Thesis

Sun, sand, sea...self-loathing? a mixed-methods exploration of women’s beach body experiences from a sociocultural body image perspective

Creator
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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2023
Thesis identifier
  • T16534
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201455548
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Taking up the stance that every body in swimwear is a beach body, this PhD project dealt with women's diverse beach body experiences as they engage with the world around them from a sociocultural body image perspective. It provides insights into how swimwear-clad female bodies have been constructed and negotiated by society, culture and the mass media before moving on to discuss and empirically explore, how this links to women's experiences of embodiment at the beach and on social networking sites (SNS). To contribute original insights to that matter, a sequential mixed methods cross-cultural study was conducted consisting of three qualitative focus groups (N=19) and a quantitative survey (N=659). Qualitative data suggest that young women across cultures have internalised relatively homogeneous ideas about how female bodies in swimwear should look and that these affect how they think, feel and behave with regard to their bodies prior to and during summer, and beyond. The survey presents evidence that viewing normative beach body images on SNS links to heightened appearance concerns during summer, whereas viewing nonnormative bodies, engaging in physical activity and relaxing at the beach correlated with positive body image outcomes such as heightened appearance evaluation and decreased self-objectification and thin-ideal internalisation. Implications are drawn from these findings that may serve to inform and assist individuals inside and outside of academia to attend better to the needs of women at a time, in which many feel more vulnerable than usual about their bodies. Further, the research discusses how spending time at the beach during summer might be beneficial for women's mental health and wellbeing. This might pave the way for future investigations of the beach from a body positive perspective.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Eckler, Petya
  • Tonner, Andrea
Resource Type
DOI
Funder

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