Body Image and Media responsibility?

Great discussion from greatist.com

This week, news broke that Abercrombie’s CEO Mike Jeffries had no interest in marketing his clothing to plus-size women. In response, media outlets across the globe expressed outrage, some labeling Jeffries an “asshole” for making women feel unwelcome in his store. Almost immediately, a petition appeared on Change.orgasking Jeffries to “stop telling teens they aren’t beautiful.”

The Abercrombie debacle came right on the heels of H&M’s controversial decision to feature a plus-size model, Jennie Runk, in its advertisements. Meanwhile,department stores across North America and Europe have made headlines in the last few months for using mannequins that better resemble real people than Popsicle sticks.

At a time when many people, especially women, suffer from negative body image, all this news points to an essential question: Are marketers and media really responsible for making or breaking our self-esteem?

CLICK HERE to read more.

We have body issues

Great comic from Colleen Clark which I had passed on through my Adios Barbie feed

CLICK HERE to read the whole comic. It's really good.

More 'Dove real Beauty'

You might like the real Beauty campaign that Dove uses ( CLICK HERE) . I like it. But I would like to point out an ethical dilemma regarding the use of this campaign. Dove's parent company also owns the AXE brand that makes advertisements like the one below. Hmmmmm conflict of ethics??

Cosmo media effect on women's sexual attitudes

I know many of us have had these discussions lots and lots. Conversations about how mags like Cosmo focus on sex and 
relationship tips; about its seemingly constant focus on

 “pleasing your man” and “changing your body”. I find

 myself frequently left wondering why it isn’t focused on 

“pleasing yourself” and “enjoying your body for what it 

can do”.

Well... Here is a nice article about just this issue. Short and sweet and worth a read. Go HERE to read more. Warning... you might be surprised at the findings.

Classic Photoshopping

Racism/body image/culture

Really good article by Noel Duan on the pressures to look thin' like the asian girls are' is tied up with all sorts of our own body image issues and cultural myths and expectations. have a read CLICK HERE

Best Bathroom Mirror Ever

Thanks to Equality Rights Alliance for reposting this image originally from little monsters

Sexualising MandMs???

Yep;

Even our funl ittle packet of MandMs is sexualised. I hadnt even considered this until I read this posting from About Face.

Most everyone loves MandMs. They’re delicious, colorful, melt-in-your-mouth goodness… Right? That was my opinion, until I realized just how sexist the characterization of America’s favorite candy really is.
Sexism comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be as prominent as the wage gap or as subtle as the words “manmade” or “mankind.” It’s important to recognize that subtle sexism is no less dangerous than sexism that is unmistakable. Sometimes, we have to focus on the tiny manifestations of sexism in order to understand how it becomes a larger, more systematic problem.

Green MandM's high-heeled, knee-high boots, luscious lips, and long, accentuated eyelashes make her a symbol of sex appeal.

This week’s culprit? MandMs.

Shocking, I know. How can that familiar, delicious morsel of chocolate encased in a shiny candy shell be harmful to gender equality? I had this epiphany last week as I toured MM World in New York City. Suddenly confronted with an (arguably unhealthy) abundance of MandM merch, I realized that the MM characters are — gasp! — mostly men. 1 of the 5 original MandM characters is a woman. That’s only 20%.

Red Dwarf and Body Image

There's an episode of Red Dwarf where the crew of the ship get hooked on a virtual reality game called 'Life'. They wear a headset and experience the game as if it's real. Everything in the virtual reality world is exactly how they want it - they have all the money and luxury and admiration they've ever wanted. Meanwhile, their real bodies are wasting away because they stop eating or sleeping or talking to each other.

If you're heavily influenced by media pressure to look a certain way, you live in the same kind of game. Except the world is far from perfect and you are continually promised the money, the luxury and the admiration you crave. The game is fixed so you're forever chasing something you can never really reach. Meanwhile, real life is passing you by and your real self is withering away and so are your genuine connections with other people.

Thanks to Sue Thomason and The Huffington Post for this post.

