You may have seen the billboard on Interstate 15 offering cosmetic services with the slogan “God’s remodeling his temple. Isn’t it time to remodel yours?,” or heard the supposed “statistic” that Salt Lake City has more plastic surgeons per capita than Los Angeles, or that Utahns Googled “breast augmentation” at the highest rate in the nation.
You may know the rationale put forth by some that such beauty enhancements are done primarily by those not involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After all, argue Latter-day Saint defenders, the church is “pro-body” and teaches that humans were created in the image of God.
So what’s the reality?
According to two Brigham Young University researchers, about 14% of Latter-day Saint respondents have had major cosmetic surgery — including breast augmentations, tummy tucks and liposuction — and 20% have undergone cosmetic enhancements such as laser hair removal, Botox injections or skin procedures.
That’s not off the charts, but it is above the national average, which is 4% for cosmetic surgery.
These conclusions are reported in a newly published survey — “Bodies at Church: Latter-day Saint Doctrine, Teaching, and Culture as Related to Body Image,” by Sarah Coyne and Lauren Barnes, professors at BYU’s School of Family Life — from the Utah Women & Leadership Project.
Their research, the authors say, represents the largest study ever on potential connections among Latter-day Saint religion doctrine, culture and body image.
Overall, researchers conducted 126 face-to-face interviews with church members — women and men — and gathered 1,333 online surveys from respondents (primarily women) discussing their feelings regarding the church and their own body image.
By and large, these were not BYU students, Coyne says in an interview. The researchers sought to create a nationwide sample of various ages, races and perspectives.
They wanted an overall snapshot, she says, of how Latter-day Saints view the church and its approach to body image, and how the institution could “improve body image among girls, young women, and women in Utah and beyond.”
The subtle impact of Mormonism
Religion, in general, “tends to be protective of body image. In fact, individuals who report being more spiritual or religious tend to have much more positive body image than those who report lower levels,” the authors write. “Given the established trends, Latter-day Saint individuals should have a very high body image.”
Yet, Coyne and Barnes note an “interesting paradox” among the respondents.
“Individuals are regularly engaging with cosmetic surgery or enhancements to improve appearance,” they observe, despite apostle Jeffery Holland’s guidance to not be obsessed with “tucking and nipping and implanting and remodeling everything that can be remodeled.”
Some respondents say they turned to cosmetic surgery for religious reasons, even praying about it.
One woman who underwent nose surgery and breast augmentation told researchers: “I prayed, asking God if it was the right thing to do. I felt very comforted that it was right, and there was nothing that I was doing to offend God.”
(Courtesy) Sarah Coyne, a professor in Brigham Young University's School of Family Life, says she decided to study body image after her then-3-year-old daughter asked her, "Do you think I'm fat?"
Indeed, Coyne and Barnes discovered a subtle religious impulse in individuals’ decisions to enhance their bodies: the need for perfection.
Respondents who were most likely to have had cosmetic surgery “were those who were wealthy [since such procedures can be costly] and who also had the highest religious salience,” the researchers explain. “These individuals were highly religious. …However, they may erroneously believe that religion is tied to perfection in a variety of ways, including physical appearance or finances, and they may attempt to conform to what is referred to as the ‘thin ideal’ in United States culture.”
For them, “appearing to be a perfect, worthy, righteous member of the church means ‘looking the part’ as well,” the BYU scholars explain. “... It might be what some call Utah’s ‘perfection culture’ that quietly whispers, ‘You aren’t good enough the way you are.’”
Other findings
Coyne and Barnes also explored issues surrounding discussions of modesty, temple garments, the faith’s Word of Wisdom health code and Utah culture.
Other findings include:
• When asked about the language of modesty, participants describe feeling “judged.” Some 30% see modesty as having a positive impact on their own body image, with 47% report it as a negative. They feel better about “modesty,” when leaders focus on “respect, empowerment and humility.”
• Some 30% describe wearing garments — underclothing worn by faithful Latter-day Saints — as having a negative effect on their body image, making them feel “frumpy” or “unattractive.”
• Nearly 6 in 10 (57%) say the Word of Wisdom tended to have a positive impact on body image.
• For many, Beehive State culture is viewed as being particularly “toxic” in terms of body image, especially given that it is “far less diverse in terms of race, clothing and body shape and size.”
What you and LDS leaders can do
These are among the recommendations that researchers listed for how individuals and Latter-day Saint leaders could improve body image within church culture.
• Engage in open conversations around how church practices (such as garments, the Word of Wisdom, modesty) are related to body image.
• Emphasize acceptance, love and warmth.
• Focus on attachment to God as a primary way to reduce body image concerns.
• Celebrate and encourage diversity.
• Focus on principles when teaching about modesty as opposed to practices.
Changing the rhetoric
Coyne says she was prompted toward the study of body image years ago when her then-3-year-old daughter asked her: “Do you think I’m fat?”
From that day forward, the BYU professor says, she wanted to understand how Latter-day Saints could be influenced by societal standards on thinness and beauty, and how they might better embrace beliefs about the inherent divinity of their bodies.
For Coyne, completing this project has been “healing.”
Her favorite interviews, she says, were with women in their 60s, “who had a body positivity I found refreshing.”
It’s past time to shift conversations about bodies and sexuality — especially the messages from social media — to be less judgmental, she says, “and a little kinder.”
But, Coyne says with a sigh, Latter-day Saint men and women “still have a long way to go.”