Body Image

• Is a distorted perception of your body
• Can lead one to feel ashamed, self-conscious, anxious, and uncomfortable
• Can negatively impact your overall self-esteem, our interpersonal relationships, and our performance on any given tasks if we are preoccupied with negative feelings about our bodies
• Can impact your relationships with food, exercise, self-care, and self-expression

• Is an awareness of one’s body – you see your body as it really is
• Can lead one to celebrate and appreciate their body, and feel confident, and secure
• Can positively impact your interpersonal relationships
• Can improve one’s relationships with food, exercise, self-care and self-expression

Our relationships with our bodies are also often impacted by our gender-related identities, expressions, and socializations. For example, the pressure to conform to rigid gender norms and expectations can make us feel as though our bodies are “not enough” or deficient in some way. And this impact can be especially true for trans* and gender non-binary or gender non-conforming people, because media portrayals of bodies often reinforce a strict gender binary, leaving individuals who do not fit neatly into the categories of “man” or “woman” feeling marginalized and/or erased. This often leads to increased risk for mental health issues such as body dysmorphia, anxiety, and depression. If you are trans*, gender non-conforming, or questioning, please visit our Coming Out page for more details about how the Counseling Center can support you.

Concerns about body image can be fueled by the dizzying number of images of “ideal” bodies on social media. At the Counseling Center, we encourage you to consider the following questions:

• Why do we think we should look a certain way?
• Where does our idea of the “ideal” body come from?
• How do “ideal” body images differ from culture to culture?
• Who decides what is beautiful?
• How do images we see in the media affect our daily lives?
• What messages do we receive through popular culture regarding body image?
• How do these messages influence how we feel?