Discussion Questions for The Body Project, PSYC425 F2009
Chapter 4: Body Projects

1. What is a body project?  Have you ever thought about your body as a project?  Has new freedom for baring the body come with greater need to police and control the body?

2. Was there ever a time you tried to recreate yourself?  In the chapter there is discussion of girls cutting their hair, dieting, and even changing their handwriting as they tried different identities.  Have you ever changed things to fit in or to try to get people to accept and like you?

3. When and why did you start wearing a bra?  Did your mother, friends, or someone else suggest you should start wearing one?  Did you wear one because of age or necessity (i.e., growth)?  Did you start wearing camisoles or training bras?

4. Today the undergarments available to adolescent girls are “sexier” (e.g., push up bras, thongs).  What do you think of these changes?  Brumberg suggests danger in marking girls as sexual objects.  Do you agree with her?

5. Throughout history, different body parts of woman have been eroticized.  Today a woman’s breasts are seen as a statement of female sexuality.  Do you think large breasts increase a woman’s confidence?  Do you think there is more focus today on breath health than on size and shape?  Are there other body parts that are a major focus for young women today?

6. Women have done things in the past in order to achieve beauty that have done potential harm to their bodies.  For example, women have deprived themselves of nutrition in order to lose weight or had surgery to augment their breasts.  What do you think of these efforts?

7. What do you think motivates girls and women’s efforts to achieve the ideal body?  For example, is the underlying motivation a search for identity and esteem, to be popular among girls and women, to attract boys or men, to compete with other girls or women, or something else?

8. Mass produced bras and changing styles of dress influenced how girls perceived their bodies.  Are there new products or fashions that have similar effects (e.g., teeth whitening, lower necklines)?

9. Manufactured clothes come in a limited range of sizes. Do you find it difficult or easy to find clothes that fit you?  Do you avoid some stores because their clothes do not suit your body? Do you ever feel bad about yourself because your body doesn’t fit the “standard”?  If clothes were made in more realistic sizes, do you think women would start feeling differently about themselves?

10. When did you start to weigh yourself?  How often do you weigh yourself now?  Have you ever been on a diet?  Why did you go on a diet?   How young were you when you started hearing about friends or family members dieting.  What do you think about young girls dieting?  Have you heard of any dangerous methods that girls and women have used to try to lose weight?

11. One positive change is a shift in focus from just weight control to including physical fitness.  Yet, Brumberg also sees negative consequences in this shift.  Discuss her concerns.

12. Does the media still play a role in how girls and women think about their bodies?  Are there some genres within the media (e.g., different types of magazines, movies, comics, books) that you think provide more negative or more positive images of women?  Can you give specific examples?

13. Body piercing and tattooing has increased in popularity.    Do you have any body piercing or tattoos?  Discuss your reasons for getting a piercing or tattoo and discuss what it means to you.   Are these body decorations a form of rebellion or another way to fit in or to be noticed?  How do you think other people perceive young women with piercings and tattoos? 

14. Mothers, daughters and sisters used to read and sew for long hours together as they brushed and dried their long hair.  Do you have special bonding time with your parents?  If so, what do you do, and why do you think it is important?