Islam, Women, and Body Images

Islam, Women, and Body Images
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Islam, Women, and Body Images
Introduction
While all mankind have identities and bodies to complement them, not every individual understands this body in a similar fashion. Culture and traditions have been demonstrated to have fundamental influence on body experiences and hence body images, and particular facets of culture including religion, are perceived to buffer against body displeasure and more grave disorders linked with it. Even though in the initial instance it appears a superficial construct, body image has influence on most, if not all, facets of personal experience, such as emotions, perceptions, behaviors, as well as relations. Individuals exposed to body dissatisfaction or body displeasure may exhibit decreased functioning in these arenas or even complete loss of control, as observed in eating disorders. For their most part, scholars agree to the fact that body image symbolizes much more than its major fundamental sense, an individual's experience and assessment of their physical outlook. The definition of body image is complex due to its comprehensive form. Woofenden (2012) asserts that a number of terms have been employed in describing various dimensions hence they are certainly used synonymously when in real sense they should not (Woofenden, 2012). This module, hence, seeks to purposely deliberate on Islam, and the role it plays in influencing body image amongst Muslim women.
Self-Perception in Muslim Women
Body image anxiety has been associated with low self esteem, depression, sexual frustration, eating disorders, exercise trends, and overall unhealthy behavior tendencies that can result into dysfunctional eating as well as other coping approaches. Negative body Image is in essence a determining factor of eating disorders, and the body displeasure is assumed to be the most instant or proximal precursor to the development of anorexia nervosa. Therefore, body image has become a fundamental area of investigation in the West, and more in the world as a whole since Western media and manipulation become more apparent. Even though investigations on non-Western body image could significantly profit from expansion, it commonly illustrates that people from non-Western traditions have healthier body image against those from the West (Woofenden, 2012). In a broad study of 800 Jordanian women of ages between 18-73 years, Madanat et al noted that as opposed to Western women who struggle to be leaner, Jordanian women basically yearn for a ‘normal' body size. While a large proportion (66.1%) preferred shedding weight, a larger proportion of these recruits lied within the overweight to obese classes. Moreover, 12.7% of the overweight to obese individuals essentially wanted to add weight (Madanat et al, 2011).
Islam is built on the acceptance of an individual's body and plays down on appearance, thereby giving preference t...