Table 5.
Prevalence of low body image-related comfort with sex among men and women.
| White % |
Hispanic % |
Black % |
Asian % |
Underweight % |
Normal % |
Overweight % |
Obese I % |
Obese II % |
Obese III % |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Sex Appeal: My body is sexually appealing (Disagree) | 26 (30) | 23 (22) | 15 (20) | 22 (25) | 23 (25) | 13 (10) | 17 (27) | 44 (45) | 59 (58) | 77 (66) |
| Low Nude Appearance Satisfaction: I like the way I look without my clothes on (Disagree) | 37 (50) | 35 (43) | 22 (39) | 32 (39) | 31 (29) | 21 (25) | 29 (52) | 58 (72) | 72 (78) | 86 (83) |
| Low Sexual Acceptability: Body image affects: My feelings of acceptability as a sexual partner (Negative Effect) | 29 (36) | 22 (23) | 17 (29) | 22 (24) | 27 (37) | 19 (21) | 22 (35) | 41 (49) | 50 (55) | 60 (58) |
| Low Sexual Enjoyment: Body image affects: My enjoyment of my sex life (Negative Effect) | 25 (32) | 22 (24) | 14 (28) | 20 (20) | 27 (34) | 16 (18) | 19 (31) | 38 (43) | 38 (48) | 53 (53) |
| Hetero. % |
Gay/Lesbian % |
Bisexual % |
Other % |
Married % |
Cohabit % |
Dating One % |
Dating Multiple % |
Not Involved % |
Widow % |
|
| Low Sex Appeal: My body is sexually appealing (Disagree) | 24 (28) | 31 (33) | 34 (28) | - (39) | 24 (28) | 22 (25) | 18 (21) | 10 (15) | 34 (38) | - (43) |
| Low Nude Appearance Satisfaction: I like the way I look without my clothes on (Disagree) | 35 (47) | 47 (47) | 45 (49) | - (49) | 36 (50) | 32 (44) | 27 (39) | 18 (13) | 45 (54) | - (59) |
| Low Sexual Acceptability: Body image affects: My feelings of acceptability as a sexual partner (Negative Effect) | 26 (34) | 45 (35) | 37 (40) | - (37) | 23 (32) | 24 (33) | 19 (28) | 11 (30) | 40 (47) | - (45) |
| Low Sexual Enjoyment: Body image affects: My enjoyment of my sex life (Negative Effect) | 22 (30) | 40 (29) | 34 (35) | - (25) | 21 (30) | 19 (30) | 14 (23) | 11 (20) | 36 (38) | - (35) |
Note. In each cell, the first number represents the percentage of men who fell into the categories generally associated with poor body image (e.g., % disagreeing with the statement “My body is sexually appealing”). The second number in parentheses represents the percentage of women. For example, 26% of White men (and 30% of White women) report low sex appeal. Only data for cells with at least 40 participants are shown.