Anxiety about body weight and shape, and related attempts to diet, start at an early age for females, and frequently take a serious toll on girls' and women's mental and physical well-being. Psychological research on women and body image has proliferated, yielding data on the prevalence and some of the psychosocial correlates of the phenomenon. This article argues that the existing explanatory theory and empirical research are severely limited in their explanations of the problem, and say even less about how individuals should respond to it. Drawing on feminist and hermeneutic perspectives, the article illustrates (a) how current theory and research is suffused with unacknowledged individualist ideology that leads to conceptual confusions and practical dilemmas and (b) how these approaches deflect attention away from the social, ethical, and political dimensions of the problem. The author argues that a hermeneutic view can help to clarify and deepen understanding of what is involved in women's body image struggles, and to articulate more fully the moral and ethical dimensions of body image struggles and their resolution.
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