Body image and Black African women: A comparative study of Kenya and Nigeria

Abstract

Very few cross-national studies on body image focus on Black African women. In this study, a comparative analytical approach and sociocultural theory framework was utilized in examining measures of body image among 209 Kenyan and Nigerian women aged 18-69 (M = 34.4, SD = 7.81). We examined both weight-related and non-weight-related aspects of appearance, including hair texture, skin tone, and other racialized features. The regional samples were compared on scores of internalized Eurocentric beauty ideals, skin color satisfaction, objectified body consciousness, racialized body image satisfaction, and other demographic metrics. Kenyan and Nigerian women showed differences across multiple body image measures. Nigerian women showed thinner body ideals compared to Kenyan women and also endorsed higher skin color satisfaction, racialized body dissatisfaction, and internalized Eurocentric beauty idealization. Kenyan women showed higher levels of objectified body consciousness. An indirect effect of nationality was observed with internalized Eurocentric beauty ideals mediating differences in racialized body dissatisfaction and objectified body shame. Attention to regional variation in appearance satisfaction may deepen understandings of the particular sociocultural influences impacting body image among populations of Black African women.

Keywords: Africa; Beauty Ideals; Black Women; Body Image Satisfaction; Objectified body consciousness.