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, […]
Young women make short films to address youth concerns about body image. Local young women launch new ABC body image program for Mental Illness Education ACT at the National Gallery of Australia, Monday 7th April, 10.30am to 12.00pm. Young filmmaker Mary Quinlan and ACT’s Youth Ambassador, Molly Hodge-Meli together cut the ribbon to officially launch […]
Dolly Doctor and Oral Sex: is advice to girls clear? Dolly Doctor this issue deals with oral sex. Parents with younger Dolly readers in the family may want to be aware of that and be prepared to talk about it with them (Dolly has featured’ Readers of the month’ who are 11). Also, although the […]
Readers wanting something of substance from Dolly’s June issue would do best to skip the first half and go straight to the second. Articles on self-harm, hate pages and unhealthy attitudes toward food redeem the insubstantial nature of the pages that go before. ‘Would you “like” a hate page?’ explores the phenomenon of online hate […]
“Why are you crying mum?” “Because I’m reading Girlfriend”. An unexpected response, perhaps, from an (allegedly) grown woman. But a story in the latest issue did me in. ‘Real Life Stories’ – which I have always appreciated for giving space to the raw realities of so many girls lives – opens with a first person […]
Girlfriend February Review Many girls and young women look to girl’s magazines for advice on life, relationships, bodies, health and sexuality. But too often they receive conflicting advice and mixed messages and even, sometimes, outright contradiction. Take for example, information provided in the sealed section of Girlfriend this month, where, within four pages of each […]
Girl Mag Watch As always, I’m confused about teen girls’ magazines approach to airbrushing and photo-shop (see here for a past example of my confusion). This issue contains an explanation of the ‘Retouch Free Zone’. “DOLLY is all about healthy body image – that’s why we only feature photos of girls that haven’t been altered […]
Reading this made my weekend. I had to share it. ‘Hands up if you’re feeling any less revolting…’ Germaine Greer in the Canberra Times, Saturday. At an event in Amsterdam recently, I was ordered by a woman on the stage to take the hand of the woman next to me, who happened to be 76-year-old […]
It’s time for a Love Your Mind campaign I ASKED a group of Year 12 female students what message they would like me to deliver on their behalf to an advertising conference I was about to address. Their profound and carefully worded message? You suck. Not exactly poetic. But they were tired of the way […]
Inspiring young women, competitive eating, runaways, how alcohol and smoking harm girls’ skins: some helpful articles in Dolly November 2012 Two issues of Dolly in a row (last one here) about which I’ve found some positive things to say. Perhaps it’s time for Generation Next to find a new reviewer? ‘Dolly All Stars: Introducing this […]
12 y.o ‘Reader of the month’, 13 y.o model finalists… Girl Mag Watch October 2012 Reading the October issue (yes, I know, just scraping this review in in time) of Girlfriend, I found myself checking the front cover to make sure I’d picked up Girlfriend and not Dolly. I’m wondering if perhaps Girlfriend is moving […]
‘It was a liberating act to throw them away: I had been held captive’ I sat near a girl and her mum in the coffee shop recently. She would have been 10, 12 at most. She had on wedge shoes, tight leggings, a handbag, and flicked her long, blonde hair around like a cast member […]
