Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul-Sep;24(4):297-311.
doi: 10.1080/10640266.2015.1123986. Epub 2015 Dec 22.

Feminist identity, body image, and disordered eating

Hannah M Borowsky  1 , Marla E Eisenberg  1   2 , Michaela M Bucchianeri  3 , Niva Piran  4 , Dianne Neumark-Sztainer  1
Affiliations

Feminist identity, body image, and disordered eating

Hannah M Borowsky et al. Eat Disord. 2016 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Using data from a community-based sample (Project EAT-III), this study (N = 1241; mean age = 25.2) examined the relationship of feminist identity with body image and disordered eating. Feminist-identified women reported significantly higher body satisfaction than non-feminist women and women who did not identify as feminists but held feminist beliefs. However, feminist-identified women did not differ from non-feminist women in disordered eating. Women holding feminist beliefs and non-feminist women did not differ in body satisfaction. Our findings suggest that self-identification as a feminist may promote positive body image in young adult women, but may be insufficient to change behaviors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Aronson P. Feminists or “postfeminists”? Young women’s attitudes toward feminism and gender relations. Gender & Society. 2003;17(6):903–922. doi: 10.1177/0891243203257145. - DOI
    1. Bearman SK, Presnell K, Martinez E, Stice E. The skinny on body dissatisfaction: A longitudinal study of adolescent girls and boys. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2006;35:217–229. doi: 10.1007/s10964-005-9010-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cash TF, Ancis JR, Strachan MD. Gender attitudes, feminist identity, and body images among college women. Sex Roles. 1997;36(7):433–447. doi: 10.1007/BF02766682. - DOI
    1. Dionne M, Davis C, Fox J, Gurevich M. Feminist ideology as a predictor of body dissatisfaction in women. Sex Roles. 1995;33:277–287. doi: 10.1007/BF01544615. - DOI
    1. Fredrickson BL, Roberts TA. Objectification theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1997;21(2):173–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources