Challenging the industries that breed body hatred: videos from Endangered Bodies conference

We must act personally and politically: MTR Laura McNally, Melinda Tankard Reist, Sarah McMahon Rick Kausman, Here’s some You Tube clips from the Endangered Bodies conference held in Sydney in August. I’m interviewed in the first, followed by a combination of speakers at the event, then Dr Rick Kausman, Susie Orbach and Sarah McMahon. Combination Dr Rick […]

Support calls for a Senate inquiry into dieting industry

 We need change. We need it now. And we need your help to get it. Please join us in our crusade. We are in the midst of a public health crisis in Australia. Weight, eating and body image issues are rampant. The weight loss services industry has positioned itself as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, […]

Calling on Cleo to stop airbrushing images: Change petition

Cleo Magazine: Stop digitally altering images to change appearances #RealGirlsCleo Following a US teenager’s successful petition calling on 17 Magazine to publish one unaltered photo spread per month, Melbourne woman Jessica Barlow has created a petition calling on Australian Cleo Magazine to do the same. The petition reads: Reality is beautiful. Stop using Photoshop to […]

Women’s Magazines and the Cult of Hypocrisy

By Laura Bates | July 5, 2012 This week, Seventeen magazine promised to publish un-photoshopped images of real girls, finally responding to 14-year-old SPARK activist Julia Bluhm’s campaign. Such pressure must continue argues author Laura Bates. Last week, two editions of Now magazine appeared on newsstands in the UK. The weekly issue featured a dramatic […]

How inequality and objectification is imprinted in our brains

“A woman will see this as a representative of herself and her self-worth”  Have come across some great blog posts on the stuff that matters here at MTR and I thought you should see them too. Opt 4 has perfectly captured the way objectification of women and girls is harful to them. And there’s some […]

Girlfriend May Review: injects some much needed reality, but doesn’t go all the way

In last month’s Girlfriend Review,  I outlined the disturbing findings of the magazine’s annual body image survey. Our young women still despise their bodies, despite GF’s own positive body image initiatives, which I’ve argued, never really went far enough. So it was refreshing to see in May’s issue a strong case for exposing systems and […]