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‘Body Image Is for Girls’ A Qualitative Study of Boys’ Body Image

Journal of Health Psychology Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi, www.sagepublications.com Vol 11(4) 567–576 DOI: 10.1177/1359105306065017

DUANE A. HARGREAVES University of Toronto, Canada

MARIKA TIGGEMANN Flinders University, Australia

Abstract Although a considerable and informative literature on boys’ body image is beginning to emerge, this literature has been guided strongly by theorizing about female body image. The present study aimed to gain access to boys’ own ideas and terminology regarding their body image. The participants (aged 14 to 16 years) said that they are satisfied with their appearance, but some conceded their physical appearance to be more important than they like to admit. Boys do not believe that the mass media influences their body image and said they do not talk about body image because it is a feminine or gay issue.

COMPETING INTERESTS: ADDRESS.

None declared.

Correspondence should be directed to: D UA N E A . H A R G R E AV E S , Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada. [email: [email protected]]

Keywords ■ ■ ■ ■

adolescent boys body image masculinity mass media 567

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JOURNAL OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY 11(4) B O DY I M AG E refers to an individual’s thoughts and feelings about their body and physical appearance. Cash and Pruzinsky (1990, 2002) have identified two main dimensions: body image investment and body image evaluation. Body image investment reflects the ‘degree of cognitive and behavioural importance’ that people assign to their body and appearance (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002, p. 510). Body image evaluation, on the other hand, refers to people’s degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their body and appearance. Reliable gender differences have been found on both dimensions of body image. On average, girls and women report greater investment in (Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990; Cash, Melnyk, & Hrabosky, 2004), and lower levels of satisfaction with their body than do boys and men (e.g. Feingold & Mazzella, 1998; Field, Colditz, & Peterson, 1997; Garner, 1997; Muth & Cash, 1997; Thomas, Ricciardelli, & Williams, 2000). The greater concern with body image among women and girls has meant that understanding female body image has been the primary goal of body image research. This research has identified a number of biological (e.g. body mass index, pubertal timing), psychological (negative affect, low self-esteem) and sociocultural risk factors (e.g. perceived media pressure to be thin, teasing about appearance, race and ethnicity), that contribute to women’s and girls’ negative body image (for reviews see Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & TantleffDunn, 1999). Research has also identified a number of negative consequences for women and girls that can result from poor body image (e.g. disordered eating, social anxiety, poor sexual functioning (e.g. Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002; Thompson et al., 1999). Parallel to the research focus on female body image, a considerable literature on male body image has begun to emerge. This research has shown that many of the risk factors and consequences identified for female body image are also important for understanding male body image (Levine & Smolak, 2002; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2004). In fact, some authors have come to the broad conclusion that the negative body image experiences of boys and men mirror those of women and girls, but are less prevalent, and when present less severe (e.g. Smolak, Levine, & Thompson, 2001).

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But such conclusions can overshadow unique aspects of the male body image experience. Perhaps the most striking difference between male and female body image is in the body parts that elicit the most discontent (Cafri & Thompson, 2004). Unlike women who tend to feel dissatisfied with their weight and wish to be thinner, men are most likely to report dissatisfaction with their muscle size and shape and wish to be more muscular, particularly in the upper torso (Garner, 1997). This gender difference in the domain of discontent (thinness versus muscularity) mirrors the difference in societal beauty ideals for women and men. The ideal body for women is tall and slender, and thus many women feel overweight, whereas the ideal body for men is lean and muscular, and thus many men feel small and weak (Stanford & McCabe, 2002). This observation lends weight to the sociocultural model of body dissatisfaction (e.g. Fallon, 1990; Heinberg, 1996; Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1985), which posits that negative body image results from the pursuit of (unrealistic) societal beauty ideals. There is no doubt that societal beauty ideals are at their most visible in the mass media which bombards viewers with images of thin, beautiful women (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, & Thompson, 1980; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986) and increasingly, with images of lean, muscular men (Mishkind, Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1986; Pope, Olivardia, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2001; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999; Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999). The media’s pervasive and repeated portrayal of unrealistic body ideals has led researchers to examine its role in the development of negative body image. As a whole, the literature reveals an important difference in the development of negative body image among males and females. For women and girls, there is an extensive pool of correlational (e.g. Abramson & Valene, 1991; Botta, 1999, 2003; Cusumano & Thompson, 1997; Harrison, 2000, 2001; Harrison & Cantor, 1997; Hofschire & Greenberg, 2002; Levine, Smolak, & Hayden, 1994; Morry & Staska, 2001; Stice, SchupakNeuberg, Shaw, & Stein, 1994; Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996), experimental (for a metaanalysis see Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002), longitudinal (e.g. Field et al., 1999) and crosscultural research (e.g. Becker, 1995; Becker,