Beauty Is Inside

Have a look at the facebook page 'Beauty Is Inside'. It has some great messages and links. Including this picture and quote:

“I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me. And it has nothing to do with what I look like really, it is just that I gave myself the power to say that I am beautiful, and if I could do that, maybe there is hope for them too. And the great divide between the beautiful and the ugly will cease to be. Because we are all what we choose.” - Margaret Cho

Wow - Vacuum Cleaner Advertisement

You may have already seen this viral advertisement about a vacuum cleaner that sucks fat away. Is it harmless/harmful? Watch the ad and then read this review. What are your thoughts?
Thanks to about-face.org for this.

Ugly or Pretty

Thanks to Adios Barbie for posting this. I have just shared it with you.


By Sayantani DasGupta
What if everyone was beautiful? No, I don’t mean inner beauty, prettiness that shines from the inside out. I mean, wide eyes, perfect noses, proportionate bodies, and symmetrical faces. The same approximate height, weight, skin color? Could making everyone look the same even the social and economic playing fields?
But human variety is important—it would be boring for everyone to be conventionally pretty, you say.
Well, what if we upped the stakes? What if making everyone beautiful could help stop bullying or eliminate eating disorders? What if it eradicated racism, prejudice, or even brought an end to all war and conflict?
Would it be worth it then?
Young adult (YA) author Scott Westerfeld spins these possibilities, and more, into his novel Uglies.

Go here to read more...

vulvalovelovely

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the vulva needs to be included in our discussions about body image.

Here is a young woman discussing this very thing. have a look.

Body image - also includes vulva

Don't forget body image also includes vulvas: Something we often overlook, particularly in our conversations with young women. I recently came across this from SCARLETEEN


Introduction:
Freaking out because you think something must be wrong with your labia? Think again!
Author:
Heather Corinna

If we had to make a list of the top five questions we've gotten at the site over the last few years, "What's wrong with my labia?" would come right on the heels of "Am I pregnant?" "What's sex like?" and "Is it okay for me to have sex/masturbate?" and sit just in front of "Is my penis too small?" Whether more women are just asking about it than before, or concerns are growing, we've been seeing more and more -- often unfounded -- worries about labia as the years have gone by.
Here are some recent questions and comments we've had from women concerned about their labia:
I think my vagina lips are not normal. My inner lips are way way bigger then my outer ones! It wasn't like that when I was little! It really bugs me. I won't even let my boyfriend touch me there, cause I'm afraid he will think I'm not normal or something. My boyfriend has asked me if I wanted to have sex but I turned him down because of this. Is my vagina normal?
My inner vaginal "lips" stick out, is this normal? I'm insecure about it, and embarrassed to let my boyfriend see.
I've read a lot of your articles on labia but I still can't seem to get the thought of my own out of my head. Mine are big and noticeable which I know are normal but still bother me. I think it looks gross in certain underwear and I am very insecure about it. At times I even try to tuck them in so you can see them. I am 16 and started noticing this about a year or so ago. I am not sure if I was always like this or not. I've been with this guy for about 8 months and hes been down there with his hands and what not but I am a virgin and I was very skeptical about even letting him preform oral sex on me because of the reaction that he might have thinking it's disgusting. About a week ago at his house things started to get serious but kept my hands covering my vagina because I was nervous. He was confused at why I would do that and told me he really want to give me oral sex and I really wanted to. I eventually let him and he did not say one thing bout my larger labia. I was very surprised and pleased but couldn't shake the idea of what he really thought. I still consider surgery when I turn 18 for myself. I just cannot get the thought that I look gross out of my mind. I really need help on what I should do.

GO HERE TO READ MORE

Speaking Back to the MEDIA!!!!

I got this video from the Proud Top Be Me site

Girls women and body image

It seems that there is an epidemic crisis of confidence affecting girls and women, and both its causes and effects are going largely ignored and unspoken in and by the mainstream. But....what do we do about it. On my last visit to ADIOS BARBIE I found them making this a political issue. Hoping to get the Congree of the USA to pass a 'self esteem' bill. Here is what they say...

"We're asking for support to pass federal legislation requiring advertising and editorial that's meaningfully changed the human form through photoshopping or airbrushing to carry "Truth in Advertising" labels. The labels will simply state that the models shown have been altered. No judgments, no morality, just transparency and clarity.

