Moving past the blame game on body image

danj says:

06:34am | 30/10/09

Perhaps if the high school girl playing the computer game joined a netball or hockey club, or took the dog for for a walk around the block she would have half a chance of aspiring to the game character’s body shape. Apart from the fact that computer games are supposed to be fantasy we must be careful that we don’t let the next generation think that sitting on their arse playing computer games eating tim tams is ok just because we want to preserve their self esteem.

Liz says:

06:48am | 30/10/09

Why do we need to find a body shape to which we can aspire ? Why don’t we just accept what we’ve got and encourage our daughters and sons to do the same.
Naomi Wolff is beautiful it doesn’t stop her writing seriously or being accepted, so is Glorias Steinem,same.
Slight whiff of hypocrisy with Sarah,if she’s so keen on natural, why bleach her hair and have her roots show on the WW cover..tacky.

Michael H says:

07:02am | 30/10/09

once you have solved the problem with women, can we get some help out here for guys? most men would admit to degrees of body image issues, most starting in their teens.

what I saw was young men not fitting the pictures of what a man was supposed to look like.  it lead to insecurity, which makes traveling in a pack more desirable, drinking until you feel invincible again, and putting others down to build yourself up (including homophobia, sexism and just picking on the the little guy)  as there is ‘no better way to show you are a man’ than showing how tough you are.

good work.

Nick says:

07:36am | 30/10/09

Something like 65% of people in Australia are overweight or obese… they bloody well should have body image issues. I would be seriously concerned if they didn’t. The last thing we need to be doing is making them think their weight is acceptable by glorifying plus size (fat) models.

Harvey says:

07:50am | 30/10/09

Modesty prevented Kate from including herself in her introduction, I’m sure.

But, as she argues, that wouldn’t detract from the validity of her message. Body image is becoming a concern for teenage boys as well. Whateer message or solution we arrive at, must apply to both genders.

Jolanda says:

08:04am | 30/10/09

I too think that a that focus needs to be put on what is happening with the men.  Women have had the attention for years.

It seems to me that young men are becoming worse than women in relation to their obsession with thier body and how they look.  I honestly often feel that there is an element of role reversal happening and our men are starting to act and look like women and women are acting like men.

Education - Keeping them Honest
http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/
Our children deserve better

B says:

08:09am | 30/10/09

Ummmmm why on the commercial and in the picture above did Sarah O’Hare look embarassed to show the cover? Very mixed messages….......

peter says:

08:17am | 30/10/09

Three very attractive, skinny women are chosen to launch a policy on body image that says “it doesn’t matter what you look like’‘. A supermodel is “brave’’ because she does a magazine cover without being photoshoppped - but she is still a supermodel.

Kate you have chosen the “faces’’ of this campaign so it gets noticed in the media - and then you say that people shouldn’t judge the faces of this campaign on their looks.

Eric says:

08:18am | 30/10/09

“I am really grateful for the time and efforts of an amazing group of Australian women - chaired by the wonderful Mia Freedman “

Were there any men on this committee?

grant says:

08:20am | 30/10/09

Great, not only do I have to look at obese ugly people in real life, now they’re being forced in to every facet of my media consumption.  They will be everywhere, TV, magazines, billboard signs…  how about the people with actual weight issues take some individual responsibility?

Carl Palmer says:

08:30am | 30/10/09

Firstly, I agree Sarah is scorchingly hot. Lucky lucky Lachie  

Seriously - the real scary thing here is that most of these scrawny and extremely skinny top models take drugs to maintain their “figures”. So are they really healthy?

I agree, the “looks” thing is an issue and one that as a family have certainly experienced. So anything that can counterbalance the avalanche of fashion advertising the current body image is a good thing and something that parents can use to educate their kids.

I think the Group is on the right track here with sensible people making sensible decisions but more importantly making it happen.

Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Kel says:

08:48am | 30/10/09

Great work Kate, and well done to all those involved.
It’s a shame many people unfortuantely miss the point & the intention here. It’s not about glorifying being ‘overweight’ or anything ridiculous like that. It’s about encouraging acceptance of the way people naturally look - women & men. And encouraging a ‘variety’ of representation in the media. As in a mixture of body shapes, people etc.
In a sea of re-touching & body altering, young people in particular are the ones most at risk of having a warped view of how they are supposed to look.
Personally, when I have kids, I want them to fit and healthy, and happy with themselves.  And I’d like more sections of the media to help encourage that, instead of suggesting otherwise.

