Ms Phumelele Basi.A Beacon of Inspiration for Emerging Scholars
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The ‘slim-thick’ body ideal has emerged as a dominant standard shaping how young women perceive beauty and desirability.
Ms Phumelele Basi, a PhD candidate at UKZN, has contributed to this important conversation through her co-authorship of an article with Professor Deevia Bhana. This marks Basi’s first publication in a Q1 international journal, Teachers and Teaching, titled Slim-thick: Desires and Pressures in Pre-Service Female Students’ Accounts of Body Ideals.
Basi said: “I am incredibly proud and grateful to see my work published. This marks a significant milestone in my goal to contribute meaningful research with young people, gender, and education. None of this would have been possible without the support of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) programme, which provided essential writing workshops, retreats and mentorship. I am especially thankful to my supervisor, Professor Bhana - who chairs this programme - for her guidance and support. Looking ahead, I am excited to continue this journey, deepen my scholarly contributions, and collaborate further with Professor Bhana on future publications.”
The article was based on a qualitative study that explored bodily ideals among pre-service teachers in the context of digital media. “This focus on pre-service teachers is not very common,” Basi said: “especially as teacher education often avoids addressing their own body image experiences.” She continued: “By understanding what pre-service teachers say about digital media and body ideals, we can improve teacher education programmes - not only for these teachers, but for their future roles in creating gender-just learning environments.”
According to Basi, the ‘slim-thick’ body ideal remains a powerful aspiration for many young women, yet it is often unattainable. Her key recommendation is that teacher education programmes directly address digital beauty standards and the inequalities they reinforce.
“Pre-service teachers need to be equipped to understand and challenge these ideals so that they themselves and their learners can cultivate new ways of thinking about body ideals, gender norms and equality,” she said.
Basi hopes her study encourages future teachers to reflect on their own body image experiences and to help young learners critically examine the negative effects of beauty standards and bodily ideals.
Words: Sinoyolo Mahlasela
Photograph: Supplied