Posted in Advertising, Beauty Industry, Body Image, Enlighten Education, Fashion Industry, Magazines, Media, Power of Words, Schools, Sexualisation of children, Sport on Nov 3rd, 2009 6 Comments »
The issue of negative body image has officially crossed over into the mainstream public debate. We now have a proposed National Strategy on Body Image, put together by an advisory group appointed by the federal government.
Kate Ellis, the Minister for Youth, put together the group, which was chaired by Mia Freedman, former editor of Cosmopolitan, [...]
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Does my bum look big in this?
I HATE MY THIGHS.
You look great–did you lose weight?
Fat talk. Many of us do it every day as we play the “compare and despair” game, trying to live up to an impossible stick-thin ideal of what we should look like and what it means to be feminine. [...]
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I was recently invited onto Channel 7’s The Morning Show to discuss an “Extreme Makeover” story in Girlfriend magazine’s June 2009 issue. Using before and after shots of a teen girl, they show readers just how much work goes into producing the perfect images on magazine covers: the hours of hair and makeup, clever lighting [...]
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The clip below is a really interesting opinion piece posted by The New York Times on March 10th. (Click on the image or visit: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/03/09/opinion/1194838469575/sex-lies-and-photoshop.html.)
This has particular relevance for us in Australia. Here, too, the camera always lies.
Does it matter? Yes. For some years now groups like ours have been advocating for more realistic and diverse portrayals of [...]
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Lily Allen’s song “The Fear” slams the vacuous world of celebrity as well as offering a poignant insight into the fears I believe many young women are harbouring.
Warning: the clip below contains strong language.
During the research process for my upcoming book, The Butterfly Effect, I had the opportunity to speak at length with many teenage girls [...]
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Books Alive is an Australian Government initiative developed through the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body. Its aim? To encourage Australians to pick up a book and read.
As an ex-English teacher and avid reader, I love books. They feed me – intellectually and emotionally. I was delighted to [...]
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I am really enjoying sharing some guest posts written by various members of my amazing Enlighten team with you all! A warm “Butterfly Effect” welcome to New Zealand’s Program Manager Kelly Valder…
Guest post by Kelly Valder – newzealand@enlighteneducation.com
“Barbie Bitches” – what a term huh? For many it brings to mind platinum blonde hair extensions and lots [...]
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I have lifted this idea straight from Oprah’s magazine, April 2006 edition.
If you could write a note of advice to your teen girl self, knowing all that you know now, what would you say to her? I love this exercise as it encourages reflection, empathy with the plight of our young women and affirms the wisdom and strength [...]
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Posted in Body Image, Bullying, Cyber world / Bullying, Friendship, Magazines, Media, Parents, Plastic Surgery, Schools, Underage Drinking on Apr 29th, 2008 6 Comments »
AND the importance of moving beyond finger pointing.
Queensland school girls have formed an exclusive club, known as Club 21, which encourages members to be ranked between 1 and 21 based on their thinness, good looks, binge drinking escapades and popularity with boys. This number is then drawn on their hand for all to see.
The club [...]
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Back in 2006 we had the Senate Enquiry into female participation in sport. The enquiry concluded, amongst other things, that female sportswear might be a deterrent to participation.
The Daily Telegraph offered the following interviews with key participants:
ACT senator Kate Lundy, deputy chairwoman of the Senate committee that produced the report, said sports should do a survey of [...]
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