When thin is not thin enough: Body image pressures among adolescents

What do you say when your underweight friend tells you she wants to lose even more weight? What if her goal is to become so thin that her leggings hang loosely on her body? She tells you that for her being that thin would be necessary to feel beautiful. In recent years, beauty standards in Korea have shifted in subtle but troubling ways. Not too long ago, people spoke of the “thigh gap,” the space between the thighs that appears when someone is extremely thin. For many young women, that gap came to symbolize beauty and desirability. Today, however, these standards have become increasingly narrow and exacting. The goal is no longer simply to be thin, but to be thin enough that clothing intended to fit snugly drapes around a fragile frame. For some young people, this may sound far-fetched. For others, it has become an aspiration. Adolescence is a particularly sensitive period for body image development. As adolescents undergo puberty, their bodies change rapidly, and they begin to form their sense of identity, which includes how others perceive them. These overlapping pressures creat

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