The Avatar Diet: Does this Avatar Make My Butt Look Big? Dr. Robyn Silverman Trying to get rid of that belly fat? Looking to thin down those thighs? Want to straighten out your body image and “combat obesity” while looking at your computer screen? It’s time to join the virtual world! If you were ever [...]
Body Image Research
Do Latinas and African American Girls Have Better Body Image? Dr. Robyn Silverman A new localized study caught my eye this morning because it talked about a discrepancy in the way Latinas viewed their bodies in comparison to the way that mainstream American women view their bodies. In particular, the researchers suggested that the Latinas [...]
Dangerous Diet Doping: Being Thin at all Costs Dr. Robyn Silverman As we know, “feeling fat” has become a common part of everyday life for girls and women. Dieting is the norm. Complaining about weight is a expected and encourages. And doing anything you can to achieve the perfect thin body, accepted and supported. A [...]
Tots Stress about Body Image Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman Yet another study reveals that we’re messing up our children when it comes to body image even when children are as young as age 4. Go us. An Australian study performed with 53 children across 4 kindergarten classes revealed that parents and teachers are inadvertently sending [...]
As you know, I’ve been studying girls, women and body esteem for quite a while. It’s so hard for girls to feel like they “fit in” when our culture sensationalizes thinness and rejects people who deviate from the media’s thin ideal. This cultural issue has a high cost. It isn’t only a problem because it [...]
The High Cost of Beauty: Giving up Wealth, Health, and Happiness Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman Friday Musings… I believe it was 7th grade. One of my closest friends cried that she needed a nose job. “It’s way too big!” I thought she looked great. What did I know? When I tried to persuade her not [...]
Girls Feel Anxiety about Pressure to Fast-Track Their Development Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman Between the magazine articles telling girls to lose weight, glossies teller her that she’ll never measure up , young celebrities withering away along with their clothes, models getting thinner and thinner, and the massive pressures in school and among friends to look [...]
Steroid Use in Teen Boys: Continuing the discussion… Dr. Robyn J.A. Silverman Powerful Parents are certainly a passionate bunch. I guess my article on steroid abuse among teens stirred up some good discussion yesterday in light of the cultural response to body image problems among our youth. Perhaps you were surprised that boys were affected [...]
Steroid Use in Preteens and Teens Perhaps you’ve noticed a few of them walking in the halls of your children’s schools. Or perhaps you’ve noticed something strange among your own teens. Are their chiseled bodies really of this world? With their six pack abs, bulging biceps and firm quads, these teens make others wonder if [...]
“Parents face a complicated situation,” Brownell says. “They have to promote healthy weight, but they also don’t want to change children into diet-crazed fanatics.” There was a great article in Time Magazine regarding the much discussed “thin and happy” vs. “fat and unhealthy” medical/media beef. A must read. The dilemma is born due to the [...]
