Welcome to New Beauty.

The theme for this

first edition of the zine is Culture and Body
Image. It focuses on girls of Caribbean
heritage and how their culture and the
American media play a role in shaping their
body image. The zine features profiles of girls
from different back grounds discussing their
body image, facts about culture and body
image and the effects of media on adolescent
girls, a celeb comparison and a highlight about
building self esteem. The aim of this zine is to
tackle the predominant images of beauty that
exists in this country by highlighting the
differences in beauty across culture, in this
case Caribbean cultures, thereby showing that
there is more than one image of beauty.
Females need not have negative feelings about
their size, color and physical features nor
engage in self destructive habits related to
body image.
Sanya-Kay Johnson. From Eve Ensler‟s The Good Body, a play
addressing why women of many cultures and
backgrounds perceive pressure to change the way
they look in order to be accepted in the eyes of
society.
Read more:
http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwo
m/goodbody.html
 General Stereotypes about the body image of
Caribbean Girls.

***These comments are not made to offend anyone,

just to bring light to the stereotypes often applied to
people, sometimes mainly as a result of the media.
I think Black women in general are
stereotyped as having the best
bodies (shapely) especially island
women.
When I picture Jamaican girls,
unfortunately I picture girls
like those from Pasa Pasa:
They usually have big lips and
nice big bums and weaves with
all sorts of colors.

Trinis: always look mix- like black

and something. Trinidad is one of the Bajan- usually medium height, have more hips
most well know in the Caribbean for than butt, overall nice bodies.
having a variety of mixes.
St Vincentian- brown skin and have amazing
shape.They supposedly emulate other women
Haitians: Many look like pure of the Caribbean, especially Jamaican.
Africans. More than 90% of the
population is black, the remaining
are mixed or of other races.

Puerto Rican/Dominican: short,

tan (brown skinned), curly hair,
Guyanese: light skin, short,
thick Indian looking women, thick curvy bodies.
with nice bodies and wavy
looking hair.
 Fact however is…
Black and Caribbean people come in all
shapes, sizes, colors and hair textures.
Haitians are just like any other Black ethnicity,
we come in many shades. Haitian society
comprises of people of African, French, Taino,
Spanish and even small pockets of Lebanese
ancestry. The majority of the population has
African ancestry, with some people also
possessing mixed French, Spanish and Arab
blood.
The Jamaican motto says: OUT OF MANY,
ONE PEOPLE. It emphasizes that we are a
country made up of diverse cultures, we don't
have one single look; we have variety.
Profile#1
Arielle
My Body Image
I came here to the U.S. when I was 9 years old. I was
slim because back home everyone‟s active, and there
was hardly any fast food, just KFC and it was not in
the same magnitude as in the US. Those who were
overweight back home were usually older.
Coming here to the US and seeing all the different fast
food places, I began to indulge, and with the winters,
which rendered me less active, I started to gain weight.
It bothered me and caused me to have weight issues. At
my biggest, 205 pounds, is when I realized I needed to
do something to change. My self esteem had really
decreased because I was never a big person, and so I
felt unlike myself.
The first time I went back to St. Vincent after gaining
the weight, there was a lot of ridicule; “Oh my gosh,
how could you let her gain all that weight.” Parents
were usually blamed for how their children looked.
People were shocked by my weight gain because they
were comparing me to how I looked before.
This past summer when I went back home after losing
some weight, I felt more accepted. I received a lot
more compliments “Oh you look so nice.” It made me
feel good.
 My own image of beauty is that healthy is
If you‟re living in St. Vincent and all your friends are beautiful, not too skinny and not obese-
active, you strive to maintain a fit physique; you don‟t though in some culture bigger is better, for
want to be the odd one out. Like if my mom ran into
ours, I think that looking healthy is what‟s
her friends now, the first thing they would say is “Oh
you gained weight!” and it‟s not to be malicious, it beautiful.
just happens to be a conversation starter- which points
to a difference in culture because I doubt a person
The beauty in me
here in the U.S. would go up to another person and
start a conversation by commenting on their weight.
I think my curvaceous body adds to my beauty. I
might want to lose a little more weight here and
there, but I like my body. I also think my eyes are
How do you relate to the beauty image in the U.S.?
beautiful; I get a lot of compliments about them.
I am not influenced by what I see in
Where does my self esteem come from?
advertisements really. I don‟t relate; I don‟t
find that image of beauty [tall, skinny white I believe self esteem is an inner thing, but the
blonde, blue eyes] to be attractive. It doesn‟t external look, getting compliments and such
measure up with my standard of beauty; definitely helps to enhance what is felt inside.
though there is no universal standard of beauty
because what is seen as beautiful varies from
culture to culture.
I think there are girls out there who don‟t have
their own standard of beauty and so their
standard becomes what they see and what they
are told and so they‟re measuring themselves
to that and striving to be like that and its sad.
 Facts
Body Image
A girl's body image is not only determined by her
self-perception but also by the perceptions of others.
For majority of girls, looking healthy, means being
accepted by peers for presenting a “normal”
appearance, rather than actually maintaining a
nutritious diet and being physically fit.
Statistics
• African Americans have different attitudes about
weight, body size, and attractiveness than Caucasians,
with overall less drive for thinness and greater
acceptance of larger body proportions. (Psychiatry
Journal)
• A majority of girls (59 percent) reported
dissatisfaction with their body shape, and 66 percent
expressed the desire to lose weight. (American
Academy of Pediatrics)
• A mother‟s weight, body image, attitude, and health
habits are strong indicators of whether her daughter is
overweight, satisfied with her body, and physically
active. Girls look to their mothers for advice on
healthy living. (Girl Scout Research Institute)
• Although about two-thirds (65%) correctly identify
themselves as being either normal weight or
overweight, one-third of all girls have a distorted idea
about their weight. (Girl Scout Research Institute)
• A recent analysis of studies examining body
dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and mass media
found that participants with body dissatisfaction issues
were more adversely affected by media stimuli using
thin models than participants without body
dissatisfaction issues. In addition, participants below
college age were more adversely affected by the
presentation of such media than participants aged 19
and older. (International Journal of Eating Disorders)
Girl Scouts
http://www.girlscouts.org/research/facts_findings/bod
y_image.asp
 Profile#2

