Objectification or Liberation- Bisexual and Lesbian Women's Experiences with Physical Appearance

ISBN-13: 9783836425919 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 256 str.

Amy Black

Opis

As feminists have long argued, objectification as a form of oppression is oftenmanifested in womens weight and appearance preoccupation, eating disorders,and body image disturbances. While these theories have accountedfor the experiences of women in a culture that devalues and oppresses them,they have often disregarded the experiences of women of color, women withdisabilities, lesbian and bisexual women and women with various socioeconomicstatuses. Moreover, until recently, much of the literature on bodyimage disturbances, eating disorders, sexual objectification, and mediaimages of women has been conducted primarily with White, middle-class,presumably heterosexual, young women. Yet a paucity of research has illuminatedthe fact that women in all these groups experience the pressure to bethin as well as unique appearance standards such as cultural standards ofbeauty, racial identity, sexual identity, or a combination of such factors. Theunique experiences related to these identity categories may not necessarily bea deficit, but rather provide a potential buffer against societal messages.