Physical & Sexual

• Body Image


  An individual's mental representation of his/her own body
• Body Image


  • Influences self-esteem
• Types of body image

  • Internal/Personal
  • External/Social
• Internal/Personal body image


  Person's perception of the level of attractiveness of his own body; produces either satisfying or unsatisfying results
• External/Social body image


  Sense of how other people view our bodies
• Body Image Dissatisfaction


  Occurs when there is a discrepancy between actual (i.e. what you really look like) and ideal body image (i.e. what you want to look like)
• Types of Beauty


  • External Beauty
  • Inner Beauty
• External Beauty


  Physical characteristics of a person, usually what is considered as pleasant to the aesthetic senses
• Inner Beauty


  Pertains to the inner qualities of a person
• According to a study conducted by Gillian Rhodes (2006), averageness, rather than distinctiveness, was correlated with facial attractiveness
• Averageness


  The more common the facial features of a person, the more attractive that person is to others
• Striking and unusual features often make people appear strange
• Aesthetic Capital


  Privileges and wealth people receive from aesthetic traits such as their face, hair, body, clothes, grooming habits and other markers of beauty
• Samantha Lovascio


  Aesthetic traits impact our lives in matters of modest importance (e.g. friend selection) up to matters of great importance (e.g. career mobility)
• All cultures everywhere have attempted to change their body in an attempt to meet their cultural standards of beauty, as well as their religious and/or social obligations
• Ways people seek to conform to standards of beauty

  • Body Adornment
  • Body Modification
• Body Adornment


  Practice of physically enhancing the body by temporary means such as styling and decorating
• Body Modification


  Temporary or permanent physical alteration of the body through surgery, tattooing, piercing and the like
• Culture of Physical Improvement


  Belief of people that all bodily processes should be under our control, and trains us to be ashamed of body parts that refuse to comply with the cultural ideal
• Culture of Physical Improvement


  • A Filipina with a morena complexion becoming self-conscious when seeing advertisements of whitening products
  • An elderly man saying "pasensya na mga anak, matanda na kasi" to the people behind him since he cannot walk any faster
  • A child who is disabled feeling discouraged in his P.E class since he is left out in the activities
• Body Shame


  Not a natural response to being fat, physically impaired, chronically sick, or old. It is a culturally conditioned response to a commercially fabricated fantasy of physical perfection
• Factors that determine whether a person feels ashamed of their body

  • Popular or 'Pop' Culture
  • Media
  • Hyper-mediated Society
• Popular or 'Pop' Culture


  A culture that is widely accepted and patronized by the public, usually influences people to patronize products endorsed by popular celebrities or products that are 'on trend'
• Media


  People that are given the most exposure are usually attractive celebrities and models that create ideals for men and women to admire and emulate, the constant exposure pressures individuals to conform to these expectations
• Hyper-mediated Society


  Presence of advertisements representing appropriate body or skin types, people internalize ideals presented and either attempt to conform or resist
• Self-esteem


  A person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value
• The way people perceive and feel about their body

  Significantly affects their self-esteem
• People who are dissatisfied with their bodies and perceive their physical selves as far from dominant cultural ideals, they report having lower self-esteem
• Puberty also plays a role in body image. Children who develop too fast ('Tweeners') or too slow ('Late Bloomers') may experience an increase or decrease in their self-esteem
• How to develop positive body image


  • Understand that healthy and attractive bodies come in many shapes and sizes
  • Physical appearance says very little about our character or value as a person
  • Try to practice self-acceptance
• Sex


  Biological characteristics that define humans as female and male
• Assigned Sex at Birth


  What the doctor said when you were born - "It's a girl!" or "It's a boy!"
• Gender Identity


  The sense of "being" a specific gender such as man, woman, genderqueer, agender, etc.
• Cisgender


  An individual whose Sexual Orientation, Gender Orientation/Expression matches their biological sex assigned or both
• Transgender


  Presents themselves and lives as a gender that does not correspond with the sex assigned at birth
• Transman


  A transgender person who identifies as a man
• Transwoman


  A transgender person who identifies as a woman
• Gender Fluid


  A person who is able to manifest and adopt to various gender
• Gender Binary


  The belief that there are only two genders: male and female
• Gender Queer


  Identity that is outside what is generally accepted as part of the gender binary