, they have higher self-esteem and a better body image. Of the average-sized and thin white women polled, 41% reported high self-esteem, but among black women considered overweight or obese by government standards, 66% reported high self-esteem”.

A feature article on the topic by Lonnae O’Neal Parker explored possible explanations. Parker interviewed one woman, a 41-year-old black fitness instructor that wears a size 14, who said she loves her body. After spending years trying to lose weight, she now focuses instead on being healthy and fit and teaches 10 aerobics classes a week.
The poll also found that more black women than white women say being physically attractive is very important to them—28% vs. 11%–as is living a healthy lifestyle—90% vs. 78%–suggesting that the central difference may be the perception of what’s beautiful and healthy.

One trainer and nutritionist interviewed said black women he works with often have a higher body mass index than white women but have different goals. While the white women want to be between 110 and 120 pounds and slim, he said the black women wanted to be sizes 6, 8, 10 and 12—far removed from a typical fashion model’s size 0 or 2. Of course, black celebrities like Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson have famously dropped pounds, but they’ve also maintained healthy curves.

The article questions whether there is a cultural difference as to what body type is deemed attractive, whether white women are more likely to internalize images of waifish models and actresses, and whether black women’s acceptance of heavier weights could be a slippery slope toward health issues like obesity and diabetes.
The reporter decided to pose these questions to the Forbes Woman communities on Facebook and Twitter and got many thoughtful responses.
“I am a thicker woman. I think a black woman likes her curves,” said one. “I can be thick and still healthy.”


“I agree in a sense because historically we HAD to build our esteem based on ourselves not others (men),” replied another, adding that men of all colors like “a nice booty.”
Another woman (who wears a size 2) challenged the idea that as a rule black women are or want to be heavier: “I’m black and don’t believe in extra weight,” she wrote. “We carry our weight differently, so we are happier. Yes, the self happiness can bear health risks–same as unhappiness can lead to anorexia.”


Some men who responded faulted the media for negatively impacting white women’s views of themselves. “A lot of white women tend to look at themselves as being fat when they simply are not,” observed one man. “They are more obsessed with being skinny and in the image of what is accepted as a ‘model type figure,’ whereas black women (not all) may be more content with the way they are no matter how they look.”
“Western culture prizes thinness, because it has been presented to mean fitness,” agreed another. “The fashion industry as well, which is dominated as a general rule by white Westerners, also portrays thinness as glamorous.”


Others commented that Western society breeds neuroses and increased body consciousness, possibly leading to more white women suffering from eating disorders. However, studies suggest that while eating disorders affect more women than men, they are fairly equally diagnosed among all races of women.

The  black women ( both from London)  interviewed for the article in the Sun stated that, “In our culture being bigger is not only beautiful, it’s also a sign of wealth”; Joycelyn goes on to say the she doesn’t read magazines because she feels the images are unrealistic. She says, “I think it is unfair to make women feel they have to be a size zero. We are becoming a country of easily influenced women who aspire to look like skinny, scrawny models and that’s not normal.”

Michelle says, “Being healthy is the most important thing. Food is an important part of our culture. The theory behind this tradition is that you may not have a lot of material belongings but you can always have the food you need to eat.”

Hala El-Shafie a specialist dietician comments, “We live in a society which idealises and values it’s women based primarily on the way they look. This is reflected in the disturbingly high proportion of women caught up in a cycle of yo-yo dieting, poor self esteem and negative body image. Women should be thankful for a healthy body, plenty of food to eat and an abundance of choice and the ability to nurture and nourish. Instead we sadly live in a society where many women can’t enjoy food without guilt and are body and diet obsessed. There is a massive pressure on women to look a certain way and our ideals of beauty are the images that are reflected back at us in the pages of magazines. I have clinics full of women who have crippling levels of self esteem and unhealthy relationships with food and their bodies. I feel the same sort of pressures around appearance as any woman but culturally I was raised to value who I am as a person and my worth was not dependant on how I looked or my body shape but rather on my strength of character”.  

Thinking back to watching the Oscars this year I have to admit (in my opinion) the most glamorous on the red carpet were the 2 black actresses Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer nominated for best actress and best supporting actress – they looked amazing in their gowns, as did Penelope Cruz and J Lo, all who were confident and proud of their curvier bodies and looked healthy and amazing as compared to most of the white celebrities who looked scrawny and skinny.

I decided to google when I got home to see if there was any further information to either agree or deny the report and provide some relevant information for my inquiry.

I found an article on a web site called ‘something-fishy’ called ‘ Shades of Grey’ which discusses this issue in detail. The opening statement says, “It used to be thought that eating disorders were only found in college-aged white women. It is finally coming to light that this statement is just not, nor never was, true”

The article goes on to say;

“A great number of researchers are focusing in on why there seems to be an increase in the growing number of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American sufferers who are coming forward to say that they indeed are afflicted with an eating disorder.

"Dangerous Eating" (Essence Magazine, Villarosa) featured an article on the subject of Eating Disorders in Black women, providing a possible insight. "The Black-American culture traditionally accepts more fat on women than the White culture, but when Black middle-class women become integrated into White culture while they are trying to get ahead, they become more at risk of developing eating disorders."

