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Feeling abnormal: Some participants went further than that in saying they felt ‘abnormal’
‘freakish’ ‘spoilt’ ‘substandard’ or ‘ruined’. Several men with psoriasis said that they looked ‘odd’;
felt ‘abnormal’ ‘rejected’ or ‘different’. Women said that they ‘felt abnormal’ or ‘would prefer to
look normal’. Others who felt abnormal named a variety of other causes: ‘freaky looking’ head,
‘different to others’ eyes and forehead, looking ‘like a skeleton’ because of baldness, a blind
right eye that ‘drifts the wrong way’, ‘disfigured looking’ hands or hips due to arthritis or odd
shaped toes. Interestingly, in this small sample, feeling abnormal was the issue that exercised
the greatest number of men.
Tone: Many female participants wrote about falling short of the ideal of the ‘taut, toned body’
(Bordo 1993). A lot of these women described their abdomen as ‘flabby’, ‘saggy’ or ‘wobbly’.
Other complaints included ‘saggy’ or ‘droopy’ breasts, ‘wobbly’ or ‘undefined’ thighs, upper arms
not being toned enough, and complaints about having a ‘sagging’ or ‘crêpey’ neck. Others do
not like the baggy skin under their eyes; or they feel generally untoned, e.g. after mastectomy.
What is striking in this category is the emotionally charged language in which many women
describe the way their body parts hang and move: ‘flabby’, ‘sagging’, ‘droopy boobs’ ‘fat and
wobbly’.
Proportions: Many women described their body as not balanced, or out of proportion. For some
this was because of a body part (waist, thighs, breasts) that was disproportionally too large in
comparison for the rest of the body, others felt that their legs were relatively too short, and for
several women, having differently sized breasts was an issue. Having a too short upper body,
too small breasts in relation to the overall body, being too broad and having too thin lips were
also issues. One woman described an overall sense of her body being out of proportion, with
eyes, mouth, nose too close together, over-sized breasts, short legs, big arms and small hands.
Smoothness: Skin conditions caused many respondents to fall short of the smooth-skinned
ideal, especially those with psoriasis who described their skin as rough, ‘scabby’ and ‘scaly’.
Several women were unhappy about cellulite, ‘lumpy’ or ‘dimpled’ thighs while several
participants felt they had a generally ‘bad complexion’. One woman with acne scars described
herself as feeling ‘like a knobbly-faced witch’. A few complained about unattractive, hard skin on
their feet.
Outline: Some participants felt that a body part spoiled the outline of the body. These could be
ears that ‘stick out’, an eye that ‘protrudes’ or an abdomen that ‘bulges’. One respondent felt
unhappy about her ‘protruding lower jaw’. Conditions that resulted in changes in posture (‘round
back’; ‘stooped shoulders’; ‘knocked knees’; ‘walk with a limp’) were also an issue.
Gender issues: For some participants appearance issues were strongly gendered. One male
respondent felt that he was small of build and not masculine enough, while women worried
about ‘masculine’ hair on the face or body (‘makes me feel freakish as women are not supposed
to be hairy’; ‘facial hair … not socially/ culturally acceptable on a woman’; ‘I am a woman and
don’t want hairs on my chin, chest and nipples;’ ‘The ‘Masculinity’ of the hair on my face’).
Another woman complained about having masculine hands; One woman also felt that small
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