Transparency and clarity that may help address and stem these horrifying numbers:
- 42% of girls in grades 1-3 want to be thinner

- 51% of 9-10 year old girls feel better about themselves when they're dieting

- 53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies; by the time they're 17, 78% of them will be

- By the time they're 17, these girls have seen 250,000 TV commercials telling them they should be a decorative object, sex object or a body size they can never achieve.

- 7 million girls and women under 25 suffer from eating disorders (NEDA.org)

- 40% of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls 15-19 years old. A rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930. Anorexia has the highest rate of mortality of any mental illness. (myNEDA.org)

- 80% of women feel worse about themselves after seeing a beauty ad. $20B is spent on beauty marketing in the US annually. That's a lot of money being spent making women feel worse about themselves.

We're not passing judgement here, not making anyone right or wrong; there are no villains. What we are asking is that if changes to the human form are made digitally, that those making the change (advertisers or ediors) simply say so.

Photoshopping, airbrushing, digital manipulation aren't the issue. The issue is too many look at these images and think they should look LIKE these images. And they can't...because they're not real.

So let's call a duck a duck and modified picture a modified picture. All we're asking is that if you do it - you tell us you did.

If we save one life, if one girl or one woman feels better about herself because of truth-in-advertising labelling, how's that a bad thing?

Please help us address this epidemic crisis of self-confidence, and help support The Self-Esteem Act. Thank you.
- Off Our Chests and OffOurChests.com
- National Eating Disorders Association (MyNEDA.org)

Love this take off of beauty advertisements

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Remember Ruby.

THANKS TO ADIOS BARBIE FOR THE FOLLOWING

The late Anita Roddick (1942-2007), the founder of The Body Shop, wanted to do something about false representation of women. In 1997, the socially-conscious international cosmetics franchise and Host Universal created Ruby: a chubby-cheeked, chestnut-haired, computer-generated figurine. Ruby was the brainchild of The Body Shop’s self-esteem campaign, “Love Your Body.” Her size 16 image was accompanied by the caption, “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” She sent the message that you should love what you’ve got, not loathe it.

If you’re familiar with Ruby, you know that she’s not easy to locate. So, where’s this confident and curvaceous character been hiding? You can find her here, alongside other rejected and banned ads. We can thank Mattel for Ruby’s label of “Banned.” The U.S. toy manufacturer thwarted the innovative campaign in its early days by serving The Body Shop with a cease-and-desist order; all posters had to be removed from American shops. Click here to read more.....

labiaplasty

Why is it that some women feel the need to have thier labia altered? What is our mainstream media doing to create this need? Why aren't people satisfied with who they are?? Go here to watch a facinating interview and film from Hungry Beast

VIEWER WARNING: This story is rated M for nudity, sexual references and strong scenes of Labiaplasty surgery that may disturb some viewers?
We need to warn you straight up that this story contains footage of genital surgical operations that some may find confronting.
There’s one part of the female body that most of us have seen more in pictures than in real life. But has censorship skewed our idea of what a normal vagina looks like? And could it be contributing to a new trend in cosmetic surgery

No Diet day

This is an email sent to me that I am passing on to you about diet/body image and the harm it can cause.

Hi All,

I just wanted to let you all know it is International No Diet Day on Thursday May 6th.

This is a good time to think about promoting positive body image amongst young people!

One way of marking International No Diet Day is to encourage any young women you work with to complete the YWCA of Adelaide's poll about promoting positive body image. You can find this on their website www.ywca.com.au

They are also launching a t-shirt challenge, a competition providing people with the opportunity to design a t-shirt promoting positive body image! Might be something that could be incorporated into an art class! Food for thought!

Anyway if you want any more info feel free to give me a buzz on 8552 9214 on a Wednesday or Friday!

Have a great week!

Emily :)


Emily Zesers
Youth Wellbeing Program Officer
Southern Fleurieu Health Service
Division
SA Health
Government of South Australia

Tel: (08) 8552 9214
Mobile: 0447 017 078
Email: sciyouth@iinet.net.au