“‘Girls should be like this’: Impacts of Beauty Standards on Adolescent Girls in Goa, India” — Body dissatisfaction is a well-established risk factor for eating disorders, depression, and substance use, especially during adolescence. Body dissatisfaction is unusually prevalent among Indian adolescent girls—a high concern considering India is home to one-fifth of the world’s adolescent population (25 years or younger). Yet what we currently know about body dissatisfaction in India mainly comes from research with adults in urban areas using quantitative methods.

In this talk, CSWS research fellow Sammy Plezia highlights findings from one-on-one interviews with Indian adolescent girls aged 13–17 years in the culturally diverse state of Goa, a former Portuguese colony composed of semi-urban and rural villages. Plezia interviewed 19 girls in three languages in the summer of 2024. Their perspectives on gender differences in beauty expectations, sources of body appreciation, and weight-based bullying will be discussed, alongside findings about their preferences for forthcoming mental health interventions.

Plezia is a second-year counseling psychology PhD student whose research focuses on eating disorders and global mental health. She previously attended Brown University, earning her bachelor’s degree in public health and Hispanic studies, and worked as a Fulbright-Nehru research fellow at Sangath in Goa, India.

12–1 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 12  |  330 Hendricks Hall |  1408 University Street, Eugene