NEW YORK, June 20 — All music fans know just how much listening to music can affect our mood. But could music also help us overcome preconceived ideas about beauty and promote self-acceptance? According to a recent survey, it all depends on the artists and musical genres we listen to.
Within Health, a startup specialising in eating disorders, set to investigate whether music could help us break down body negativity. To do so, it analysed 165,559 songs included in 2,544 playlists on Spotify, whose titles refer to self-confidence and “body positivity;” or, on the contrary, to negative body image. It also surveyed over 1,000 people about the psychological impact of music on self-esteem.
It turns out that certain musical genres are more helpful than others in promoting self-love and breaking away from outdated, narrow body standards. One such genre is rock. Two-thirds of those in the survey who said they had a good self-image listened to rock music. Music from the 90s and pop are also among the most popular genres with music lovers who embrace body positivity, a line of thinking that celebrates diverse body types. Surprisingly, Latin music is among the least listened-to genre by respondents with a positive body image.
While the authors of the survey don’t speculate about potential reasons for Latin music not featuring higher in their findings, it could have something to do with the highly sexualised and stereotypical representations conveyed by certain songs in this musical genre. In 2021, Marta Lucia Ramirez, then Vice President of Colombia, was outraged by the “sexist, racist and misogynistic” nature of the lyrics and one of the videos of successful reggaeton singer J Balvin.
But this issue isn’t unique to Latin music. Many genres reinforce the caricatures of the “objectified woman” or the “ultra-virile man” in song lyrics or accompanying video clips. So it’s hardly surprising that 28 per cent of those surveyed by Within Health say that music videos have already had a negative impact on their body image.
The survey reveals that some songs are more conducive to boosting self-confidence than others, such as Demi Lovato’s Confident, Miley Cyrus’ Flowers and SZA’s Kill Bill. These songs feature in many playlists themed around self-esteem and body positivity, as do hits by Lizzo, Doja Cat, Ariana Grande and Nelly Furtado.
One small caveat: many of the tracks included in playlists whose titles refer to body image issues criticise beauty standards, rather than reinforcing them, which may skew the results of the study. It’s also important to bear in mind that everyone reacts differently to music, and that emotional responses vary according to an individual’s personality. A person with low self-esteem might find comfort in the messages found in songs of artists who advocated for the acceptance of all bodies, while another might not necessarily glean the same benefits. — ETX Studio