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Burwell, Gilman, Herzog, & Hamburg, 2002; Bilukha & Utermohlen, 2002; Jane, Hunter, & Lozzi, 1999; Krch, 1995; Wlodarczyk-Bisaga, Dolan, McCluskey, & Lacey, 1995) that constitutes solid evidence that exposure to thin-body ideals in the media has a negative impact on female body image. In contrast, albeit based on a smaller pool of research, the evidence is equivocal as to the relationship between media exposure and men’s or boys’ body image. Correlational studies report only a weak relationship between body dissatisfaction and amount of media exposure for boys (e.g. Anderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, & Wright, 2001; Botta, 2003; Harrison, 2000, 2001; Morry & Staska, 2001; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001) or men (McCreary & Sadava, 1999; Morry & Staska, 2001; van den Bulck, 2000). While some experimental studies have found that exposure to muscular-body images led to slightly decreased body esteem among adult men (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Grogan, Williams, & Connor, 1996; Lavine, Sweeney, & Wagner, 1999; Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2001), others have not (Kalodner, 1997; Thornton & Moore, 1993). There have also been mixed experimental findings for adolescent boys. To our knowledge, only two studies have examined the impact of exposure to muscular-ideal media images on boys’ body image. Murnen, Smolak, Mills and Good (2003) found that some boys had internalized the muscular ideal, but that their responses to muscular-body images were inconsistent and unrelated to body concern. Hargreaves and Tiggemann (2004) found no evidence of changed body dissatisfaction following exposure to muscular-ideal television commercials, even among boys most strongly invested in their appearance. In an interview study of Australian early adolescent boys (aged 12–15 years), over half reported the media had no effect, or a positive effect, on their body image (Ricciardelli, McCabe, & Banfield, 2000). Overall, these results support the tentative conclusion that the influence of exposure to media images on body image is weaker for men and boys than for women and girls (Harrison, 2000; Jones, Vigfusdottir, & Lee, 2004; Vartanian, Giant, & Passino, 2001). One possible reason for the lack of a clear link between mass media and boys’ body image may

be the existence of a social prohibition among boys against admitting to body dissatisfaction. While the overt expression of body dissatisfaction is ‘normative’ for women (Fallon & Rozin, 1985; Rodin et al., 1985), Pope, Phillips and Olivardia (2000) make a case that men’s body image is a hidden problem that men are not supposed to talk about. These authors argue that, like women, many men experience high levels of body dissatisfaction, but that, ‘unlike women, men labor under a social taboo against expressing such feelings’ (2000, p. 5). Although the secrecy surrounding male body image concern is a central theme of Pope et al.’s (2000) book, as yet few researchers have sought to examine their proposition empirically (Frith & Gleeson, 2004). If confirmed, Pope et al.’s observation has critical implications for both the design of research involving men and boys and the measurement of male body image. In the present research we were most interested in exploring those issues that are unique to boys’ body image. To date the collection of quantitative data for men and boys has been largely based on theorizing about the development of female body image. In contrast, qualitative methods are better suited to our purpose of gaining an understanding of boys’ body image concerns from their own perspective. Following a previous qualitative study of male body image (Grogan & Richards, 2002), we chose focus groups over face-to-face interviews, as previous studies have shown that focus groups result in greater disclosure (Morgan & Krueger, 1993), particularly when the topic is sensitive (Renzetti & Lee, 1993). Our participants were adolescent boys. Although adolescence is a critical period in the development of body image (Levine & Smolak, 2002), surprisingly little qualitative research has examined the body image of adolescent boys (Grogan & Richards, 2002; Ricciardelli et al., 2000). Two general research aims were identified. First, we sought to describe the nature of adolescent boys’ body image investment and body image evaluation, the two key dimensions of the body image experience (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002). We were particularly interested in body image investment because no quantitative or qualitative research has examined this dimension of boys’ body image (Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2004). Second, we sought to explore 569

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the unique aspects of body image for adolescent boys. In particular, we asked boys about the role of the mass media. As reviewed earlier, there is mixed evidence for the role of mass media in male body image. In their comprehensive review of boys’ body image, Ricciardelli and McCabe called for ‘in-depth interview studies . . . to fully understand how perceived sociocultural messages are interpreted by boys, and how these correspond to actual messages’ (2004, p. 195). Finally, although Frith and Gleeson (2004) reported reluctance by men to care about their clothing and appearance, no previous research has directly examined the ‘social taboo’ against the expression of body dissatisfaction among boys and men (Pope et al., 2000). Thus we discussed boys’ social norms surrounding the expression of body image investment and concern.

