Do lesbian women have a better body image? Comparisons with heterosexual women and model of lesbian-specific factors

•Lesbian women reported less body dissatisfaction than did heterosexual women.•Lesbian women reported a larger ideal body size than did heterosexual women.•A conceptual model of sociocultural influences on lesbian body image was proposed.•Paths within a SEM model of culturally specific factors were not significant.•Limitations of available measures may explain lack of model fit.

Body dissatisfaction is prevalent among women but may be less common among lesbian women. Although research trends toward this conclusion when samples are well-matched and body mass index (BMI) is controlled for, many studies do not exhibit these characteristics. Furthermore, few studies have examined sociocultural contributors to group differences. I addressed limitations of past research with a large community sample of lesbian (n = 479) and heterosexual (n = 400) women. I contrasted the two sexual identity groups on several body dissatisfaction measures, and tested theoretically derived relationships between lesbian-specific cultural factors and body dissatisfaction. As predicted, lesbian women reported lower body dissatisfaction than did heterosexual women on three of four measures, and expressed a larger ideal body size. A structural equation model of lesbian-specific risk and protective factors for body dissatisfaction did not reveal significant relationships. This study represents a first attempt to model culturally specific influences on lesbian body image.