Body image

Research has consistently shown that LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals experience pervasive health disparities, including eating disorders (ED; e.g., Mensinger et al., 2020). Unfortunately, LGBTGEQIAP+ people report negative ED treatment experiences, particularly concerning cultural sensitivity, gender-affirming care, and other barriers to diagnosis and treatment (Duffy et al., 2016; Hartman-Munick et al., 2021; The Trevor Project, 2020). Sonneville and Lipson (2018) advocated for developing inclusive screening tools to address current deficits in multicultural ED research and practice. The present study sought to fill this gap by developing and validating a new screening tool for LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals: the Multidimensional Eating and Body Image Screening (MEBIS). Following Lambie et al.’s (2017) guidelines, the researcher developed an initial item pool based on a comprehensive ED literature review. An expert panel of reviewers and a small sample of LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals provided additional feedback to enhance item clarity, content validity, and affirming language. The researcher began the recruitment process after receiving approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board. Participants included LGBTGEQIAP+ adults (18 years of age or older) from the community. Two separate samples were collected via an online survey for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; N=400) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; N=339) procedures. The EFA revealed a nine-factor structure accounting for 61.1% of the variance in the model. The factors were labeled as follows: (1) Gender, Media, and Disconnection; (2) Binging and Emotional Eating; (3) Compassion and Awareness; (4) Communities of Support; (5) Relationship with Food; (6) Affectional Orientation Sociocultural Factors; (7) Restriction, Dieting, and Compensatory Behaviors; (8) Racial/Ethnic Sociocultural Factors; and (9) Family and Cultural Support. According to CFA results, the nine-factor model suggested adequate fit (robust x2 (df = 866)=2479.62; CFI=.903; RMSEA=0.74; SRMR=.084). Additional psychometric analyses revealed acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.888) and evidence of convergent validity with the well-established ED screening, the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26; Garner et al., 1982). These results pose significant implications for culturally responsive and inclusive ED treatment, which are addressed.

Food insecurity or low-access to good quality, affordable foods affects
minority women and children disproportionately (Herndon, 2014; Ivers & Cullen,
2011; Lee, 2012; Wigg Dammann & Smith, 2009). Linked to the rise in nutritionrelated
and other health problems afflicting these populations (e.g., malnutrition,
obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure among others) (Azarbad & Gonder-
Frederick, 2010; Bove & Olson, 2006; Larson, Story, & Nelson, 2009), this issue
has been gaining some attention. Still, programs combating weight and “weightrelated
disorders” generally focus on individualistic solutions (Orbach, Bodies
2009)—such as increasing daily exercise and vilifying certain diets.
Dismissing important spatial and systematic aspects, these approaches
rather perpetuate problematic socio-political, economic, medical, and ideological
biases informing our understanding of poverty, health and food. This project
offers and alternative perspective. Most importantly, it 1) scrutinizes sexist,
classist and racist constructs across the literature on overweight, obesity, poverty,
and health; 2) examines the relationship between our food system, the growth in
nutrition-related diseases, and the intersections of gender, race, and class within
food insecure communities; and 3) analyzes interview data looking for important and resonating themes that could guide the development of more efficient local
food access strategies. As this study shows, these women’s experiences,
knowledge, and strategies have the potential of, not only helping eradicate food
insecurity across South Florida, but also combating a great number of the
nutrition-related health problems afflicting these populations.

The main aim of this dissertation is to discuss the way women negotiate the cultural meaning of hair loss, alopecia, as a result of undergoing chemotherapy, and to understand, accordingly, how cancer's cultural effects regarding women can be deeply different from those of men. Very few studies have been done about the cultural impact and resonance of alopecia. It is often regarded as "secondary" to other effects of chemotherapy. Because, in many cultures, head hair for women expresses or manifests attractiveness and power, to be bald is to be deprived of the ability to fit into society, whether in the public or private sphere. The study examines the representation of such women in the media, audience/subject responses to these representations, and interrogates women's identities and representations in terms of Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. Women who have experienced chemotherapy-induced alopec ia were interviewed in this regard. Other contributive feminist, cultural and/or media studies works, such as those by Suzanna Walters, Susan Bordo, Naomi Wolf, Donna Haraway, Stuart Hall, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Judith Butler, help facilitate the analysis. From these perspectives, a historical analysis takes into consideration the symbolic dimension of hair, especially women's head hair, within Western cultural history, particularly in France and a multicultural America. In addition, a textual analysis looks at women, cancer, and hair loss as represented in popular culture characters and personalities. The study insists on the necessity for women to resist to the culture industries and deconstruct the male gaze, as well as the female gaze, which can both contribute to, and perpetuate women's objectification.

Employing the interactionist framework, the fat person was conceived of
as a social deviant engaged in the process of building and validating
a workable identity. Fat persons were drawn from two theoretical pools
reflecting high and low degrees of commitment to the fat role. It was
hypothesized that the committed fat subjects would have significant
others who approved the fatness. The data clearly supported this
assertion. It was further hypothesized that committed fat people
would experience a lesser degree of anxiety and depression than non-committed
fats. Directional support was found for this hypothesis.
However, considerable male-female differences exist regarding the role
of commitment as an anxiety reducer. An hypothesis stating that
committed fat people would exhibit a more positive self-concept than
their less committed counterparts was not borne out by the data.

Recent research has looked at sociocultural standards and social comparison to explain body image disturbances (Thompson, 1996). This study uses Latane's Dynamic Social Impact Theory to explore the emergence of group level consequences of discussing these societal standards of physical appearance. It was hypothesized that there would be more clustering, consolidation, correlation and continued diversity amongst the participants opinions by the end of the five week discussion. These hypotheses were not supported by measures of clustering, consolidation, correlation and continued diversity. These results indicate that Dynamic Social Impact Theory alone may not be useful for studying the consequence of group discussion on changing beliefs about physical appearance. More research is needed to determine whether adding an educational component to the program would bolster the effectiveness of Dynamic Social Impact Theory in regard to understanding the process by which people's attitudes about their bodies are changed.

The levels of 3 dimensions of sexism and 13 measures of psychosocial adjustment were assessed in 236 children in grades 4 through 8. The adjustment measures were factor analyzed to produce 5 adjustment factors. Analysis revealed that one of the factors, peer-reported prosocial tendencies, was moderately and negatively correlated with two of three measures of sexism. This effect was more pronounced for girls than for boys. Another factor, body self-esteem, was negatively correlated with one of the measures of sexism for girls. The findings are congruent with the view that traditionally sexist ideology may detrimentally impact children's psychosocial adjustment.