Young Women’s Experience of Body-Hatred: Stigma and Shame

Abstract

This chapter attempts to get a little nearer to the experience of contemporary young women in relation to their bodies and their looks. The previous three chapters have considered the major themes in the construction of contemporary young femininity that contribute to the negative interpretations of their appearances which girls display. This chapter will report on conversations with young women, some of whom are diagnosed as suffering from appearance disturbance difficulties and some who are ‘normal’ sixth-formers.