Few psychological concepts have received so much press in recent years as has body image. Thousands of articles, books, and dissertations have been written on the subject in both the popular press and academic literature, provoked in part by the rising rates of eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and other increasingly risky ways by which Americans strive to alter their bodies. In the past five years
alone, more than one hundred books have been published on the subject of body image.
The endless appeal of anything to do with cosmetic body alterations has encouraged reporters and scholars to ruminate on its implications and the evolution of our cultural norms for the ideal body. Psychologist Nancy Etcoff describes how complex our relationships with our bodies can be. She writes, “We view the body as a temple, a prison, a dwelling for the immortal soul, a tormentor, a garden of earthly delights, a biological envelope, a machine, a home.”
Psychologists know that one’s body image may bear little resemblance to one’s physical reality, and individuals with body image disturbances are not unfamiliar to cosmetic surgeons. Most people have fairly stable core body images that develop in childhood and adolescence and are maintained for long periods.
Psychologically healthy young adults have mature body images, and if they choose to undergo cosmetic interventions, it is usually to change features with which they have been dissatisied since adolescence. With the onset of middle age most people develop a new set of anxieties. Many feel that they cannot compete with a youth-oriented society unless they look younger than their biological age.
Women in partic ular start to feel invisible and their body images blur as the men around them gravitate toward younger, more energetic females. Like skin color, body contours are largely hereditary and can also be strongly associated with cultural identity. Therefore, certain procedures not only profoundly affect a person’s appearance but can carry significant body image and cultural consequences.
Body image is such a powerful psychic force that transformation myths and stories permeate all cultures. Forget about Cinderella: She just got a new hairstyle, fancy clothes, and transportation. How about all of the former and soon-to-be frogs, snakes, fish, and werewolves in fairy tales and adult literature? In many of these tales, transformation is punishment or reward doled out by a powerful force to a mere mortal, perhaps instigated by the human’s behavior or sometimes just for kicks.
The transformations may be reversible but in many cases are permanent or carry the threat of permanence (Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio). Even beyond mythology, serious and comic adult literature such as Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, to name just two well-known examples, is loaded with physical and psychic personal transformation themes.
Outside literature, philosophers have long contemplated whether or not identity is even within one’s control. Certain schools of feminist thought, meanwhile, consider it a cultural imperative for women to redeine themselves within contemporary society. With all of this psychic baggage imbedded in our culture, it is no wonder that the practice of temporary transformation (for example, cosmetics, hair color, new clothes) is so appealing, whereas the idea of permanent transformation is more controversial and loaded with potential psychological dangers.
