FEA TURED ARTICLE THE OBJECTIFIED BODY CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE Development and Validation

Using feminist theory about the social construction of the female body, a scale was developed and validated to measure objectified body con-sciousness (OBC) in young women ( N = 502) and middle-aged women ( N = 151). Scales used were (a) surveillance (viewing the body as an outside observer), (b) body shame (feeling shame when the body does not conform), and (c) appearance control beliefs. The three scales were demonstrated to be distinct dimensions with acceptable reliabilities. Sur-veillance and body shame correlated negatively with body esteem. Con-trol beliefs correlated positively with body esteem in young women and were related to frequency of restricted eating in all samples. All three scales were positively related to disordered eating. The relationship of OBC to women's body experience i s discussed. Because negative feelings toward their bodies take a heavy toll on women's economic, personal, and political lives (Wolf, 1991), body experience i