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Article Excerpt
Body shape and unhealthy eating attitudes, which were once thought to be wholly confined to Western women, have emerged among non-Western populations (Hill & Bhatti, 1995; Mumford, Whitehouse, & Choudry, 1992; Mumford, Whitehouse, & Platts, 1991). The attitudes towards body shape and weight prevailing in the West seem to be non-existent or uncommon in other cultures until such cultures begin to adopt the values of Western cultures (Apter et al., 1994). It is suggested that, in traditional non-Western societies, a relatively fat body is regarded as a sign of health and a symbol of prosperity (Dally & Gomez, 1979; Dolan, 1991; Lee, Hsu, & Wing, 1992). The cross-cultural studies available in this area however show mixed results; some of these have shown more positive body attitudes among non-Western females (e.g. Akan & Grilo, 1995; Furnham & Alibhai, 1983; Nasser, 1988), while there are some findings contrary to this (e.g. Davis & Yager, 1992; Mumford et al., 1992).
Studies conducted in the West during the last three decades reflect general agreement that 'thin is beautiful' and thinness is equated with youth, beauty, health, competence, self-control and a key to many social benefits (Bordo, 1993; Kilbourne, 1994; Stice & Bearman, 2001). Western women are said to be under continual social pressure to be slimmer (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, & Thompson, 1980; Wardle & Marsland, 1990), which results in marked emotional distress, appearance rumination and unhealthy weight control practices to the extent of unnecessary cosmetic surgery (Ohring, Graber, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002). In a survey of 803 American adult females, 50% reported dissatisfaction with their physical appearance, specifically with their weight (Cash & Henry, 1995). Bordo comments that three out of four American women perceive themselves to be overweight, while one study indicates that almost 80% of fourth grade girls are watching their weight (Kilbourne, 1994).
A small number of studies have been conducted on Asian females in the area of body image. Davis and Yager (1992) have drawn the attention of researchers to the paucity of research on issues relating to eating problems in non-Western cultures, especially in Asian countries. Of the studies that are available, most have sampled Asian females living in Western countries but many of these studies do not distinguish Asians of different origin (see e.g. Akan & Grilo, 1995; Haudek, Rorty, & Henker, 1999; Wardle, Bindra, Fairclough, & Westcombe, 1993). Treating them as a single group may lead to erroneous conclusions. Similarly, little work has been carried out on Muslim females with respect to body image. Islam very explicitly de-emphasizes the colour, shape and appearance of a person but attributes importance to actions (Ahmed, Waller, & Verduyn, 1994). Extramarital relations with the opposite sex are prohibited and women are required to dress in a manner that covers their entire bodies. Seid (1994) strongly criticizes Western trends in women's clothing as being responsible for enhancing Western women's obsession with slenderness.
The present research compares body image attitudes in Muslim Pakistani and non-Muslim Caucasian Australian young women. The only previous research conducted in Pakistan in this area focused on body shape concerns and prevalence of eating disorders among schoolgirls in comparison with British adolescent females (Mumford et al., 1992). The study found higher levels of unhealthy eating attitudes among Pakistani girls as compared with Caucasians, while the two samples were found comparable on body shape concerns--findings that seem contrary to common expectations in view of the cultural context of Pakistani/Muslim society. However, as the Pakistani sample came from very prestigious English-medium schools, it cannot be viewed as representative of the Pakistani female population. Further, the single measure that was used to assess body image in the study seems insufficient, given that the reliable measurement of body image is considered to require multiple measures (Altabe, 1998; Keeton, Cash, & Brown, 1990; Thompson, Penner, & Altabe, 1990). Nevertheless, the reported negative body shape attitudes and quite high ratio of disturbed eating patterns in samples that were previously thought to be less susceptible in adhering to the Western 'thin ideal', is rather alarming. Lack of research on these issues in such non-Western societies may result in under-identification of clinical problems in adolescents and young females and thereby pose a serious health risk for them. The present research employed both attitudinal and perceptual measures of body image, while comparing Pakistani young females of different social classes with Caucasian females. In Pakistan, government-funded institutions are Urdu-medium, traditional culturally and have English as a separate subject. Private institutions use English as a medium of...
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