Method The participants were 28 boys aged 14 to 16 years from an Australian public high school. There were three focus groups based on year level (Year 9, 10 or 11). The groups were led by the first author who has training and experience in the conduct of focus groups. The discussions were tape-recorded for later transcription and analysis for key themes. A semi-structured methodology was chosen to encourage participants to discuss the questions primarily with each other, providing access to participants’ own concepts in their own language. The key question to explore boys’ body image investment was ‘Do guys your age care about what they look like?’, and for body image evaluation was ‘How do guys your age generally feel about the way they look?’ Boys were asked to describe their ideal appearance (‘What do you think the ideal male looks like?’) before the influence of mass media was addressed, both indirectly (‘Why do some men and boys wish to be more muscular?’) and directly (‘Do guys compare their appearance to friends/media?’). Finally, boys were asked whether body image is a topic that they normally talk about (‘Do boys ever talk to other people about these sorts of things?’), and when relevant, why body image is not a topic that they choose to discuss. Each focus group lasted for approximately 50 minutes. 570

Results A number of consensual themes emerged from the three focus groups. These are illustrated by the selected comments presented below. A larger sample of the comments that identified particular themes can be obtained from the first author.

Body image investment In general, adolescent boys indicated they did not value or worry about their appearance, except when they were trying to impress girls: In girls’ lives, probably the most important thing they think about is boys, I mean looking good is just part of something that they do. But to guys, who have sport, doing stuff after school, all that other stuff, they don’t really see the point [in worrying about looks]. It just doesn’t seem that important. (Year 11) I just don’t think it [appearance] is that important. I don’t actually rank what’s important, I just don’t think it’s that important to me. (Year 11) I don’t know, we just don’t care about our looks, at least not as much as chicks. Our hair and stuff we worry about, but not as much as they do. (Year 10) Yeah I don’t really care if I get fat or anything, like I eat whatever I want. But I suppose if like a hot chick walks past you try and ‘buff up’ the shoulders a bit, and puff up the chest, try and look good. (Year 10) In Year 8 you were trying to impress to get friends at the start, now everyone’s friends with whoever they’re friends with so nobody cares any more. . . . At the start [of high school] your goal’s to try and impress people and now like we don’t care. (Year 9) However, some boys seem to care about their appearance, but are reluctant to admit it: You’ve got to act like you don’t care about how you look. That’s the big one. Like we all do to an extent, but it’s sort of like cool not to brush you hair or to not give a shit really. (Year 10) Guys are supposed to not care about their feelings, so it’s better not to . . . Even though it’s not true, you try not to. (Year 10)

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People like hide it that they don’t care, but they actually really do I reckon . . . Like I think everyone in this room would care about their appearance. (Year 9)

Boys’ appearance ideal Each group indicated a general desire to be ‘buff’,1 although they were motivated by a variety of reasons (e.g. performance in sport, self-defence and being attractive to girls): And if you’re buff you’re more likely to pull chicks. (Year 10) I reckon its respect from your friends. (Year 10) Or not wanting to be f*cked with in the streets. (Year 11) It depends, like if you play footy you want to beef up so you go to the gym, but for other sports you might not bother. A lot of people go because they want to be stronger than everyone else. (Year 9)

Influence of the mass media on boys’ body image Images of men in the media were not considered a source of body comparison, although the media are used as a source of information about fashion. Most boys felt it was important to look like peers, and like close friends in particular:

Despite indicating a vague desire to be more fit and muscular, only a small proportion of boys felt they would actually do anything to change the appearance of their body. Many more boys payed attention to their hair, clothing and body odour: Yeah you always see video clips or movies and say ‘Oh, I want to be like that guy, he’s attractive’, but as for doing something about it . . . nah! (Year 10) I wouldn’t go to the gym to look a certain way, but to get ready for something. Like say if I had a big sporting event coming up, I might go to the gym get ready for that. (Year 11) Like some of them might try and buff up, but mainly it’s about their clothes. (Year 10)

Appearance and body image as a ‘social taboo’ Physical appearance and body image were not considered appropriate topics for conversation by boys, partly because they are not important, and partly for fear of appearing ‘gay’ or ‘girlie’: You’re on your own really . . . You’re a bit of a girl if you talk about that stuff. (Year 10) You don’t have to be gay, but you can like appear gay if you did that. (Year 9) It’s not the done thing, some friends you can talk to. (Year 10)

Yeah, pretty much all the clothes that you wear you pretty much see on TV and you go ‘oh that looks good’. (Year 9)

