1. Resilient Bodies:
Social Identities and
Body Esteem in Young
Sexual Minority Women
Michelle Marie Johns, MPH
Sara I. McClelland, PhD
José Arturo Bauermeister, MPH, PhD

2. What is Body Esteem?
• “an individual’s self-evaluation of their body
or appearance”
• Multi-dimensional
o Body Appearance
o Body Weight
o Body Attribution
• Related constructs: body image, body
satisfaction
(Mendelson et al., 2001; 2002)

3. Why Public Health?
• Gender socialization
o Objectification & the Thin Ideal
o Femininity Ideology
• Gendered Health outcomes
o Self esteem
o Over-exercising
o Eating disorders
(Bergeron & Senn, 1998; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Furnham et al, 2002; Garner et al, 1980;
Homan, 2010; Hudson et al., 2007; Kroon van Diest & Perez, 2013; Mendelson et al., 2002;
Strelan et al., 2003;Thome & Espelage, 2004; Thompson et al., 2004 Tolman & Porche, 1997)

4. Sexual Minority Women
and Body Esteem
• Owens et al. (2002): Lesbian-identified women reported
better body image and fewer signs of disordered eating
• Peplau et al. (2004): Sexual minority women less
preoccupation with being overweight
• Wagenbach (2004): Sexual minority women reported less
concern with physical appearance
But WHY?

5. Gender and Body Esteem
• Sexual minority women & deviations from
hegemonic gender norms
o Coming out process
o Intersection of sexual and gender identities
(Diamond & Butterworth, 2008; Diamond et al., 2011;
Krakaeur & Rose, 2002; Striepe & Tolman, 2000)

6. LGBTQ Community
Connectedness & Body Esteem
• “social and relational ties” between sexual and
gender minorities
• Broad health protective effect
o Identity affirmation
o Social support
• Among sexual minority women,
exposure to alternative body norms
(Cogan, 1999; Ferris, 2006; Herek, 2009; Johns et al., 2013;
Kertzner et al., 2009; Krakauer & Rose, 2002;
Rosario et al., 2001; Rothblum 2004)

7. Research Questions
1. What is the relationship between gender (e.g.,
role, adherence) and body esteem in YSMW?
2. What is the relationship between LGBTQ
community connectedness and body esteem in
YSMW?
3. What, if any, are the moderating effects of gender
on the relationship between LGBTQ community
connectedness and body esteem?

8. Methods

9. Study & Eligibility Criteria
• Michigan Smoking and Sexuality Survey (n =
232)
• Michigan Resident
• Age 18-24
• Sex/ Gender: Cis- or woman born woman
• Sexual Minority
o Sexual identity: Any non-heterosexual identity
OR
o Sexual behavior: had a sexual experience w/ a woman in
the past year

10. Sample Characteristics

15. Measures

16. Body Esteem
Comfort with
Body Weight
α = .93
Body
Attribution
Body Shame
α = .82
α = .78
(Mendelson et al., 1997; 2001; 2002)

17. Gender
• Gender Role/ Identity
o Single Item, ““On a scale from 1 to 9, where 1 is extremely
feminine and 9 is extremely masculine, how would you describe
yourself at this point in your life?”
o x̄ = 4.22, sd = 1.66
• Femininity Ideology
o Tolman and Porche (2009), Inauthentic Self in Relationship (ISR)
scale
o Response options: Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
o 7- items, α = .77, x̄ = 3.52, sd = .94
o E.g., “Often I look happy on the outside in order to please others,
even if I don’t feel happy on the inside”

18. LGBTQ Community Connection
• Single Item, “How much do you see yourself
personally as being part of the local LGBTQ
community?”
• Response options: Not at all (0) to A lot (3)
• x̄ = 1.15, sd = 0.99

19. Data Analysis
• Ordinary Least Squares Regression
o Outcomes: Comfort with Body Weight, Body Attribution, Body
Shame
o Predictors
• Model 1: Gender Role, Adherence to Femininity, LGBTQ
Community Connectedness
• Model 2: +Gender Role * LGBTQ Community Connectedness
o Demographic Controls: Age, Race, Urbanicity, Sexual Identity,
Identity Importance

20. Results

21. Key Relationships
Body Weight
Body Shame
Main Effects
Model
Beta
SE
Gender
Role
Fem
Ideology
Sexual ID
LGBTQ
Conn
GR * LC
R-Square
F-Statistic
Int Effects Model Main Effects Model Int Effects Model
Beta
SE
Beta
SE
Beta
SE
.051
.077
.040
.076
.006
.067
.013
.067
-.133†
.075
-.155*
.074
.272***
.065
.288***
.065
.181*
.078
.157*
.077
-.115†
.068
-.098
.068
.217**
.073
-.153*
.064
.088
.125
.134
.157
2.295*
3.025**
3.677***
3.958***

22. Comfort with Body Weight
Gender Role*LGBTQ Community
Connectedness  Body Weight

23. Gender Role*LGBTQ Community
Connectedness  Body Shame

24. Discussion

25. Key Findings
• Hegemonic femininity (role, adherence) linked with
poor body esteem
• LGBTQ community connection linked with positive
body esteem
• Masculine-identified women experience strongest
protective affect of LGBTQ community connection

26. Heteronormativity
(Jackson, 2006; Rubin, 1975 )

27. Future Research
• Qualitative research w/ masculine & feminine
identified women
• Longitudinal research on community
connectedness, gender role/ identification, body
esteem

28. Acknowledgements
• Dr. José Bauermeister and the Center for Sexuality
and Health Disparities (SexLab)
• Dr. Sara McClelland and the PROGRESSLab

29. Questions
Email: johnsmm@umich.edu

30. Body Esteem (1):
Factor Loading
Mean (SD)
2.81 (1.12)
Comfort with Body Weight (α = .93)
I really like what I weigh.
.853
2.57 (1.28)
I am satisfied with my weight.
.842
2.66 (1.22)
I feel I weight the right amount for my height.
.811
2.65 (1.32)
My weight makes me unhappy.*
-.757
2.91 (1.31)
Weighing myself depresses me.*
-.749
3.11 (1.44)
I am preoccupied with trying to change my
body weight.*
-.633
2.95 (1.22)
(Mendelson et al., 1997; 2001; 2002)

31. Measures of Body Esteem (2)
Factor Loading
Mean (SD)
3.10 (0.99)
Body Attribution (α = .82)
People my own age like my looks.
.836
3.29 (0.96)
Other people consider me good looking.
.726
3.36 (0.92)
My looks help me to get dates.
.683
2.81 (1.18)
I like what I look like in pictures.
.555
2.91 (0.96)
(Mendelson et al., 1997; 2001; 2002)

32. Measures of Body Esteem (3)
Factor Loading
Mean (SD)
2.73 (0.99)
Body Shame (α = .78)
I wish I could look like someone else.
.738
2.44 (1.22)
I feel ashamed of how I look.
.617
2.59 (1.22)
I worry about the way I look.
.566
3.16 (1.11)
(Mendelson et al., 1997; 2001; 2002)