Maxie says:

08:52am | 30/10/09

“This week one high school girl reported that even whilst playing computer games she was completely unable to select any female character that even nearly resembled a body shape to which she could realistically aspire.”

um….. why on earth would anyone with two working halves of a brain even think of aspiring to look like a video game character?

T says:

09:20am | 30/10/09

I Agree with Kel - Too many people are missing the whole point of this inititive.

As someone who has suffered with anorexia (now recovered - if you can really call that) i am grateful such a group has been made. Maybe when i was younger, if i was surrounded with more positive role models, and was taught to love myself and my body, maybe i would not have lost so many years of my life to this disease and my wonderful family and support group would not have to watch their once “happy and confident” child, slip more and more into a hole dark with depression, anxiety and some serious body image issues. It was only after going through serious intervention programs and relearning the value of oneself that i realise that to be happy you have to be confident in who you are, body, mind and soul. Healthy does not equate to overly skinny, or fat! there is a middle ground there that i am still trying to find, which envoles excersise, EATING anything in moderation, and surrounding myself with women whom i respect, who are smart, who use their brains and well as their physical attributes, who are succesful due to hard work, and who are ultimatley “Healthy” in mind, and body.

I do not blame the fashion industry and the media for my ilness, however it did not help and it probably gave more fuel to the fire.

We need to promote more healthier images of women and men to our younger generations, - to stop eating disorders and to stop the growing trend of obesity!  We should stop valueing people on their money, fashion, weight, and looks. But really on the person they are on the inside, and what they contribute to society.

Keep up the Goodwork!!

Clover says:

09:22am | 30/10/09

I think the sentence about the video game character was referring to the fact that the body shapes of these characters are actually humanly impossible to achieve. It would be nice to have figures there that are representative of real life.
It’s a bit of a tradition though isn’t it? I don’t think it’s possible to find a doll that is representative of a real human figure either.
Bit sad.

Bec says:

09:46am | 30/10/09

Must agree with T. It’s not about glorifying obesity or people that are overweight. It’s about making teens and adults aware that there are other body types out there. I’ve got a classic hourglass figure - when I was a teenager I desperately tried to diet to make myself thinner, but I was fighting a losing battle - there was no way I could ever look like the models in the magazines because I had hips etc. THAT is what needs to be fixed. For people of all shapes and sizes to be portrayed in magazines so that kids don’t feel like they need to starve themselves in an attempt to be as thin as the images they are bombarded with.

Mia Freedman says:

10:45am | 30/10/09

Yes, there were several men appointed to the group including Professor David Forbes from the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia.
Our brief and our recommendations covered men and women, absolutely. More and more, body image is becoming a problem for boys who are also feeling the pressures of having to live up to one set body type - the buff, hairless, six-pack look.

Eric says:

10:55am | 30/10/09

Mia, that’s nice to know.

Pity I had to ask a specific question to elicit that information. It’s almost as if the author of the article considered the men invisible ...

Vicki PS says:

10:56am | 30/10/09

@Eric: No, they couldn’t find any men for the committee—they were all at home banging their computer keyboards and whining.

Vicki PS says:

11:03am | 30/10/09

To Grant and Nick:  Your comments render any further exploration of the issue unnecessary: your attitude is precisely why a national strategy is needed.  Has it occurred to you that YOU are the ones with body image issues?  Why else would you think it’s okay to display naked contempt for people who aren’t weight-obsessed, or to deem them “unacceptable”?  Got news for you blokes—there’s more to life than obsessing about your body.

Mort says:

11:12am | 30/10/09

To beauty compliant every female part of us has to be cut, reshaped, jacked up, squeezed, injected, plucked, primped, inflated and made to order these days. There is whole industries dependant on it.

If we try to avoid the pressure we are called names, fat, ugly, butch, etc. These insults are an acceptable part of our society and readily used on young girls and women to shame them into conforming. The shaming is just another form of control for the weak minded.

KMW says:

11:26am | 30/10/09

Eric, surely you don’t really find that a pity….
Aren’t you happy you had something remotely gender related to comment on today? I mean sure, the point of the piece is actually about body image, but hey, thanks to the writer not spelling it out completely that men were included, you had a new far-fetched gender war to cry about

Bel says:

11:35am | 30/10/09

In spite of all the “tall poppy” criticisms appearing here, I think it takes a lot of courage for famous beauties to allow themselves to be seen unretouched, and I applaud their efforts.

But can I also ask for one other thing to be taken into consideration in this whole campaign.  Some people are naturally thin (YES they are, without drugs or vomiting) and they are people too.  Adjectives like scrawny, bony or emaciated can crush the spirits of young people just as surely as “fat” words can. 

