Studies have indicated a strong correlation between the life-cycle or the phase of life in women and the development of body dissatisfaction and shame traits. Initial research only indicated that body dissatisfaction increased with age, meaning that older women tend to have more insecurities about their bodies than younger women (Reboussin et al., 2000). This review identifies vital hypothetical elements, which include the assertion that as women get older, they have less shame caused by body dissatisfaction, mainly because they are more cushioned to the pressures of society that have placed more emphasis on physical beauty. Also, shame in older women is attributed to isolation (Reboussin et al., 2000). Furthermore, the research hypothetically suggests that older women enjoy relative peace because they are aging, which younger women miss.
Aging in women results in a shift in weight and fat distribution from the legs upwards. It also increases in fat mass with a corresponding decrease in muscle mass (Pruis & Janowsky, 2010). Consequently, as women age, their bodies experience rapid transformation from youth to a new phase where most of the youthful body and grace characteristics are all gone. In older women, medications that have been made necessary by old age and chronic diseases contribute to increased body mass (Tiggemann & Lynch 2001). The transition into old age is a difficult phase in women. Initially, they are scared because they view the changes in their bodies as deformities, and the perception of the society towards such changes is not encouraging (Pruis & Janowsky, 2010). Society has a cultured orientation towards what qualifies as beautiful, and older women do not fit this category. As a result, negative body image plagues aging women. However, recent studies show that older women have developed resilience towards the eventuality of aging. Today, studies show that older women have managed to view their bodies outside the social spectrum of what is beautiful by replacing beauty measures with more fulfilling detractors such as meaningful relationships and family. This means that older women are less anxious about appearance and a low drive to be thinner. Furthermore, they are less inclined to adopt strict dietary habits, a common element in younger women.
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Older women have a higher body mass index compared to younger women. Research indicates that body dissatisfaction and shame are a product of body mass index increase from a young age instead of aging (Tiggemann & Lynch 2001). Moreover, both young and older women have similar body dissatisfaction, but younger women are mostly affected by higher thinness desires and societal influences. Body dissatisfaction is considered problematic, but it has become relatively stable across the lifespan of women. The objectification of women is the new problem that younger women have to deal with today (Grippo & Hill, 2008).
In most cases, women have adopted the behavior of comparing their body shapes, sizes and skin appearance with the societal standards of beauty. As a result, younger women have become more ashamed of their bodies and delved into destructive habits to change this perception. For instance, there has emerged a trend of eating disorders and unhealthy dietary habits for these women (Yager et al., 2020). Moreover, younger women struggle to manipulate their bodies to resemble what they see on social media or look like their peers and colleagues. Older women have been able to avoid this hurdle with considerable effort and acceptance that aging is inevitable. This positivity has resulted in older women living more fulfilling lives, higher quality of living, more exposure to healthy activities such as exercise and proper diet, and as a result, they are happier and enjoy fulfilling sexual relationships (Tiggemann & Lynch 2001). Younger women are victims of self-objectification, which leads to higher internalization and failure to acknowledge that their bodies are different from other women (Grippo & Hill, 2008). This denial has created deeply-rooted feelings of regret and remorse in women who feel like they have failed in their quest to be beautiful according to world standards.
Further research has evaluated the effect of pregnancy and motherhood on the perception of body dissatisfaction. While first-time mothers are seriously impacted by body dissatisfaction due to the changes that pregnancy brings, the next pregnancy is easier to deal with (Grippo & Hill, 2008). Pregnant mothers tend to feel better about their bodies because they are proud of carrying a child or simply because it is the truth about how they feel. Whichever case, younger mothers have been discovered to be lesser accepting of their bodily changes during pregnancy than older mothers (Yager et al., 2020). This could be attributed to the obvious fact that older mothers have had experience dealing with the denial of motherhood-affiliated body changes. Regardless, older women are more comfortable with having a high body mass index, unlike younger women.
Furthermore, according to Yager et al. (2020), older women are less likely to be stressed about their body appearance to the extent that it causes stress (Yager et al., 2020). Younger women, who are under intense pressure to conform to the cultural standards of beauty are more likely to be more stressed today; family interactions, peer groupings and other social gatherings reinforce the message of what categorizes a woman as beautiful and what disqualifies one from being referred to as attractive (Bellard et al., 2021). There has been researching into the effect of body dissatisfaction on response to cortisol. The findings indicate that younger women are more likely to be subject to stress due to higher body dissatisfaction that raises the response of cortisol (Lupis et al., 2016). The intense pressure facing the younger women has made this group the subject of future research.
This literature review has reinforced the hypotheses of the review stated earlier. Older women have adapted to withstand the baggage that comes with aging by substituting the urge to appear more beautiful with detractors (Tiggemann & Lynch 2001). Furthermore, the review offers a critical change of perspective to the thesis of this review which holds a stand that older women feel worse about their bodies compared to younger women. Evidence points out that younger women are at a higher risk of stress and shame regarding their bodies because of conformity to societal expectations (Yager et al., 2020). Future research ought to investigate how younger women can outgrow the need to be as society expects them to be. Furthermore, since some facets of body image remain unchanged over time, more longitudinal data are required to provide more conclusive information.
References
Bellard, A. M., Cornelissen, P. L., Mian, E., & Cazzato, V. (2021). The ageing body: contributing attitudinal factors towards perceptual body size estimates in younger and middle-aged women. Archives of women's mental health , 24 (1), 93-105.
Grippo, K. P., & Hill, M. S. (2008). Self-objectification, habitual body monitoring, and body dissatisfaction in older European American women: Exploring age and feminism as moderators. Body Image , 5 (2), 173-182.
Lupis, S. B., Sabik, N. J., & Wolf, J. M. (2016). Role of shame and body esteem in cortisol stress responses. Journal of behavioral medicine , 39 (2), 262-275.
Pruis, T. A., & Janowsky, J. S. (2010). Assessment of body image in younger and older women. The Journal of General Psychology: Experimental, Psychological, and Comparative Psychology , 137 (3), 225-238.
Reboussin, B. A., Rejeski, W. J., Martin, K. A., Callahan, K., Dunn, A. L., King, A. C., & Sallis, J. F. (2000). Correlates of satisfaction with body function and body appearance in middle-and older-aged adults: The Activity Counseling Trial (ACT). Psychology and Health , 15 (2), 239-254.
Tiggemann, M., & Lynch, J. E. (2001). Body image across the life span in adult women: The role of self-objectification. Developmental psychology , 37 (2), 243.
Yager, Z., Prichard, I., Hart, L., & Damiano, S. R. (2020). Mumbod? A comparison of body image and dietary restraint among women with younger, older, and no children. Journal of Health Psychology , 1359105320967422.
