CHAPTER II:

UNPACKING THE SELF

LESSON 4:
THE PHYSICAL SELF: DOES MY OUTER APPEARANCE MATTER?

Target Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Identify the stages of life and explain the physical changes that occur during each stage;
2. Describe the factors that affect your body image;
3. Examine the impact of culture on your body image and self; and
4. Develop a positive body image and self-concept.

Abstraction

The following discussions will further elaborate and explore some various aspects to
completely understand the self. To clearly understand this, allow us to define concepts under this
lesson.
• Physical Self – it is commonly referring as our body. It is characterized as our physical
characteristics wherein we can see gradual changes in our traits and features of the body.
• Growth – refers to physical/physiological changes in kinsfolk which are often quantitative.
• Development – pertains to progressive series of changes that occur in a very relatively
predictable pattern as a result of maturation and skill.
• Maturation – is that the unfolding of traits in individuals which are results from the
interactive relationship of heredity and environment.
Adolescence (approximately 10-19 years old) is the period where there are gradual physical
changes observed. These changes will be identified as primary sex characteristics and secondary
sex characteristics. Although in primary sex characteristics are already observable ranging from
birth (i.e. penis and vagina) while secondary sexual characteristics emerge at puberty like low
voices and beards in human males, and high voices and no facial hair in human females.
These changes within the human body may affect how we perceive ourselves. This might build
our confidence or lower our self-esteem.
Two Factors Affecting Physical Growth and Development
It is also important to think that the role of the environment plays within the hereditary
influence on development. Nature and nurture combine to promote developmental changes. For
instance, the identical hereditary predisposition may result in any several outcomes depending on
the environment to which an individual is exposed.
• Heredity -It is the process of the inheritance of traits that may be passed from parents to
offspring.
• Environment - It refers to the factors an individual is exposed to throughout life which
has learning and experiences.

Theories of Physical Self

✓ Theory of Physiognomy
Physiognomy comes from the Greek word “physiognōmia” meaning judging of a
person's nature by his body features, with particular emphasis on facial features. Back to
Early Greeks, it is important to determine the body features because it was also connected
within the interpretation of the moral character and personality of an individual.

✓ Theory-Based on The Prominence of Body Fluids

Greeks believed that our body was made of four main components or they term this
as Four Humors. They said to believed that the four fluids in our body should remain balanced
sp as to own a healthy body.

On this table, you will be able to see the temperament and fluid in corresponding with the
personality.
TEMPERAMENT FLUID PERSONALITY
SANGUINE TYPE Red Bile Impulsive, cheerful, happy and optimistic
MELANCHOLIC Black Bile Depressed and pessimistic
CHOLERIC Yellow Bile Easily angry, jumpy and temperamental
PHLEGMATIC Excess phlegm Sluggish, dull, slow
 ✓ Body-Type Theory
Lastly, this theory was proposed by William Sheldon in the 1940s. According to him, there are
certain body types (somatotypes) that are related to a certain personality.

Somatotypes Personality

Soft and plump

ENDOMORPHIC Easy going and sociable

Strong muscular body Energetic, adventurous, assertive

MESOMORPHIC
and courageous

Tall and thin Restrained, quiet, introverted and

ECTOMOROHIC
artistic

Impact of Culture on Beauty and Body Image

We have to take into consideration that culture and body image has an impact on how the
person perceives an individual. Different cultures within the world wear the perception of the
members of various communities concerning the ideal version of beauty, something that affects
their perception of body image. Let’s define some concepts first.

• Body Image - refers to how an individual perceives, thinks, and feels about their body and
physical appearance.
• Appearance - refers to everything about a person that others can observe such as height,
weight, skin color, clothes, and hairstyle.

Here are some samples of the ideal beauty standard:

✓ In Egyptian Art, beauty is perceived in women with a slim, high waist, narrow hips, and
long black hair.
✓ During the Renaissance period, women with a full figure and rounded hips were considered
beautiful.
✓ Asian women to be desirous of a build promoted by western standards of beauty like slim,
white, and clear skin, pointed nose, etc.

In reality, those beauty standards circulating in media are unrealistic, that even the foremost
beautiful and handsome supermodels cannot achieve it.
Body Modification

Some people especially women lead to enhancing their body features and sometimes
overdo it because they seem to have low self-esteem or not confident of their appearance. Here are
some examples of body modification: Tattooing, Body Piercing, and Cosmetic Surgery

This trend has been related to more frequent incidences of body image disturbances, such
as eating disorders and a lot more, especially among Asian women. Here are some samples of one
who went through surgeries or body modification: The obsession to have a beautiful face & body

The two photos depict that lots of individuals want to enhance their facial features.
However, some may repetitively do it or some were allured due to peer pressure. However, some
outcomes may result in not a good result.

Eating disorder

The eating disorder was categorized as:

According to Mayo Clinic (2019), Anorexia Nervosa is an eating

disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a
distorted perception of weight.

Bulimia Nervosa kind of eating disorder wherein people eat large amounts of food with a loss of
control over the eating and then purge.

Photo courtesy: Eric W. Dolan

Body Dysmorphic

According to Mayo Clinic (2019), this is a mental health disorder

during which you cannot stop wondering about one or more
perceived defects or flaws in your appearance. may feel so
embarrassed, ashamed, and anxious that you simply may avoid
many social situations.
 Body Shaming

This is by means of criticizing people’s appearance. People body-

shamed others through judging or comparing them with another
person. They are doing such a thing because it is not the ideal
beauty standard in a certain culture or country.

Some Ways to Improve Your Body Image and Inner Self:

✓ Take good care of your health

✓ Live a well-balanced life
✓ Spend some time alone to reflect
✓ Be creative to try to do something new to you
✓ Respect individuality
✓ Face your fears
✓ Be independent
✓ Accept things as they are
✓ Think positive

In conclusion, many of us especially women spend tremendous expenditure of your time,

effort, and money to alter their appearances to resemble almost perfect images. Society is cruel on
judging people by physical appearance; however, we will still find our confidence by taking
excellent care and accepting our physical self. Moreover, offering our body with all the respect it
deserves will always come from ourselves.

Supplementary Materials

Inner wisdom (2020). http://www.innerwisdom.com/aspect-of-the-

self.htm#:~:text=Many%20individuals%20put%20a%20strong,we%20respond%20to%2
0it%20easily.&text=The%20mind%20is%20important%2C%20as,the%20body%20and
%20the%20feelings.