Christal

I growing up but I was what you‟d describe as

chubby. I always looked around and noticed I
was the biggest out of my cousins and I used to
feel uncomfortable.

However as I got older, I also lost a little weight

so I felt better.

My self-esteem has definitely improved over the

years because with the gradual weight lost I
started realizing that this is me and I'm not going
to have another body so I better take care of this
one to the best of my ability.

To me beauty, although it sounds like a cliché, is

in the eyes of the beholder. What one person may
think is beautiful another person may not. Some
people find certain things beautiful compared to
others, maybe like a big nose on a person or big
breasts.

psu.edu
The most beautiful thing about me, I think is my
skin color. Many people start bleaching their skin
to be lighter skinned because the media portrays
white to be beautiful; but I feel like you just have
to love who you are and the way you look.
 Facts

Twenty years ago, models weighed 8% less than

the average woman. Today, they weigh 23% less
than the average woman.

The average American woman is 5‟4” tall and

weighs 140 pounds. The average American
model is 5‟11” tall and weighs 117 pounds.

If Barbie was a real woman, she‟d have to walk

on all fours due to her proportions.

One out of every four college aged women has an

eating disorder.

It is estimated that 40-50% of American women

are trying to lose weight at any point in time.

toothpastefordinner.com Americans spend more than 40 billion dollars a

year on dieting and diet-related products – that‟s
roughly equivalent to the amount the U.S.
Federal Government spends on education each
year!
Almost half of all women smokers smoke because
they see it as the best way to control their weight. Of
these women, 25% will die of a disease caused by
smoking.

In 2007, there were about 11.7 million cosmetic

procedures performed in the U.S. Ninety one percent
of these were performed on women.

A study found that 53% of thirteen-year-old

American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This
number grows to 78% by the time girls reach
seventeen.

