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The Development Of Body Image In Dancers: Examining Gesture's Role In Conveying Body Image, Valeria Albano

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Body image and body dissatisfaction is an issue in western countries. Many females, especially dancers, have been objectified by a cultural stereotype of a thin body and being referred to as “skin and bones”. Recently, body disturbances have been reported in children as young as six years old. Children this young may be unaware that they are expressing these negative thoughts about their bodies and thus, the measures assessing body image are challenging to analyze. Another line of research has shown that children spontaneously produce hand gestures when narrating stories, solving math problems, or explaining scientific ideas. Moreover, children convey …