Intersectional Experience and Bodyweight Satisfaction: A Study of Interaction Effects

• In Event: 336 - Section on Body and Embodiment Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Theorizing the Body

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction, or the unhappiness a person experiences concerning their body when they feel it is not up to par with their own or others’ expectations, has been identified in nearly every social category in the United States. While all social groups may experience some degree of body dissatisfaction, many studies, including the present study, have found that some groups experience less body dissatisfaction than others. Understanding which groups are less dissatisfied than others provides a foreground for future research into how and why some groups are less body dissatisfied, and possibly more resilient to mainstream cultural expectations.
The present study used an intersectional lens to examine the ways multiple inequality categories interact to create different levels of body, specifically bodyweight, dissatisfaction. In the NHANES 2011-2012 data used, several significant interaction effects emerged, including interactions between gender and race, gender and income, gender and body mass, race and body mass, race and education, education and body mass, and income and body mass. The results suggest that intersectional statuses impact bodyweight satisfaction in ways that differ from individual statuses. Additionally, results indicate that socioeconomic status contributes to the perception of body mass, with high and low income experiencing body satisfaction with weight in divergent ways.

Authors

• Heather Kristin Covington, University of Florida

• Charles Peek, University of Florida