WOMEN’S BODY IMAGE IN QATAR: BETWEEN HEALTH-RELATED MOTIVES AND SOCIETAL PRESSURES

Abstract

Body image is the perception of one’s own body shape, size and general physical appearance, as well as the feelings and thoughts associated with such a perception. This research studies body images among young women in Qatar, who are actively engaging in fitness and sports routines. How the young Qatari women narrate their ‘ideal’ body image? What role do health-related concerns, social media and/or societal pressures more generally play in motivating women to seek to “re-shape” their bodies? The study examines the powerful impact of society in creating an ideal standardized, socially-accepted female body image while and discarding any other “non-conforming” body types as undesirable. It also explores whether this socially approved body image is attributed to healthy eating habits, thus investigating the role of health discourses in shaping women’s body images and practices. This study employs a qualitative methodology consisting of in-depth interviews and narratives from 20 participants, 10 nutritionists and 10 active Qatari women. The study analyzes how and why society, social media and health discourse affect women by creating an ‘idealized’ female body image and how this impacts women’s decisions and approaches to health and fitness. This study contextualizes the Qatari women’s narratives of loss of control over their own bodies and appearance. The study relies on a theoretical framework based on Michael Foucault’s work (Foucault 1977, 1980) on power and Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity (Butler, 1988) to understand the levers of social and cultural control exerted on the female body in Qatar._x000D_ Keywords: Body image, Qatari women, Social Media, Power, Body narratives.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Humanities and Social Science