Guys don’t come up in the conversation. Maybe clothes for some people, but not like body image kind of thing. (Year 11)

Fashion is the only impact [the media] have, like the whole look thing. (Year 11)

We don’t talk about looks we talk about ‘oh yeah that’s a pretty good hat’, ‘how much did that set you back’ and stuff like that, but you don’t actually talk about . . . It’s not the person it’s just their stuff. (Year 9)

Yeah, I don’t think [the media] has that big an influence, it’s probably more what your friends do and fitting in. (Year 11) I reckon most of the good guys in my [footy] team are all big and broad in the shoulders and bust tackles all the time, so everyone tries to be like them I reckon . . . Yeah, I reckon it’s both ‘cause they’re kind of seen as pretty cool, like everyone looks up to them because they are good at footy, and the chicks like them because they’re pretty buffed. (Year 10) What your friends look like is the key, yeah. (Year 11)

You’ve got to be light-hearted about the way you look, even if you’re not happy about the way you look, so you don’t whinge all the time. The people that always whinge about the way they look and are always complaining aren’t as easy to get along with as people who are confident. (Year 10)

Body image evaluation However, despite this taboo, a small number of boys did report higher levels of body image 571

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concern, and attempts to modify their appearance, perhaps comparable to that which is commonly observed among girls:

Size of your muscles. I reckon for the people that don’t show off in sleeveless shirts. (Year 11)

I’m trying to change my weight . . . and I wish I was about 5’10” or 5’11” or something like that. (Year 9)

Hommies it’s more about clothes, but surfies it’s more about bodies. (Year 10)

Wish I was a bit heavier. (Year 9)

Everyone wants more muscle, everyone wants muscles and stuff, but . . . But you don’t really care (Boy 2) . . . You’re not striving to get muscly. (Year 9)

I’ve been trying to put on weight for so long . . . I can’t even put on weight. (Year 9) I want to be taller . . . [by] a foot, enough to matter . . . Yeah, I’m like the smallest guy in our class, like the second smallest after [classmate’s name] . . . I hate my height. (Year 9) I go to the gym three or four times a week and I’ve done that for the last two or three years and my body shape hasn’t changed at all, and I’m really pissed because I don’t like being different . . . Yeah, because I’m different from everyone else, and everyone has to find someone to pick on so they pick on the person who’s different, and that’s often me. It’s pretty frustrating when you just can’t change your body image. (Year 10) Generally, however, the boys felt quite good about their appearance: The care factor is not real high, they just look and go ‘yeah that’ll do’. Some people go to the gym, but that’s to get stronger for sport. That’s why they do weights, to hold their ground at footy kind of thing. (Year 11) Pretty damn good! . . . I don’t have a problem with the way I look, I don’t reckon . . . No I don’t really have a problem with how I look, my mum sort of does but I don’t. (Year 9) Doesn’t bother me. (Year 9) Pretty good. (Year 9) Well parents care more than you do. Like my mum keeps going ‘get those clothes on’, and I go ‘no’, ‘yeah’, ‘no’ and it just keeps going on like that. (Year 9) It’s more people getting bored with the way they look, that’s why people colour their hair and stuff. (Year 9) Boys do, however, worry more about certain aspects of their appearance than others: 572

Yeah, I wish I was a bit more podgier. (Year 9)

Like everyone wants to be like buff and stuff, but we’re not all going to be like that. (Year 9) I reckon short people are like fat people ’cause they cop a fair bit of shit. (Year 9) I hate being tall cause you’re different . . . I get stuff from [classmates’ names], I get called ‘the lankster’ all the time. (Year 9) Not having too many pimples . . . It’s like use Clearasil to try and get rid of them, ’cause you don’t want to have too many pimples. (Year 9) Interestingly, some boys suggested that they weren’t worried yet because their bodies are still changing (and unlike girls, changing towards their ideal): Well you can’t really tell now because you’re still like growing up and stuff so it’s kind of like hard to know how you’re gonna be . . . Um, oh, I don’t know, I could become worried about it, like when they find out they’re not gonna grow any more, they’re not gonna change, they might start to feel ‘oh this is how I’m gonna be and I’m not real happy about it’. (Year 9)

Discussion In general, boys reported only low levels of overall body image investment or concern. This conclusion converges with results from quantitative research on the nature of boys’ body image (e.g. Cohane & Pope, 2001). But boys did express some dissatisfaction with specific body parts (e.g. height, skin complexion). Muscularity was the most common source of boys’ body image concern, and some boys wished to be stronger and more muscular than they currently are. Despite their concerns about muscularity,

