Reclaiming Bodies, Reclaiming Voices: A Feminist Participatory Study on Adolescent Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Power in Bangladesh

This study, Reclaiming Bodies, Reclaiming Voices: A Feminist Participatory Study on Adolescent Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Power in Bangladesh, explores how beauty standards, social expectations, and power dynamics shape adolescents’ self-esteem and everyday experiences. Using a mixed-method feminist participatory approach, the research combined quantitative surveys with qualitative tools such as storytelling, body mapping, power analysis, and Rivers of Life exercises to capture both measurable trends and lived realities. Adolescents aged 11–16 and parents from diverse socio-economic backgrounds participated in the study, including marginalized groups such as adolescents with disabilities and youth from low-income households.
This study examines how beauty standards, gender norms, and social pressures shape adolescent self esteem in North Bengal, Bangladesh. Employing a mixed method feminist participatory design, the research combined a quantitative survey of 100 participants (40 girls, 40 boys, and 20 parents) with qualitative workshops, including focus group discussions, storytelling, body mapping, power analysis, and Rivers of Life exercises. Quantitative findings reveal widespread body dissatisfaction, with fair skin and slimness identified as dominant ideals. Girls reported higher levels of appearance related distress (18.7%) compared to boys (15.6%), while peer comparison emerged as a major driver of insecurity (34.8% of girls and 28.9% of boys). Qualitative narratives highlighted intersectional challenges linked to colorism, disability, and poverty, alongside resilience and critical awareness among adolescents. The study demonstrates that body image concerns extend beyond emotional distress, affecting academic concentration and social participation. By integrating feminist theory with behavioral science, this research contributes to global scholarship on adolescent psychology and feminist participatory methodologies. It underscores the need for gender transformative, media literate interventions that promote self acceptance and challenge harmful beauty norms in South Asian contexts.

Adolescent Body Image, Self-Esteem, Feminism, Participatory Study, Empowerment

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