<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Body image worries hit Zulu women
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South African women were influenced by media images
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The Western perception that thinness equals beauty is now influencing black South African women, psychologists have claimed.
Traditionally, it was seen as desirable for women to have fuller figures.
But a study presented to the British Psychological Society Conference suggests TV images of skinny Western women are having a profound impact.
Women told researchers they were dissatisfied with their bodies and wanted to be thinner.
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Women want to be thin because for the first time ever, they feel they can choose for themselves what size they want to be
Julie Seed, University of Northumbria
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->Weight was traditionally regarded as a symbol of prosperity and status in rural South Africa.
Psychologists from Northumbria University and South Africa's University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal conducted the research.
They interviewed 17 women, all aged around 21, from the university.
Many said they were following the Western idea of "thinness equals beauty" and wanted to be attractive to the opposite sex.
Others said they wanted to wear the latest designer fashions, which are only made in smaller sizes.
An earlier study by researchers from the universities found high levels of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes among black women in rural South Africa.
'Attraction'
Julie Seed, an expert in eating disorders at Northumbria University and a member of the team that carried out the study, said: "The most common reason given was that they are following the Western ideal of 'thinness equals beauty' because they think that this is how men want them to look now.
"The common perception is that young black males prefer thin women, and because of this, the women feel they have no choice but to lose weight in order to appear attractive to the opposite sex."
She added: "Secondly, they want to appear more modern and wear modern clothing which is only manufactured in smaller sizes.
"More traditional Zulu outfits are designed to fit all but there is the impression that in wearing these outfits they will appear old fashioned and 'like my mother', as one participant highlighted."
She said women were teased by friends and family if they were considered overweight.
But Ms Seed said many women saw being thin as a rebellion against male pressure in society.
"Women want to be thin because for the first time ever, they feel they can choose for themselves what size they want to be.
"For years, males had dictated their daughters', wives' and partners' size.
"Now, with the Westernisation of the country and the abolition of apartheid, women feel they are more empowered and they themselves have the power to choose their own size."
But she added: "This perception is rather at odds with their statements about wanting to be thin in order to attract men.
"If this is true, then it is still the males that are dictating female body shape and size - it's just at a more covert level." A spokesman for the UK's Eating Disorders Association told BBC News Online: "This certainly reflects research carried out in Fiji in the early 1990s which found that when TV arrived in the islands there was a dramatic shift in what was perceived as a good body image. "It affected self-esteem, and the incidence of bulimia rose significantly." <!-- E BO -->
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