Body Image
In non-difficult words, body shape means the outer looks of your body according to your own wish. In other words, body image is an inner sense of having the body shape translated by your brain. A person guesses how he/she look to others, which can be entirely not like how he/she actually appears to them.
The term body image is psychological in nature. Body image is an important part of your self-esteem and self-worth. If you are confident and have a good body image, your self-esteem will be on the higher side, whereas if you feel you are too thin or overweight, you will not be able to communicate and interact well with others, and it will give you an inferiority complex.
Body image is not permanent; it’s forever changing. It depends upon many factors, such as the physical environment around you, your experiences in life and your mood. It develops over time with your experiences as you interact with different members of society. These members can be your parents, friends, media and peers etc. All of these people give you an idea of what it is like to value your body.
If for example, you are born in a family where everyone has blue eyes but you, and your family values blue eyes, then you will not have a sense of belonging to that family. This negative thinking will impact on your self-esteem and later on it could impact your self-worth.
Body image is not what you actually see in the mirror; it is lot more than that. It is your feelings about your body. You feel different about different parts of your body and you have one complete image of your body. If your body image makes you feel ashamed, self-conscious and anxious, then the image you have is negative. On the contrary, if you feel pleasant, comfortable and confident about your body, you have a positive image about your body
A positive body image can be defined in many ways. It is seeing your body as it really is. It is appreciating the natural shape of your body and its physical characteristics. It is your understanding that appearance has nothing to do with your personality.
Appearance does not tell what kind of a person you are. Positive body image is a feeling of confidence and comfort. It is a feeling of pride and denial of spending time agonizing about your food intake and the shape your body would take because of it.
Similarly, a negative body image can be defined by different ways. It is hazy and vague perception about the shape and size of your body. It persuades you that you are the only one in the world unattractive. It is the feeling where you think yourself pathetic, ashamed and self-conscious. It is the uncomfortable and awkward feeling about your body. Negative body image makes you obsessed about your look. You feel worried all the time about your hair style and clothes you are wearing etc. The negative thinking about the size and shape of your body makes you feel useless and unconfident.