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Body image is a person's perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The phrase ''body image'' was first coined by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Paul Schilder in his book ''The Image and Appearance of the Human Body'' (1935). Human society has at all times placed great value on beauty of the human body, but a person's perception of their own body may not correspond to society's standards. The concept of body image is used in numerous disciplines, including psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy and cultural and feminist studies. The term is also often used in the media. Across these disciplines and media there is no consensus definition. A person's body image is thought to be, in part, a product of their personal experiences, personality, and various social and cultural forces. A person's sense of their own physical appearance, usually in relation to others or in relation to some cultural "ideal," can shape their body image. A person's perception of their appearance can be different from how others actually perceive them. A 2007 report by the American Psychological Association found that a culture-wide sexualization of girls and women was contributing to increased female anxiety associated with body image. Similar findings associated with body image were found by an Australian government Senate Standing Committee report on the sexualization of children in the media.〔http://www.aph.gov.au/SENATE/committee/eca_ctte/sexualisation_of_children/report/index.htm〕 However, other scholars have expressed concern that these claims are not based on solid data. Body image can have a wide range of psychological effects and physical effects. Throughout history, it has been extremely difficult for people to live up to the standards of society and what they believe the ideal body is. There are many factors that lead to a person’s body image, some of these include: family dynamics, mental illness, biological predispositions and environmental causes for obesity or malnutrition, and cultural expectations (e.g., media and politics). People who are both underweight and overweight can have poor body image. However, because people are constantly told and shown the cosmetic appeal of weight loss and are warned about the risks of obesity, those who are normal or overweight on the BMI scale have higher risks of poor body image. This is something that can lead to a change in a person's body image. Often, people who have a low body image will try to alter their bodies in some way, such as by dieting or undergoing cosmetic surgery. == Media impact on body image == Some girls and young women compare themselves to models in ads, in terms of their physical attractiveness.〔Martin, Mary C. and Gentry, James W. ''Stuck in the Model Trap: The Effects of Beautiful Models in Ads on Female Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents'' Journal of Advertising, 1997, p. 19.〕 The emphasis in the media and in the fashion industry on thinness and on an ideal female body shape and size can be psychologically detrimental to the well-being of many young women; this includes their self-image, which can also give rise to excessive dieting or exercise. About 81 percent of ten-year-olds are afraid of being fat after being exposed to some media. Women are shown in many feminine commercials such as: soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and child care commercials. They are displayed as the cleaners, nannies, and cooks. ANAD showed that anywhere from three to five percent of women have suffered from Anorexia Nervosa in their lifetime, and about one percent of female adolescents currently have anorexia A study by Reaves and Hitchon demonstrated that stars and models that appear throughout the media are not only made thinner through computer alterations, but are digitally elongated, with leg length being extended up to 30% to convey a leggy youthfulness.〔Reaves, Sheila, Hitchon, Jacqueline. "’You Can Never Be Too Thin’ – Or Can You?: A Pilot Study on the Effects of Digital Manipulation of Fashion Models’ Body Size, Leg Length, and Skin Color." Race, Gender & Class 11.2 (2004): 140-55. Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition. Web. 30 May 2014.〕 These digital manipulations have contributed to the fact that, over the past few decades, plastic surgeries have increased and common procedures such as breast augmentation and rhinoplasty had increased by more than 700% from 1992 to 2004. Media plays its role in promoting these cosmetic medical treatments through advertisements in magazines and on billboards, typically by using beautiful women in a state of happiness. The media’s impact is even more negatively impacting society because plastic surgery’s demographic is changing as well. More specifically, patients are getting younger. In 2002, almost 225,000 adolescents underwent plastic surgery procedures, both for either cosmetic procedures and for functionality purposes.〔 An article by Mike Featherstone demonstrates that this growth in cosmetic surgery correlated with the airing of the television program ''Extreme Makeover.'' The program, beginning in 2002, involved average people undergoing plastic surgery and other cosmetic enhancements to improve their overall appearance. Significantly, the first airing of the show correlated with a 44 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.〔"Quick Facts: Highlights of the ASAPS 2013 Statistics on Cosmetic Surgery." The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. ASAPS, n.d. Web. 30 May 2014.〕 A study by Garner and Garfinkel demonstrated that those in professions where there is a particular social pressure to be thin (such as models and dancers) were much more likely to develop anorexia during their career, and further research suggests that those with anorexia have much higher contact with cultural sources that promote weight-loss. The Israeli Parliament recently passed a law prohibiting clinically underweight female or male models from appearing in advertisements and in fashion shows. Under the new legislation, models of either gender must have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 18.5 kg/m2 to be able to work in the industry, and they also need proof that a physician certifies that they are not underweight. In a further step, any artificial enhancements of images to make a person look thinner must be clearly stated right on the image. However, other researchers have contested the claims of the media effects paradigm. An article by Christopher Ferguson, Benjamin Winegard, and Bo Winegard, for example, argues that peer effects are much more likely to cause body dissatisfaction than media effects, and that media effects have been overemphasized.〔 It also argues that one must be careful about making the leap from arguing that certain environmental conditions might cause body dissatisfaction to the claim that those conditions can cause diagnosable eating disorders. Body Gossip is an organization founded in 2006 and run by Ruth Rogers and Natasha Devon which campaigns for all body shapes, sizes and issues, whatever race, gender or age.〔(Body Gossip Website )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Body image」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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