A Systematic Review of Approaches to Deconstructing Dominant Body Ideals

The body ideal as an academic concept encompasses a range of desired body descriptions, including body shapes, weight and muscle mass, as well as gender expressions, e.g., makeup, and sex features. Concerning the socially constructed nature of various body ideals, e.g., thinness, by the commercial, media, and state sectors that continue to lead to poor body image and problems of eating disorders, over-consumption among youngsters, the deconstruction of body ideals needs to be examined. Consequently, a systematic review is undertaken to investigate (1) which dominant body ideals have been constructed, (2) which body image have been shaped with exposure to such ideals, (3) which social construction factors have informed body ideal formation, and (4) what deconstruction techniques were tried to deconstruct those beauty/aesthetic ideals. Studies (n = 38) were selected by searching through four social science databases using the search word combinations of “body ideal” or “body image” and “social construction” or “socially constructed” and “deconstruction” or “deconstructed”. Findings summarize a range of dominant body ideals, including thinness, whiteness, muscularity, big breasts, tallness, while being fat/overweight and having dark skin are the body image formed under exposure to such ideals. Media, commercial ads, and public language are found to be influential discourses that sustain such body ideals, and counter-narratives, as well as body reflection, have been the major deconstruction attempts, according to scholars’ documentation. The study argues for the sustenance of post-colonial body hierarchies in contemporary times, pointing to a need for more scholarly work on the topic of body ideals in geographically diverse areas, with a greater adoption of multiple types of data and the body as a target of intervention or treatment.