Modelling app ‘fuels teen insecurities’ A leading body image expert claims a new iPhone application which evaluates a person’s modelling potential is feeding an “epidemic of body dissatisfaction”. The $2.49 app, called Model Potential, rates the user’s appearance after instructing them to enter statistics such as their height, gender, dress size, bra size and body […]
Zazzle profiting from body hatred As if there’s not already enough girls whose lives are being destroyed through eating disorders, the on-line UK seller Zazzle.co is doing its bit to make even more girls sicker and to spread further suffering. This t.shirt (left) is inspired by a motto uttered by model Kate Moss “Nothing tastes […]
Mainstream media takes up the issue The Lovable/Jen Hawkins/body image issue has now gone well beyond these humble blog pages. I spent a significant part of yesterday being interviewed on the subject. Susie O’Brien gave it a good run both as a news piece and a comment piece spread across two pages in the Herald Sun. […]
Damaging the things I hold dear Yesterday, Sydney man David Ould wrote to Australian underwear company Lovable. He’d read my post on Lovable’s contradictory behaviour and felt he had to do something. It’s good to know there are men who care about the impact of unrealistic sexualised representations of women on the women they love. […]
Dear Lovable, Yesterday I wrote about your ad campaign featuring Jennifer Hawkins. I hope you read the piece. If you missed it, and you’re on the home page, scroll down a little and you’ll find it (it’s got lots of pictures of Jennifer Hawkins looking thin and sexy in bra and knickers and there’s a […]
More double standards and mixed messages for Body Image Awareness Week According to its website, Australian underwear brand Lovable says it is “dedicated to changing the culture surrounding eating disorders and body image”. It does this “by using happy, healthy models in our campaigns and promotional activities and by continuing to design intimates that are […]
The Miss Universe competition shows us just how far we haven’t come Miss Universe has come round again. The swimsuit parade is tomorrow. That’s where the competitors – all conforming to unrealistic body types and the thin ideal – get to parade in a swimsuit just before they tell us their plans for world peace […]
And not insist on airbrushing disclosure for her own photo shoots? Recently I have had cause to ask Sarah Murdoch a few questions. They were picked up in the media the past couple of days, by NineMSN and the SMH. Sarah is co-host and executive producer of Australia’s Next Top Model. She also sits on the Government […]
“I had never hated my body before that show”: Kai Hubbard exposes the unhealthy weight loss practices that made her sick Kai Hubbard was a season 3 finalist on the US version of The Biggest Loser. Recently she told Body Love Wellness blogger, Golda Poretsky, about the realities of being on the show. These included […]
BodyMatters: a health-based, not weight-based approach to eating and wellness. One of the privileges of the cause I’m engaged in is that I get to work with some of the best women in the world. Women who are passionate, bright, engaging, outspoken and fun to be with. In the past year I’ve come to know […]
Anne Summers review of Natasha Walter’s Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism was published in the Australian’s Review section on the weekend. In the review, titled ‘The tyranny of self-perfection’, the long-time Australian feminist campaigner for women’s equality admits she had “no idea” about how bad things were for girls in a hypersexualised culture: …This […]
French-Marie Claire goes sans air brushing, but not sans camera tricks, makeup, lighting and models already near ‘perfect’. French actress Louise Bourgoin graces the cover of this month’s edition of French Marie Claire – hailed as the “totally non-airbrushed April issue”. Leaving aside the fact that it’s not totally non-airbrused because the women in the […]