The article says, “As African-American and Hispanic women compete more and more in the professional job market and face the pressures of trying to succeed, they can be faced with discrimination as well as society's portrayal of the successful ‘smart, beautiful and thin’ career woman’ ”.

The article continues to say that there has been a steady increase in famous African-American and Hispanic figures in the media. While this helps to represent equality and diversity there may also be a "down-side" as well. Young white women and girls faced with thin and beautiful white celebrities aspire to be like them -- it would make sense to think that young Black and Hispanic women and girls, when faced with seemingly beautiful and thin celebrities sharing the same culture (such as Janet Jackson or Mariah Carey both who are famous people who have suffered from eating disorders) might also wish to achieve the same physical goals.

 According to this article eating disorders are the most common psychological problems facing young women in Tokyo, Japan, are on the increase in China and in Argentina, cases of anorexia and bulimia are higher than in America.  Quote: “And some Argentine feminists say that 'machismo' is responsible for the epidemic, encouraging a climate where women are valued for how they look, not who they are." Women that don't fit the harsh Argentine ideal end up in their own world of self-hate”.

This statement is taken from the ‘About Face’ organisation website: "The more a person is pressured to emulate the mainstream image, the more the desire to be thin is adopted, and with it an increased risk for the development of body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders." About Face is an organisation dedicated to “equip all women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect self esteem and body image.”

Further research led me to a web site called ‘ My Body, My Image’ which was set up by  black dancer and teacher, Theresa Ruth Howard who herself suffered body image pressures in the dance world. She says, “I launched ‘My Body My Image’ as a heartfelt project stemming both from my personal struggles and the struggles of the many young dancers I encountered through my years of teaching.

To introduce her site, she says, quote:
“I got annoyed! In the media there are no real conversations about the body or the images we hold of them, oh yeah there is talk- chatter but honest conversation not so much…Instead it’s always someone trying to sell you something: a product, a belief, a lifestyle that amounts to a pipe dream.

Buy this! Wear that! Eat these and it will make you look like the image we are projecting (which has been digitally altered and bares no resemblance to a human being at all).
The body has been commercialized.

That commercialization has many of us twisted and feeling horribly inadequate- you are never enough! Young, thin, tall, rich, smart, blonde, or nowadays naked (publicly).

I wanted to create a place where we can discuss the body the way we do with our girlfriends on the telephone, with our mothers and sisters over the kitchen table, with our partner and lovers in the dressing rooms of clothing stores and with ourselves in our heads! (Sometimes it’s the best conversation you can get). I wanted to create a place where women and men alike can realize that they are not alone in their feelings of confusion (as to where they fit or what to be) or frustration (at not being at all what they truly want to be). I wanted for all us to have that collective “somebody” to say, “You’re all right?” – “It’s ok” – “I know” or sometimes, “Shut up- and eat that cake!” Because sometimes- what you have – ain’t what you want – but it’s better than nothing, so, we have to learn how to accept and appreciate what we do have because we are all fabulous by design- and fabulous starts in the mind!!
My Body My Image is your body, my body, our Bodies let’s redefine and Re- fine Our Image- together!!!”

The web-site is worth checking out for anyone interested in body image issues, it discusses some very interesting articles popular in the media.

I also found an article that was published in The Guardian on Tuesday 7^th April 2009 by Lola Adesioya entitled:  “Black girls have body issues too. Not all of us like being bootylicious. Eating disorders aren’t just for white women anymore.”


Adesioya reports: “As minority and mainstream cultural ideas collide. It has been suggested that the more a black woman adopts western standards of beauty – which tend to equate being thin with being beautiful – the more likely she is to suffer from an eating disorder. I can attest to this. At the age of 15, I was curvy. At a predominantly white all-girls school, I had a hard time feeling comfortable in my body when I was surrounded by thin white friends and teen magazines which held up women who looked totally different from me as paragons of beauty”.


So it would seem that while “the black and Latina female stars are shown flaunting their curves and being bootylicious. They are lauded for their willingness to embrace their natural shapes, rather than starve them out of existence. The popular preconception is that women of colour don't have eating disorders. Apparently we love our hips, thighs and butts unconditionally. There's no doubt that many of us do but the truth is that black women have body-image issues just like any woman”.


So as far as body image issues are concerned it would seem the evidence is that it’s a small world and there are no boundaries:  eating disorders, low self esteem and psychological problems hold no discrimination for race, culture or colour.


I would be interested to hear from any black, hispanic or other ethnic dancers out there in the BAPP world who may be able to share any of their experiences  in their training or professional practice related specifically to body image that they may feel is relevant to either agree or disagree with the findings of this blog or relevant to my inquiry question.

References:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/search/newSearchAction.do?querystring=Black+women+tend+to+be+heavier+and+happier&view=internal&pubName=sol&p=sun&bl=on&navigators=&offset=0&sortby

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/01/black-women-heavier-happier-white-women-weight-body-image/

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/black-women-heavier-happier

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/01/black-women-heavier-happier-white-women-weight-body-image/

http://www.something-fishy.org/cultural/roles.php

http://www.about-face.org/

http://archive.suite101.com/article.cfm/anorexia/45443

http://www.mybodymyimage.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/07/african-american-women-bulimia