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It is widely believed that body image issues affect the emotional and psychological well-being of adolescents to a great extent. In the face of deeply entrenched normative beauty standards, teenagers’ struggles with body image issues can be extremely damaging. This study assessed the impact of an interactive online workshop involving the creation and sharing of ‘self-portraits’ on the body image of urban Indian female teenagers, aged 13 to 16. Data were gathered in the form of photographs of the participants’ artworks, their comments about each other’s artworks, as well as responses to a short open-ended questionnaire. This study revealed that the workshop was helpful in encouraging the participants to acknowledge their sense of isolation in dealing with body image issues. Furthermore, they greatly benefitted from a platform that gave them the opportunity to express their feelings and understand that they were not alone in their struggles. This empowered them to move towards self-acceptance and a desire to redefine unrealistic beauty standards. Ultimately, this study validated the value of the workshop in helping teenagers deal with their body image issues through creative means. In the future, regular sessions should be held to address teenagers’ body image issues through creative means and provide them with support in facing the pressures of prevalent beauty standards. As parents could inadvertently be contributing to their children’s body image issues, this study also proposed efforts to educate parents on the promotion of body positivity in their children. “Wait... Do you have a moustache?” Little did I know that this seemingly innocuous question would cause me, a 12-year-old girl at the time, to develop an intense dislike for my upper lip hair. I would literally stare at it in the mirror for hours on end, wishing it were never there. At 13, when I hit puberty, my preoccupation with my body image shifted to my widening hips and thighs. It was only partially assuaged by a comment that “boys find large hips attractive”, though my large thighs continued to cause me grief. All around me, friends were dieting and showing off their latest exercises for losing weight. Amidst this relentless pressure to achieve the “slim ideal”, it seemed impossible for me to love my body the way it was at any given time.

Impact of ‘Self-Portrait’ Creation and Discussion Workshop on Body Image of Indian Female Teenagers