I was naturally very thin with a lightning-fast metabolism in my teens and 20s - ate chips and chocolate all day long and couldn’t put on weight no matter how hard I tried.  I was healthy and active and eating very well, but my ribs and hip bones showed. And I felt ugly all the time, because of all the horrible things people said to me, and the nasty things said in the media (yes, even 20 years ago) about skinny girls, and how men prefer women with a few curves, yada yada yada.  Those of you who’ve never been too thin would be surprised how even ‘nice’ people feel they can be cruel to the skinny girl.  They’d never say the equivalent rudeness to a large girl.  But skinny girls deserve it, apparently.

How about we appreciate and celebrate ALL body types.  People come in different widths. We’re all beautiful in our own way.  And three cheers for models who will be seen without airbrushing.  Let’s celebrate the imperfections that make us ourselves.

Grant says:

11:41am | 30/10/09

@ Vicki PS

I don’t have any body image issues, except that I look good.. 

Is that an issue, I don’t know, I’ll let you make the assumptions about what other people are thinking.

Anywho, we should be very careful with these programs.  I believe that we should not be normalising obesity and lowering community standards to accept obesity as the correct standard of health.. 

If anything, it is the correct feeling for an obese person to feel bad about being obese.

Kate Ellis says:

11:48am | 30/10/09

This one is just for you Eric- as I said in my article for the Punch a couple of weeks ago, “The number of young Australian women - and increasingly young men - who feel negatively about the way they look is reaching epidemic levels. “
I also pointed out in parliament this week that , “It is not just for women—and young women—but increasingly we are seeing men come forward with the concerns of body image.”
Sorry if i didn’t make it clear in piece but breathe Eric breathe- it’s not about gender.

Sam says:

11:49am | 30/10/09

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to point out that the chair of this advisory group is a woman who made a career - and, no doubt, a lot of money - in charge of three publications whose primary goal was/is to make young women feel inferior about their looks and bodies, so that they can then read the many advertisements published in said mags that promise to ‘fix’ all these imperfections.

I may be wrong, but I haven’t yet seen or heard Mia Freedman apologise for her significant past role in furthering the low self-esteem issues of many girls and young women. Perhaps if and when she does this, more people will be able to take her more seriously in this role.

Andrew says:

11:55am | 30/10/09

I cannot believe this is even on the national agenda… I also cannot believe that the government thinks its role is to inform people when a picture has been photo shopped. I wonder if I will have to add disclaimers to my doctored facebook profile pictures… Don’t want anyone getting misled, what a travesty!!

Nick says:

12:45pm | 30/10/09

@ Vicki PS:

Being overweight or obese is not just unattractive… it is also unhealthy. It costs the health care system billions of dollars a year. We need to be encouraging people to lose weight, not helping them to be satisfied with being fat.

I’m not saying everyone needs to have the body of a model or be obsessed with their weight, but being overweight or obese is a problem, and the more accepted it becomes the worse it gets.

Chris says:

12:46pm | 30/10/09

I think the comment “B” posted is quite interesting and overlooked in this thread.

The body language in the photo above does look like Sarah Murdoch’s saying, “Please don’t look at this photo of me WITH ALL THE WRINKLES”. It does read somewhat of embarrassment. Though of course it could be simply seeing yourself blown up to such giant proportions, which must be odd for anyone.

Happy to be enlightened that this is not the case - a photo can, as we are all too aware at this particular moment, be quite misleading.

But if that is the case, what does that really say about our ability to REALLY accept ourselves, especially John and Judy Public?

Julie says:

12:47pm | 30/10/09

Sam - I am afraid you are wrong.  Mia Freedman has mentioned a number of times publicly how she is aware that some of her former practices as a magazine editor were less than ok.  She has acknowledged as the editor of Cosmo that she was far from perfect but can I also add that she was the first magazine editor in Australia to regularly show women of varying shapes and sizes in every edition of Cosmo AND ban diets from their pages.  The banning of these diets in itself is an incredibly important thing as dieting behaviour is the major predictor of developing an eating disorder.

So - feel free to take her more seriously because you should.  She’s admitted mistakes, owned up, forged on and is now doing something about it. Props from me.

Eric says:

01:11pm | 30/10/09

I know, KWM. It just made my day to see an article that left out men.

I’m breathing, Kate, just a bit. I know I might seem silly to some, but I’m just trying to bring consistency to The Punch.

