Title
Empowerment and powerlessness: A closer look at the relationship between feminism, body image and eating disturbance
Abbreviated Journal Title
Sex Roles
Keywords
body image; eating disorders; feminism; empowerment; prevention; SELF-OBJECTIFICATION; IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT; LIFE-SPAN; PSYCHOLOGICAL; EMPOWERMENT; ADOLESCENT GIRLS; COLLEGE-WOMEN; DISORDERS; ATTITUDES; MODEL; DISSATISFACTION; Psychology, Developmental; Psychology, Social; Women's Studies
Abstract
Objectification Theory (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997) states that women's bodies are viewed as objects to be evaluated and this societal objectification may lead to self-objectification when women view their own bodies as objects. The current study theorized that empowerment is an important factor in reducing self-objectification. Although empowerment is a central tenet of feminist theory, this study is the first to examine the relationship between empowerment, feminism, and body image and eating disturbance. Participants were 276 women from the southeastern USA. Results demonstrated that empowerment was more predictive of body image and eating disturbance than was feminism. Development of a validated empowerment scale specific to body image and eating disturbance may be useful for future research, prevention, and treatment efforts.
Journal Title
Sex Roles
Volume
58
Issue/Number
9-10
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Document Type
Article
Language
English
First Page
639
Last Page
648
WOS Identifier
ISSN
0360-0025
Recommended Citation
"Empowerment and powerlessness: A closer look at the relationship between feminism, body image and eating disturbance" (2008). Faculty Bibliography 2000s. 836.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib2000/836
Comments
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