Ideal Female and Male Bodies: An Analysis of College Students' Drawings

This study investigates perceptions of gendered body ideals through an analysis of college students‟ drawings. A sample of 94 college students participated by drawing their image of the ideal female and male bodies. The drawings were analyzed through a gender lens, whereby each participant‟s male and female bodies were compared to determine the features participants used to indicate gender in their ideal bodies. Four major themes emerged that distinguished ideal female and male bodies from each other: (1) body shape, (2) body size, (3) clothing and accessories, and (4) gender roles. An additional theme includes a small group of participants who challenged gendered body ideals. The results are discussed in the broader context of gender and the body. 1 Carter and Ortiz: Ideal Female and Male Bodies: An Analysis of College Students' Dr Published by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2008 1 IDEAL FEMALE AND MALE BODIES: AN ANALYSIS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS‟ DRAWINGS Ideal body types for men and women vary by culture and across time. In the United States, the ideal female body has cycled for centuries between larger, voluptuous bodies and smaller, thinner bodies (Yalom 1997). A society‟s body ideals are important to study because they impact individuals‟ evaluations of their own bodies and the practices they engage in to shape their bodies. The ways in which a society‟s body ideals are gendered reflect the society‟s expectations for gendered behaviors and practices (Crawley, Foley and Shehan 2008). Much social science research has focused on identifying the ideal female and male bodies in the United States. These studies often ask participants to identify the body types they believe are most desirable from a set of preselected images (Ayala, Mickens, Galindo and Elder 2007; Fallon and Rozin 1985; Forbes et al. 2001; Lynch and Zellner 1999; Nollen et al. 2006; Rozin and Fallon 1988; Silberstein et al. 1988) or analyze images of ideal bodies in popular culture (Bessenoff and Priore 2007; Bordo 1993; Gallagher and Pecot-Hebert 2007). The current study examines perceptions of ideal female and male bodies through an analysis of college students‟ drawings. The focus of the study is to identify the features students use to gender their representations of ideal bodies.