What happened to your body image and self-respect policies Girlfriend mag? In the year 2013, I wrote the ‘Girl Mag Watch’ reviews for Generation Next, which were published on the website of the youth mental health social enterprise and in its newsletters to thousands of subscribers. I reviewed Girlfriend and Dolly (an example of a review can be found here). […]
Company apologises for ‘error’ after outcry including from eating disorder specialists It’s so good to be able to share another win with supporters. This one thanks to 13-year-old Melbourne teen Naomi, who spotted this billboard advertising the DFO at Morabbin Airport in Melbourne. Naomi told her mother, long time supporter Gloria Anderson, who texted me […]
An open letter to Weight Watchers International By Sarah McMahon I discovered today that Weight Watchers International is offering free membership for teenagers aged 13 to 17 under the guise of “helping the development of healthy habits at a critical life stage”. This was announced this week, simultaneously with their three year “2020 goal”, which […]
Are we OK with games that allow kids to perform eye lifts and nose jobs? Melinda Tankard Reist A large needle is jabbed into the lips of a young girl. Instantly they become sausage-shaped. Another girl, oxygen mask over her mouth, has her nose cut into with a scalpel. A larger-sized girl in saggy underwear […]
Chocolate slice-shaming: Are we giving kids the wrong messages about food? By Melinda Tankard Reist About 15 years ago, a message was sent home from my daughter’s primary school teacher. It wasn’t about chocolate slice. It was about her hair. My then six-year-old’s head was covered in tight, thick ringlets. While many clucked and cooed […]
The objectification of women is so unremarkable in advertising and popular culture that it’s sometimes hard to envisage what an alternative might look like. Is it possible to advertise lingerie or swimwear without objectifying women, we are asked? Is objectification in the amount of flesh revealed, or is it more than that? Where is the […]
We must half messages and imagery which reduces women to sexual objects, fosters a culture which condones sexual violence, and pressures young girls to act in prematurely sexual ways Collective Shout has made a submission to the NSW Parliamentary Committee on Children and Young People Inquiry into sexualisation. We hope this inquiry won’t go the […]
‘A chocolate bar every now and then won’t kill me, but not eating a chocolate bar every now and then will strengthen my eating disorder, which in turn will kill me (and nearly did)’ Claire Mercer When I was around 12 years old I developed Anorexia Nervosa and became seriously ill in a very short […]
Have a body. Take it to the beach This is the original Protein World ad. And this is one of a number of re-faced images. You guessed it, I like the second one much better. Really enjoying seeing the creative ways women around the world are messing with the original ad. Also love the slogan […]
Fat talk perpetuates and normalises body shame Rebecca Guzelian How does it make you feel when someone close to you tells you they feel fat? As a woman in my mid-20s, this is something I experience every day – from my friends, family and others around me. And now, I have to see it on […]
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 […]
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, […]
