In social situations, women often revert to conversation about weight. A new study finds that women's participation in fat chat is mandatory, especially for middle school-aged Caucasian females.
Study co-author Denise Martz of Appalachian State University says “We have found in our research that both male and female college students know the norm of fat talk—that females are supposed to say negative things about their bodies in a group of females engaging in fat talk."
Martz and her colleages showed 124 female and male college students a scene where females were engaging in "fat talk." Partipants were then asked to predict how a fourth female would react to the discourse in the scene. 40% of males and 51% of females believed the fourth female would degrade her body.
“Because women feel pressured to follow the fat talk norm, they are more likely to engage in fat talk with other females,” Martz told LiveScience. “Hence, women normalize their own body dissatisfaction with one another.
“If there are women out there who feel neutrally or even positively about their bodies, I bet we never hear this from them for fear of social sanction and rejection,” she said.
As obesity rates soar and the female body ideal continues to shrink, fat talk may be a coping strategy for some women. “Females like to support one another and fat talk elicits support,” Martz said. “An example would be one saying, ‘It's like, I'm so fat today,’ and another would respond, ‘No, you are not fat, you look great in those pants.’” It may also be that fat talk conveys modesty. “We tend to dislike arrogance and especially dislike it in women (‘bitches’)”, Martz explained. “Women are perceived as OK if they fat talk and acknowledge that their bodies are not perfect but they are working on it.”
This may be more typical of wealthier countries with abundant supplies of food. In countries where food is scarce, heavier bodies are considered more attractive because they convey an image of wealth, status and good fortune. Martz believes that in the United States some people show their social status by their ability to be thin, which translates into meaning they are disciplined in their food intake and exercise.
“I wish women would worry less about their bodies — while still taking good care of their health through behaviors like stress management, regular exercise and healthful eating — and spend more time learning, helping, educating, leading, solving problems, rising to positions of influence and contributing to society in general,” Martz said.
Read more in the June issue of the journal Body Image: An International Journal of Research.
Study co-author Denise Martz of Appalachian State University says “We have found in our research that both male and female college students know the norm of fat talk—that females are supposed to say negative things about their bodies in a group of females engaging in fat talk."
Martz and her colleages showed 124 female and male college students a scene where females were engaging in "fat talk." Partipants were then asked to predict how a fourth female would react to the discourse in the scene. 40% of males and 51% of females believed the fourth female would degrade her body.
“Because women feel pressured to follow the fat talk norm, they are more likely to engage in fat talk with other females,” Martz told LiveScience. “Hence, women normalize their own body dissatisfaction with one another.
“If there are women out there who feel neutrally or even positively about their bodies, I bet we never hear this from them for fear of social sanction and rejection,” she said.
As obesity rates soar and the female body ideal continues to shrink, fat talk may be a coping strategy for some women. “Females like to support one another and fat talk elicits support,” Martz said. “An example would be one saying, ‘It's like, I'm so fat today,’ and another would respond, ‘No, you are not fat, you look great in those pants.’” It may also be that fat talk conveys modesty. “We tend to dislike arrogance and especially dislike it in women (‘bitches’)”, Martz explained. “Women are perceived as OK if they fat talk and acknowledge that their bodies are not perfect but they are working on it.”
This may be more typical of wealthier countries with abundant supplies of food. In countries where food is scarce, heavier bodies are considered more attractive because they convey an image of wealth, status and good fortune. Martz believes that in the United States some people show their social status by their ability to be thin, which translates into meaning they are disciplined in their food intake and exercise.
“I wish women would worry less about their bodies — while still taking good care of their health through behaviors like stress management, regular exercise and healthful eating — and spend more time learning, helping, educating, leading, solving problems, rising to positions of influence and contributing to society in general,” Martz said.
Read more in the June issue of the journal Body Image: An International Journal of Research.
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