August 5th, 2021, Milan Dinic
Six in ten Britons think the media are promoting unattainable body image expectations, and eight in ten say the fashion industry has harmed appearance perceptions
The media – whether it’s print, TV or online – is often blamed for promoting “ideal” body images that contribute to unrealistic expectations and standards about the way a body should look.
The YouGov Body Image Study finds that more than eight in ten Britons (83%) think the media promotes an unattainable female body image, and nearly two-thirds (64%) say the same of male body image.
Among women aged 16-24, as many as 84% think the media are encouraging unachievable expectations of what a female body should be like, while 67% think it’s the same situation for men. Although men in the same age group are about as likely to think the media is creating unrealistic standards for male beauty (68%), they are less likely than their female peers to think the media is doing so for female beauty (70%).
When it comes to the influence of fashion companies, eight in ten (80%) say that they too have had a negative impact on perceptions of body image. Only 5% think they have made a positive impact, with 11% saying neither.
There is a significant gap between younger men and women: 67% of men aged 16-24 and 74% of men aged 25-39 think the fashion companies have had a negative impact, while this goes up to 79% and 84% among women in the same age groups. There is almost no difference in the percentage of men and women 40 and older who share this view.
Seven in ten (71%) Britons say women are under more pressure than men to have a certain type of physical appearance – with 76% of women compared to 66% of men holding this view. A quarter (24%) of Britons think both men and women experience the same pressures.
Again, there is a very big difference in opinion between younger men and women. Among 16-39-year-old women, 72-74% say members of their gender are more under pressure to have a certain appearance. Among men the same age notably fewer (49-54%) say women are more exposed to pressures to have a certain body type. The gap narrows among men and women in their 40s and 50s (70% vs 78%), and there is no difference between men and women in their 60s and older (80% vs 78%).
Slightly more men (27%) than women (21%) say the pressure to have a similar body type is similar for both genders.
We also asked Britons directly if they felt pushed to have a certain body type. Half (51%) say they felt a great deal or somewhat pressured to do so, with women significantly more likely to say so than men (61% vs 40%).
Women aged 16-24 (40%) and 25-39 (30%) are significantly more likely than men of the same age (12-14%) or women over 40 (5-13%)) to report feeling a great deal of expectation to have a specific body appearance.
Fewer than one in five Britons (18%) say they feel under no strain to have a certain body type, with this view more likely to apply to men (23%) than to women (13%).