Women Peak In Their Thirties As They Become More Confident With Their Body Image

Pick up any magazine and look at its cover page. Look at the advertisements shown on television. Look at all the models sashaying down the ramp. What you would see is common to all the three is young girls in their late teens or early twenties. Chances are that seeing all this, you would believe that the age at which women look and feel the best is early twenties. But this is not the truth. According to a new study conducted by Sanctuary Spa, a leading British firm dealing with skin and body care, it is in their thirties that women feel most confident about themselves. They are not only satisfied with their body image but are also confident about the way they are leading their lives.

They are blindly aping the styles of their fashion icons and are yet to find out what style suits them the best. It is only when they are in their thirties that they are generally settled with a husband and a family. They have come to terms with their body image. They are no longer in the experimentation mode and have found their own style. All this reflects in their confidence level. In fact, according to the study, the age at which the women are most satisfied with their body image is thirty four.  

For their study, the researchers interviewed 1,230 women. They were asked questions about their comfort levels with their body image. The researchers found that 40% of all the women who participated in the study looked at their naked image in the mirror every day. 25% of the participants confessed looking at themselves once a week while 16% said that they had never seen their naked body in the mirror. Among all the participants of the study, the women who were 34 years of age were the happiest with their naked reflections.

Apart from this study, a UK based study conducted by premium clothes brand CC has also found that women are the most confident around the age of thirty five. The study involved multiple experiments which analyzed different styles and looks of women. The common inference of these experiments was that women in their mid-thirties were far more confident about their style and image.

Confidence And Wisdom Play A Crucial Role In Developing Body Image

It is true that seeing all the young girls in advertisements and on the ramp, many women lie about their age. In fact, in the study done in UK, 16% of the participating women confessed that they regularly lie about their age. Despite this, more than one in ten women admitted that they grew more confident about their body image as they aged.

One in every three women believed that they looked their best when they were in their thirties while one in every ten women thought that they were at their best in their forties.

It is true that most of the latest fashion trends are dictated by women in their early twenties. This is because they are the ones who are chosen by fashion houses to be their models. Aping them, 59% women admitted dressing too young for their age.

Most of the models can fit into the category of being anorexic. An average fashion model’s weight is about 23% less than the weight of a normal woman. Even the body shape of mannequins has been altered to a great degree. In 1950s, the hip measurement of both average women and mannequins was 34 inches. But, the disparity between the sizes of the two has been increasing steadily. While in 1990s, the average hip measurement of women was around 37 inches, the average hip measurement of mannequins was reduced to 31 inches. If the mannequins made today are converted into real life beings, they would not menstruate and suffer from a whole lot of anorexia related diseases. The chances of a celebrity’s photo appearing in print media, without being airbrushed, are close to zero.

According to People’s magazine, 80% females feel insecure of their bodies after watching movies and television programs. Almost 50% of white women who are of normal weight consider themselves to be obese. They overestimate the size of their waists by about 25% and that of their hips by 16%.

Young girls in their early twenties struggle to align their body shape to those of models. Due to this, they suffer from various eating disorders like bulimia. They consider being obese worse than suffering from cancer or losing their parents.

But as the women reach their mid-thirties, most of them are comfortably settled, have a stable married life, a loving husband and children who love her unconditionally. This does wonders to her self-confidence. She has also gained wisdom that comes with age. 

It is believed that hormones also play a crucial role. Women in their twenties are worried about unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. They also have to worry about society’s reaction to her sexually promiscuous behavior. Therefore, despite their hormones being at the peak, they are a nervous lot. This also reflects on their body image. On the other hand, women in their mid-thirties are usually in stable relationships. Their confidence is reflected in the bedroom too and they enjoy sex much more than their young counterparts. All this adds up to the increased confidence these women have about their body image.