Sources
National Institute on Media and the Family
About Face: Facts on Body Image
National Organization for Women
Girl Scouts
Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Statistics
graemethomasonline.com
 Accept My Beauty
By Kadeen Jones and Sanya-Kay Johnson
Did you know…
My rich chocolate skin
The media industry has a bigger impact on women
Is resilient against the sun‟s rays,
across racial and ethnic boundaries than is thought.
But not tough enough to withstand the snickers
These industries [weight loss, medical, and
Ripping apart my fragile ego.
advertising] all insist that white and thin is beautiful
My wooly untamed hair blows wild
and that fatness is always a dangerous problem in
Like my spirit.
need of correction. The popular notion that some
I won‟t be stopped.
communities are less influenced than others has meant
Yet they can‟t accept that;
that women of color in particular have a hard time
And they continue to tear away at me.
being taken seriously when they have eating
Then place me in a box I can‟t even fit in.
disorders. A black woman suffering from an eating
disorder says:
My shapely body is far from modelesque.
Dieting, eating disorder or plastic surgery to get their ideal shape,
After all, don't black people prize wide hips and
Scrubbing and bleaching to wash away the dirt.
fleshy bodies? Isn't obesity so prevalent in our
Contacts to get those colored eyes,
communities because it is actually accepted? Don't
Eyes that will never see me for who I really am.
black women have very positive body
To the weight loss, medical, beauty and advertising industries,
images?...Anorexia and its kin supposedly strike
I am a project.
only adolescent, middle- and upper-middle-class
A project for which they have provided everything to replicate
white girls...Women like me are winging it, seeking
their beauty image.
out other sisters with the same concerns, wondering
And yet, something is still missing!
if we are alone on this journey.
In my quest to achieve perfection and be received
I have lost myself.
The above is an exclusive excerpt from the "Body
Who am I? What am I?
Image" chapter of Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New
I am a black girl.
Century.
That kinky-haired, dark-skinned, plump girl.
http://www.feminist.com/resources/ourbodies/body.ht
I have big lips, a big nose, thick thighs and a big bottom to match;
ml
And I should be proud of it.
This is the body I was blessed with and it is beautiful.

Facts about Body Image and Culture
 In a study of 2,379 black and white 9- and 10-year-
olds, 40% of the girls reported wanting to lose
weight, with no significant difference between
black and white girls on this measure. [Schreiber et
al., 1996]
- One hypothesis is that the more acculturated
(assimilated into the mainstream popular
culture, which is mainly white) a woman is, the
more she will experience body-image
dissatisfaction. The more a person is pressured
to emulate the mainstream image, the more the
desire to be thin is adopted, and with it comes
an increased risk for the development of body
image dissatisfaction and eating disorders.
 Increased social, vocational, and economic
opportunities are available to women of color who
can conform to the dominant, white culture's norms.
Women of color thus may become vulnerable and
will conform to pressure to be "perfect" in the
context of upward social mobility. This perfection
may be pursued by shaping one's body to fit the
mainstream culture's female body ideal. [Root,
1990]
 A study examined disordered-eating behavior and
attitudes among high school Hispanics, Native
Americans, and whites in the United States. Rates of self-
induced vomiting and binge eating were significantly
higher for the two minority groups, even when
controlling for weight. The study concluded that the rate
of disturbed eating behavior is at least as prevalent
among Native Americans and Hispanics as it is among
white adolescents. [Smith and Krejci, 1991]
 In a study of 9,971 female self-reported dieters,
unhealthy eating attitudes for women who diet (such as
binging and purging) were similar across ethnic groups,
again suggesting that eating disordered behavior is not
simply a white woman's problem anymore. For all racial
groups, self-esteem was rated highest for times when the
subjects' weight was lowest. [Le Grange et al., 1998]
 Studies are showing that ethnic minority groups are
reaching parity with Caucasians in body image and
eating disturbances, suggesting that ethnicity does not
appear to protect against the broader sociocultural factors
that foster body dissatisfaction among adolescent
females. [Shaw et al., 2004; French et al., 1997]
About-Face facts about EATING DISORDERS and
DISORDERED EATING
Facts by Marcella Raimondo, MPH
http://about-face.org/r/facts/eatingdisorders.shtml
Positive Celeb comparison: What do I like about Kim Kardashian?
Leidy and Kim Kardashian She is beautiful! Kim embraces her curves. She knows
she will never be the stick thin girl. She reminds me of
myself to some extent. We are both the type of people
who won't hurt a fly. I also like that she was able to move
on from a poor decision and was able to turn it around for
the better.

How do I compare to Kim?

The same way as Kim, I‟m never going to be the size 0

skinny girl, so what?

Do I relate to the beauty image in the U.S.?

I don't relate to the beauty image of today. I‟m not a size 0

or 2 and I don't have blue eyes or the blonde hair. Real
women have curves and that‟s what I consider to be
beautiful. Beauty is not about size, hair color, nor eye
color. Beauty lies within oneself, within one's heart.

What do I think is beautiful about myself?

My personality. I‟m very laid back and down to earth.

I‟m all about helping out other people.

How do I build my self esteem?

I believe I have a very strong self esteem. I like to look

good so I do my share of work to maintain that. If I like
how I look or if I‟m comfortable with myself, I don't care
what anyone has to say.
 How do you define beauty?
Developing Positive Body Image
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

“I don't think you can 'define' beauty really,

because it means different things to different
people.
Some people rather the external, physical
beauty, while others are more drawn to the
internal beauty of a person.”

“By dictionary definition: beauty is a

characteristic of a person, place, object, or idea
that provides a perceptual experience of
pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction.”

“Beauty does not really exist, it is composed

of a combination of appearance, sounds and
smells that we perceive as beneficial to our
health or well-being.”

“Beauty is a cultural creation that has been

extremely commercialized. There‟s this idea
keithkarabin.com of an „ideal beauty‟ which is a being which is
admired, or possesses features widely
attributed to beauty in a particular culture.”
 “Beauty cannot be identified universally and Make a change and build self esteem
uniquely, meaning, a single object cannot
appear as beautiful to one and all, under all
circumstances and under all possible states of Body Image March 2005
mind.”

The point:

- Beauty cannot truly be defined or better yet, it Body

doesn‟t have one definition. Girls need not image is “not so much our actual appearance or how
subject themselves to the media‟s portrayal of we seem to others, but our own internal view of how
an ideal beauty, but rather find the beauty we look, how we think we appear to others, and how
within themselves. we feel about our looks.”

The more physically active girls are, the greater

their self-esteem and the more satisfied they are with
their weight, regardless of how much they weigh.
Similarly, inactive girls are more likely to be
dissatisfied with their appearance and perceive
themselves as overweight. Eight-three percent of
very active girls say that physical activity makes
them feel good about themselves- Girl Scouts.

Besides physical activity (and proper diet) there are

additional ways for females to be healthy physically
and emotionally and adapt positive body image; and
they all have to do with education (information and
motivation).
It starts mainly with parents:
- Parents, both mothers and fathers, need to realize
the power they hold in affecting the body image of
their girl children.
- Experts suggest that parents' energy is better spent
getting their daughters to look at and think critically
about the unrealistic way the media portrays girls
and women.
- "Co-viewing [the act of parents watching TV or
viewing the Internet with their daughters] allows
parents and their daughters to talk about those
patterns of [physical] representation," says Renee
Hobbs, EdD, associate professor of
communications at Temple University.
- "Mothers play a tremendous role in their daughters'
self-assurance and potential to develop eating
disorders," says Elissa Gittes, MD, a pediatrician in
the division of adolescent medicine at Children's
Hospital of Pittsburgh.
- As mothers are a girl's first and, often, most
influential role model, girls take to heart what their
mothers say about bodies: their own, their
daughters, those of strangers and celebrities. They
notice when their mothers exercise
obsessively, diet constantly, or make derogatory
comments about their own appearance.
Fathers play an equally influential role in shaping
their daughters' self-image.
- "A daughter learns how to relate to men by the
way she relates to her father," says Carleton
Kendrick EdM, LCSW, social worker and co-
author of Take Out Your Nose Ring, Honey,
We're Going to Grandma's.
- That's why it's critical that fathers check what
they say to their daughters about their physical
appearance.
Being bombarded with countless media images of
thin female models and actresses who look
beautiful by modern American standards; girls may
have a tough time arriving at what it means to have
a healthy body image. Hence some experts say it's
better to show girls what a healthy body image
means rather than to tell them.
Girl Scout Research Institute recommendations are:
- Give “health” social relevance. In order to
become a priority in girls‟ lives, health and
healthy habits need to be framed not as ends in
themselves, but as a means to achieve ends that
are socially significant to girls of all ages,
ethnicities and backgrounds.
- Embrace a holistic definition of health. Girls
believe being healthy has many components
and dimensions. Health messages need to
acknowledge what is important to girls and
help them address the issues in their lives:
stress, peer pressure, feeling good about
themselves and feeling safe.

- Demonstrate positive outcomes that result

from healthy behaviors. To motivate girls to
make better health choices, the positive
outcomes that result from healthy behavior –
higher self-esteem, reduced stress, and
increased energy for school and extra-
curricular activities – must be clearly
conveyed. Helping girls draw connections
between their choices and the impact of those
choices on their short and long-term health in
ways that are meaningful to them can help
instill healthier habits.

whatismykarma.com
Acknowledgments

Thank you

Arielle Kirby

Christal James

Leidy Ramos

Kadeen Jones

Hasani Ferguson

Tasha Clarke

Jason Joseph

Woody Sanon

loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org