a new combat team for body image
A new government initiative – the Body Image National Advisory Board – met for the first time this week and will be working towards combating the prevalence of negative body image amongst girls, and recognising how the media and fashion industries play a huge part in this.
Over the next five months the group will be working on a voluntary code of conduct which will look at making magazines and media outlets use a wider range of body shapes and sizes, letting readers know when they have retouched photos, and setting age limits on models across the industry.
The Board members include Mia Freedman, chairwoman and former mag editor; Kate Ellis, the Federal Government’s Minister for Youth; Sarah Murdoch, Bonds model and host of tv’s Australia’s Next Top Model; Sarah Cornish, editor of Girlfriend magazine; Claire Vickery of The Butterfly Foundation; and Professor Susan Paxton, a body image researcher from La Trobe University.
Early comments on the news story have not been favourable, noting a lack of credibility of some of the Board members, and lack of participation from fashion labels. SMH coverage, however, reports two fashion retailers are also on the Board, although it doesn’t mention which ones.
Can they achieve their ambitious goal of lifting teen self esteem, or is this just a token effort?
I have my fingers crossed that this will be a BIG step forward in the industry. I think this is something everyone wants to see happen and maybe having a name for it “Body Image National Advisory Board” will make magazines and fashion labels more keen to align themselves with the code of conduct.
And the story is accompanied by a photo of three thin women (I’m assuming this is a photo of three board members that accompanied another news outlet’s story?) Wonder if there are any fat women on the board.
I should have captioned it the photo: (left to right) Sarah Murdoch (model), Kate Ellis (minister for youth), Mia Freedman (ex-Cleo editor). I’ve not seen any photos of Claire Vickery or Susan Paxton, so who knows what size they are??
I find it ironic that the ad that is placed next to this article is of a very thin Victoria Beckham and a caption that reads; “Join the A-List.”
That said, I hope that the organisation manages to bring body image issues into a more serious lime light.
i think this is a really good thing. at school i get called fat. i’m a size 10 for god’s sake. in what horrible twisted world is that fat??
Wow this is a really great initiative. I hope it goes oververy well. I wish they’d do this in North America.