So. I spent yesterday chairing the first meeting of the National Body Image Advisory Group. It was a brilliant day and a great honour to be among people who are, like me, so passionate about this issue.
This is the photo that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald today and I shall blame it for my own bad body (and face) image. Dumb idea to stand next to Sarah Murdoch and Kate Ellis (federal minister for Sport and Youth) who are both tall and luminously beautiful. DUH. Doesn’t help that I look to be in the middle of saying something. Or chewing something. Both of which are highly likely. You know it’s a bad photo when your Mum (who usually raves to the point of embarrassment) admits “Um, not the best photo, darling” and a media colleague texts to say “Could they have possibly made you look worse?”.
I should have demanded re-touching. Oh wait.
At least I was wearing control pants or it could have, in fact, been worse. Far worse.
MOVING ON. The phone keeps ringing with media interviews about the advisory group and I’m still recovering from doing the Today Show this morning (raced home to scrub industrial strength TV make-up off my face) so I’m going to post more about this a little later. Lots to tell you. In the meantime, here is the report from today’s SMH:
When fictional US Vogue editor Miranda Priestly told her
new intern the cheap blue sweater she wore as a symbol of defiance
was in fact “selected for you by the people in this room”, in the
hit film The Devil Wears Prada, she gave a chilling insight
into the power of the media and fashion industries over young
people.
In a different room in Sydney yesterday, the real-life versions
of those characters – a model, a current and a former magazine
editor and two fashion retailers – gathered around a table to try
to exercise that power for good.
They joined a psychologist, a child health expert and a Federal
Government minister on a new national advisory group given the task
of turning around statistics that show fewer than a fifth of young
women are happy with their bodies.
“We’re talking about a positive, proactive step we can do about
educating young people to have a better body image,” the group
chairwoman, former Cosmopolitan editor and Fairfax columnist Mia
Freedman said. “You can’t shield them from all these images,
they’re always going to be there, but what’s important is trying to
immunise them against any potential negative effects.”
Over the next five months, the group will draft a voluntary code
of conduct to look at making magazines and media outlets use a
wider range of body shapes and sizes, tell readers when they have
retouched photos, and set industry age limits on models. It will be
based on a similar code adopted in Victoria last year.
The new host of the television show Australia’s Next Top
Model, Sarah Murdoch, who is also a Bonds model, said she was
sure the prevailing “thin is beautiful” mentality could change.
“If you look at the last few covers of fashion magazines it’s
been much more about embracing a more curvy body and more realistic
body, so I think we’re on the path to changing culturally,” Ms
Murdoch said.
“And I think this is the perfect time now for us to get involved
at a government level, the fashion industry, with researchers
… and work out how can we progress this even further and put
more positive images out there.”
The Minister for Youth and Sport, Kate Ellis, who was in Sydney
for the meeting, said a voluntary code of conduct could still be
effective. “We know that the best results will come from working in
partnership with the key bodies, whether that be the media [or] the
advertising industry.”
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Top Comments
Not Vogue. RUNWAY.
It's a clever movie, would be great if they actually checked the name of the magazine as it's spoken about throughout the whole film... shocking oversight on behalf of the SMH.
mia,
seriously love the jacket.