SCHOLARLY ANALYSIS

Asian American women are often left out of conversations on body images and disordered eating because the experiences of white American women are used as the standard narrative for body image issues. However, Asian American women’s relationships with their bodies are greatly impacted by many factors different from white American women. In this project, seventeen Asian American women aged sixteen to twenty-three were interviewed about their experiences with body image and social media. They were asked a series of twelve questions prompting them to think critically about their relationships with their bodies, their identities, their relationships, and social media.

My original intent with this project was to find ways in which social media could be used to uplift the body images of Asian American women. After conducting my research through interviews and scholarly articles, I concluded that social media is more negative to women’s bodies than it is positive. Rather than use the answers I received from the participants to construct social media content, I digitally created images to turn their favorite photographs into art. Bodies are an art, and we often forget that. Using images the participants sent me, I digitally illustrated them with quotes about their favorite aspects of themselves. With this project, I hope to reinforce that Asian American women experience their bodies uniquely and start conversations about body image in our communities.