The subjective mirror: what is body image?

Body image is a complex construct that consists fundamentally of three dimensions: perceptive, cognitive-affective and behavioral. Current psychological knowledge considers that body image construction begins at an early age, and that it develops in different ways depending on gender, ethnicity, sexuality and the degree of (dis)ability, among other variables. The importance of the concept of body image lies in its great relevance in self-esteem and its implication in the genesis of problematic, very disabling conditions that have to do with one’s  relationship with their own body and with food. This does not only include eating disorders, such as anorexia (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN), or other nosological entities such as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), but a much broader and more prevalent range of psychological problems that cause great discomfort in the population and that are related by displeasing feelings towards the own body and a  dysfunctional emotional relationship with food and with the body. Psychology has proved the effectiveness of certain cognitive-behavioral  interventions for the improvement of body image, with effects that seem to be maintained in the long term. The concept of body image is  discussed in relation to diverse ontological and epistemological positions, including (post)constructionist postulates. It is argued that an  approach to interventionism in body image should be characterized by the normalization and hygienization of one’s relationship with the own body and understood as a source of empowerment in the sociopolitical plane.