In the last few weeks we’ve had articles about how all-male groups should be forced to include women. Well, it works the other way too. I’m just checking. ^^

Eric says:

01:14pm | 30/10/09

P.S. At least I didn’t comment on how the media would treat a *male* politician who said something like “Sarah Murdoch and Mia Freedman are hot. Like really, really hot.” 

Nathan says:

01:20pm | 30/10/09

I can’t believe some of these arguments that people are raising in their comments. For starters there is a big difference between obesity and showing healthy women who are their natural size. Believe it or not, you can have a bit of fat on you and still lead a perfectly healthy lifestyle. No where has anyone actually said they want to portray obesity as the norm. What they have said is show people in their natural HEALTHY form. Is there a place for obese women in magazines? I highly doubt it. But there is a place for real women who haven’t had all their fat, wrinkles and skin tone changed by photoshop. Will this solve the problem? No it will not, but it is sure a step in the right direction and with any luck future generations will not suffer the same body image problems that we have.

As for Andrew. While we are at it, lets just get rid of agendas on bullying. Bullying just like these body image issues may not stand alone, but they sure do interlink with other things like health. Unless we tackle the small things like photoshoping in magazines, how can we expect to address body image as a whole.

stephen says:

01:24pm | 30/10/09

Your body was designed to move through space. If it don’t wanna move, change it’s shape.

Vicki PS says:

03:11pm | 30/10/09

@ Nick:  It’s a subtle distinction, but I believe a critical one, that I’m trying to make, namely that it is possible to encourage healthy lifestyle habits without denigrating others’ personal appearance. 
Obesity may indeed be an epidemiological and public health issue: however, that should NOT be construed as permission to scapegoat individuals who are fat for their looks or make assumptions about their state of health.
I see nothing wrong with a fat person being satisfied with their appearance.  Brain cells don’t accumulate fat: we are capable of holding two concepts at once, and are able to both understand the health benefits of an “acceptable” BMI, and to nevertheless be satisfied that we’re not size 10s.
Using public health problems as an excuse to stereotype and denigrate individuals is a dangerous path to head down—you never know what will be the next hot issue.

Amelia says:

03:13pm | 30/10/09

@ Sam - Mia Freedman is a perfect choice as chair of the commitee - I suggest you read her book Mamamia or her blog. She is passionate in her belief that women should love their own bodies and to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin, so much that she started the ‘Body Love’  initiative whilst editing Cosmo which meant that women of sizes 6-16 (i think it was) will be shown every issue. I think you’re just poorly informed, and owe Mia an apology

Ann says:

06:46pm | 30/10/09

Kate, you say that MF and SM are ” really hot” and that this does not take away from their years of experience and the value of their contributions on the subject of tackling negative body image. Perhaps. But hard reality is the fact they are “hot” inadvertenly sends the message that the fact they are the chairperson and member of the Government’s Body Image Advisory Group they are now somehow sanctioned as the “type of person” perhaps the “look” that the person with crippling low self esteem and perhaps an eating disorder should aim for.

You say that “the Government could have gone for a team of purists.” Maybe. Though those who care about this issue what action not a dusty report as you say. However, that said when you deliver a message to the community you have to be aware that the messenger will be as much under scrutiny as the message.  For example the Government I would vouch would never have a Committee on Stopping Violence Against Women chaired by someone who has admitted to hitting a woman..even several women in the past. (Not suggesting MF is violent but you get my drift).

Finally you say “the reaction of some surely just proves that we still focus too much on the looks alone of people - particularly women”. Unfortunately yes. This is the case that’s what the committee was set up surely. If looks of women weren’t the issue there would be no need for the committee. But surely this means that the first step then needs to be ensuring - as I mentioned above - that the messengers fit or are perceived to fit the message.

With all that side I do hope some good can come from the committee, heaven knows something needs to happen.

Particular when that message is about body image.

nice says:

10:08pm | 30/10/09

Nice of Kate Ellis and Mia Freedman to take the time to read and reply to comments - esp those addressing Eric’s concerns. Well done!

Missamoo says:

02:57pm | 31/10/09

I’m just so glad it’s being talked about i remember reading The Beauty Myth and it was predicting men having the same body issues as women in the future sadly that has come to pass. I don’t remember the exact quote but it was something like if/when this happened no one wins.
Also the whole plus size model debate is interesting most size 12’s are borderline plus size when you consider our national average is a 14, it is a little curious. I think the extremes are not really the issue in body image, obesity or anorexia aren’t body shapes or sizes they are health issues. Having been terrifyingly thin and now slightly overweight it feels comforting to know that someone is thinking about how to solve this issue.
So thanks for the dialogue