Embodied Reflection: Emerging Adult Women’s Experience In Front of the Mirror

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is a unique period for the development of a woman's body image. Links between attachment relationships and body image are carried from childhood into emerging adulthood, a period when parents and culture factor prominently in the development of embodiment and the bodily self. This study reports on a racially diverse sample of twenty emerging adult women (age 18-23) who were interviewed using the Mirror Interview. Data were examined with reflexive thematic analysis. The five themes included pressure to adhere to the western body ideal, parental influence with the subthemes a) modeling after the parents and b) the influence of parental attitudes towards the child’s body, discomfort with one’s reflection, the need to continually change the body, and moving towards acceptance. Implications for emerging women’s embodiment and experiences of objectification are discussed. Our study expands upon body image literature by providing rich first-hand accounts of women’s experiences.