Deconstructing the Mirror's Refection: Narrative Therapy Groups for Women Dissatisfied With Their Body

Women facing middle age and beyond are pressured by a cultural idea/of slimness. The authors review literature pertaining to the factors affecting the societal perceptions of body image and address relevant counseling interventions, specifically, group therapy based on narrative theory, that are aimed at this population. ********** Over time, there has been a "shift in society to a preference for thin-figured women" (Lin & Kulik, 2002, p. 115). One need not look far to find a media flooded with messages placing importance on youthful, ultrathin appearance, especially for women. Such thin, idealized women can be found portrayed on the evening news, competing in beauty pageants, and in other forms of media or entertainment. In fact, Thompson and Heinberg (1999) reported that less than 10% of women appearing on television appear to be overweight. Even today's fashion and trends are marketed to women with extremely slender figures. Many women, including those who do not appear on national television, have internalized the message that to be beautiful and attractive, one must also be youthful and slender--often to the point of emaciation. Thus, few women can meet the sometimes unhealthy and unnatural criteria for the "thin ideal" (Deeks & McCabe, 2001; Sussman, Truong, & Lim, 2007). This ideal, which has become increasingly smaller over time, is now at a height of 5' 7" tall and a weight of 110 pounds (Byrd-Bredbenner & Murray, 2003; Cusack, 2000; McKinley & Hyde, 1996). It is noteworthy that the average American woman is a bit shorter than this ideal height at 5' 3 3/4 and weighs quite a bit more at 152 pounds (Jones & Buckingham, 2005). With such a gap between the idealized (and perhaps unnatural) model and the typical woman, it should be no surprise that most women today have reported being dissatisfied with their body, no matter how old they are (Liechty, Freeman, & Zabriskie, 2006; Van den Berg & Thompson, 2007; Webster & Tiggemann, 2003). In fact, Hurd (2000) conducted a study with women ages 61 to 92 years and found that 77% of women reported negative attitudes about their weight. In another study, middle-aged women were found to associate their body image, including sexual attractiveness, weight, and physical condition, with their overall happiness (Stokes & Frederick-Recascino, 2003). Sometimes this dissatisfaction becomes more than a state of unhappiness; serious mental disorders including depression, anxiety, and other psychological symptomatology may also occur. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which affect both young women and middle-aged women, are also frequently associated with unnatural societal expectations for women's bodies (Forman & Davis, 2005). Body image dissatisfaction among middle-aged women may have its roots in several domains. For example, Tiggemann and Lynch (2001) suggested that dissatisfaction with body image is associated with aging, partly because of the increasing gap between realistic body appearance and the thin and slenderized ideal of beauty. Women facing middle age and beyond are pressured not only by this cultural ideal of slimness but also by a society that does not necessarily view the bodies of older women with high esteem (Deeks & McCabe, 2001; Mangweth-Matzek et al., 2006). This is problematic because natural landmarks across a women's life span, such as childbirth, menopause, and stressors related to divorce or family death, increase the likelihood that women may gain weight as they age, thus contributing to body image dissatisfaction. Despite the statistics indicating that middle-aged women struggle with body image dissatisfaction and weight concerns, studies about how these women are influenced by environmental and sociocultural demands are mostly absent from the literature. Most research has focused on adolescents or young adult women (Forman & Davis, 2005; Lewis & Cachelin, 2001). …