Why Are So Many Women Dissatisfied with Their Bodies?
The reasons behind the dissatisfaction (if not hatred!) many women experience toward their own bodies are varied and complex.
Since time began, women's bodies have been important not only to themselves, but to those around them. Men have always been keenly interested in the female body, not only for sexual pleasure, but also for the opportunity to sire offspring and produce heirs. Children literally depend on women's bodies for life and for nurturance. Women themselves are acutely attuned to their menstrual cycles and their reproductive capacities over the life span.
And yet, today, more than ever before, women are also keenly aware of other women's bodies and idealized images so highly prized in American culture. You cannot turn around without exposure to depictions of very thin, "flawless, often highly sexualized women. They're virtually everywhere, bombarding every woman throughout the day.