Photo entitled: "Luke. Again I was being ugly and the pixels were called upon to punish my face" by Emmola. Earlier this year, Newspoll surveyed 537 Australian women aged 10 - 64 years. There were many questions asked about beauty, looks and perceptions. According to the poll only 6 per cent of 18-64 year old Australian women surveyed said they were very satisfied with their looks.
According to Professor of Statistics John S. Croucher, the proportion of surveyed Australian women who say that beauty advertisements make them feel bad about the way they look is 49 per cent.
A recent Dolly magazine survey of 4,000 girls aged 11-18 found 27 per cent would have cosmetic surgery if they could, and 2 per cent had. Surgeons say the trend is most prevalent in Sydney and south-east Queensland.
In 2004, the Victorian Government set up an inquiry into the growing trend in teenagers to go on crash diets and have eating disorders. The then Youth Affairs Minister said that anorexia nervosa was the third most common chronic illness for teenage girls in Australia and that Melbourne University research showed about 10 percent of teenage boys were using muscle-enhancing drugs.
Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, has said there is worrying anecdotal evidence the number of young girls having plastic surgery is rising. She has cited a Gold Coast surgeon who reportedly treats more than 100 minors a year.
Ok, so what can we do about this? The Body Shop has a core value of activating self esteem. We encourage the celebration of the unique qualities that make us who we are. We challenge the unrealistic beauty ideal presented by the beauty industry and we always use language and images that show respect and reverence. If you're passionate about these issues and want to make a difference, here are some things you can do:
- If you would like to help people with eating disorders, support charities in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania need volunteers and support!
- If you are concerned about our media's responsibility for childhood obesity, the sexualisation of children or effects on body image - the Young Media Australia website is a great starting point for your activist journey.
- If you're worried about eating disorders or want to know more about them Reachout is an excellent resource for information and contacts for how to get help.
Photo: Lazy Lightning
You use models for your advertising campaigns and you airbrush your posters. The Body Shop is part of the problem as you promote unrealistic images in your advertising posters in your stores?
ReplyDeleteHey anonymous!
ReplyDeleteThanks heaps for your post- it's great that you're passionate about this issue!
I don't believe we perpetuate the beauty myth. I just had a chat with our designers and they said a couple of things you might not of known about us (i didn't!):
1. We choose models to represent all types of sizes, ages and nationalities.
2. They might be beautiful but they're not gaunt runway models
3. Our designers are not allowed to airbrush or photoshop pictures of our models... the illusion starts and stops with our makeup and good lighting apparently.
They showed me some pics of our models and then compared them to the airbrushed photos you are referring to -there's a big difference.. I might do a post on it next week and let you decide.
Thanks heaps and have a great weekend!
Adam.
Values manager