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most boys said that they would not do anything to change their body size. Yet an informal observation of boys’ actual behaviour suggests that at least some of the boys do engage in bodychange strategies.2 The boys described a muscular appearance ideal for men (Mishkind et al., 1986; Pope et al., 2000). But despite the pervasiveness of this muscular ideal in the media, the focus groups suggest that peer group conformity and sporting goals provide a stronger influence on boys’ appearance ideals and body image than media messages. Boys use media images to gain information about current fashions, but said that they do not compare their body with muscular celebrities and models. Thus, based on growing evidence from both qualitative and quantitative research (Jones et al., 2004; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001, 2003), the mass media appears less influential in the development of body image for boys than girls. Some responses did, however, indicate that body image concerns are stronger than boys are willing to admit, as Pope et al. (2000) have speculated. Boys reported experiencing moments of increased body image investment, which were motivated largely by the presence of girls. More interestingly, boys said that they are reluctant to discuss aspects of their appearance due to the belief that it is a feminine or gay issue, or perhaps because of a broader reluctance to appear sensitive or vulnerable. Thus, in order to appear masculine and heterosexual, boys may hide their body image concerns. This finding has implications for our interpretation of quantitative research on boys. For example, research with adolescent boys might underestimate the media’s effect on body image because many boys are reluctant to discuss their feelings about body image (Pope et al., 2000). Even in the focus group context, it is possible that boys were reluctant to admit comparing their bodies and appearance to media celebrities for fear of sounding narcissistic, effeminate or gay. Future research with boys should seek to overcome the reluctance of boys to speak honestly and openly about their body image. The use of concrete, behaviour-based measures may offer one useful strategy. Boys might have greater awareness and acceptance of their body image-related behaviour (e.g. ‘I lift weights at the gym’, ‘I put “product” in my hair’)

compared to more abstract attitudes and beliefs (e.g. ‘My appearance is an important part of who I am’). Alternatively, future research could examine the importance of this ‘social taboo’ by asking boys about it directly. The differing levels of expression of body dissatisfaction by girls and boys is likely to be influenced by the different perceived gender norms for body dissatisfaction. Future research might investigate the influence of such norms on the development and expression of body dissatisfaction. The present study has generated some new themes that have not yet been addressed in quantitative research. For example, some adolescent boys aged 14–16 years said they do not feel threatened by muscular-ideal images because, unlike older men, their bodies are still growing toward the muscular ideal. Unlike girls, who grow farther away from their thin ideal during adolescence, boys experience their pubertal changes in appearance as favourable, perhaps helping buffer them against body dissatisfaction. In this regard, boys’ and girls’ physical growth during puberty may elicit different possible physical selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986). For boys, increasing in size and muscularity may elicit a desired physical possible self as they imagine continued growth towards their muscular ideal. In contrast, for girls, increasing in weight and curvaceousness may elicit a feared physical possible self as they imagine continued growth away from their thin ideal. Thus, the physical changes that are expected in the future, as well as the physical changes that have already happened during adolescence, may contribute to gender differences in adolescent body image. Some limitations of the study should be acknowledged. The sample of boys was from a high school with limited ethnic diversity, and thus the usual cautions about generalizing beyond this sample should be exercised. Further, the study examined the body image of boys from a specific age group (14–16 years). While there were few differences observed between Year 9 (age 14) and Year 11 boys (age 16), it is likely that boys and men of different ages face different body image pressures and concerns. Future qualitative studies with young boys and adult men might identify aspects of the male body image experience that are unique to these life stages. Finally, given the sensitive nature of the topic, it is likely that some boys 573

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were unwilling to express their body image concerns in front of the group, even though focus groups are acknowledged as the best method for dealing with difficult topics (Renzetti & Lee, 1993). In both qualitative and quantitative studies of boys’ body image, it remains difficult to determine whether the expression of body satisfaction by boys reflects their genuine experience or if it is driven by selfpresentational concerns. Understanding more fully the ‘hidden’ issue of boys’ body image remains an important challenge for body image researchers, and qualitative studies offer a useful tool for such endeavours.

Notes 1. Toned, muscular and strong. 2. In a personal communication with a fitness instructor at a nearby gym, the first author was told that the busiest time of day in the weights room is 3 to 5pm because many boys from the local high school lift weights after school. This anecdote points towards the importance of muscularity among this cohort of adolescent boys.

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Author biographies D UA N E A . H A R G R E AV E S is a PhD graduate, School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Major research interests involve body image among boys and girls, and social influences on exercise and eating behaviour.

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M A R I K A T I G G E M A N N is Professor, School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Current research interests involve body image, food craving, attributional style and women’s health.