Modesty, Objectification, and Disordered Eating Patterns - A Comparative Study Between Veiled and Non-Veiled Muslim Women Residing in Kuwait.

BACKGROUND: The common thread running through all forms of sexual objectification is the experience of being treated as a body (or collection of body parts) valued predominantly for its use to (or consumption by) others. Girls and women who adopt a peculiar view of self, an effect called self-objectification may contribute to women's depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders. The objectives of the study are to investigate the impact of modesty (in terms of veiling, i.e. hijab) on objectification, by others and by the self, body image and behaviors indicative of eating disturbance of veiled and unveiled Muslim women in Kuwait.

METHODS: It is a community-based, cross-sectional study conducted through online survey. The respondents were females living in Kuwait.

RESULTS: Unveiled women experienced more objectification by others than veiled women. There were no significant differences found between veiled and unveiled women in self-objectification and eating disorder symptomatology. There is a negative significant relationship between modesty of clothing and objectification by others. No significant relationship was found between modesty of clothing and self-objectification and eating disorders scales. For the objectification by others scale, data shows that there is a positive relationship between this scale and eating disorders. Eating disorders were found to have a negative relationship with self-objectification.

CONCLUSION: The results of the study are significant as they clearly demonstrate a weak negative relationship between clothing preferences/affiliations and eating disorders.