APPEARANCE AND SELF:

THE BODY IN CONTEXT

PRESENTED BY CYNTHIA AGYEIWAA KUSI

ORDER OF PRESENTATION

• INTRODUCTION
• MAIN CONTENT
Body Image; Perception of Body Size; Body Boundary; Body cathexis; Male and Female
Body in context
• CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION

• The body can be viewed as a component of appearance.

• The way we perceive our bodies are linked to social as well

as cultural contexts.
THE BODY AS A FUNCTION OF
APPEARANCE

• The body is like a vehicle for carrying around an

individual’s thoughts, feelings and perception.

• There are fashionable bodies just as there are

fashionable clothes.
• Cultural ideology, social relations and personal
activities affects the way we feel about our body.

• The body is a link between an inner person and

some of society’s most important values.
BODY IMAGE

• This is the mental picture one has of his or her

body at any given moment in time.
BODY IMAGE: (Perception of body size)

• Body image may be distorted when bodies

change in size, or when people focus on the size
or shape of the body
BODY BOUNDARY

• A person’s tendency to distinguish between the body space

and surrounding space.
 BODY CATHEXIS

• A concept closely related to body image. It represents

the degree of satisfaction with the body.
 BODY CATHEXIS (CNTD)

• Evaluation of one’s own body drives various behaviors,

including clothing choices and weight management.
 BODY CATHEXIS (CNTD)

• Some research shows that degree of clothing interest is

not necessarily related to body cathexis
 BODY CATHEXIS (CNTD.)

• Nevertheless, the drive for people to participate in

weight manage program, satisfaction and dissatisfaction of
apparel fit depends mostly on body cathexis.
BODY CATHEXIS (CNTD.)

• An individual can use clothing to cover up that

part of the body that she is dissatisfied with.
THE MALE BODY IN CONTEXT

• The male’s body is a sign of physical strength and

effectiveness
• Chest circumference, facial features etc shows overall
satisfaction with the self in young adult males
THE FEMALE BODY IN CONTEXT

• The female body is seen as a symbol as attractiveness

• It induces, softness and warmth in contrast to the male
body
• Unlike males, culture equates heaviness in females as a
lack of unattractiveness
THE FEMALE BODY IN CONTEXT (CNTD.)

• Now, a more curvaceous figure has become fashionable

and more females are using technology and clothing to
achieve that ideal female figure.
CONCLUSION

• It is important to explore the social importance of the body in relation to the

changing meanings of clothes.

• There is a cognitive tendency to classify one’s own and other bodies in

accordance with physical cues and cultural norms.

• Our bodies are likely to become particularly meaningful to us in a certain

context when they are called to our attention(e.g. working out in a health club)
Thank you