'I’m a size 14-16 woman who grew up in the ’90s. This is what it did for my body image.'

Flower-adorned bucket hats upturned at the front, 50 cent mixed lolly bags from the local milk bar, diaries with a lock and key, and low-slung cargo pants - the more zips, the better.

Yep, the late-90s and early-2000s were a mish-mash of… everything. 

For adolescent me, it was squabbling with friends over which Spice Girl we were going to be (Ginger, of course!, says me: the brunette). 

It was Saturday mornings spent in PJs around the TV, counting down the top 10 with Video Hits and shhhh! Shania Twain is onnnn!!

And it was trying to decide whether to watch Notting Hill or My Best Friend’s Wedding. Again.

Watch: How to improve your daughter's body image. Article continues after video.

But there was also a less innocent side to what seemed like an era that was simpler. And it was celebrated in all of the popular culture we consumed - on runways, and red carpets, and TV shows, and movies, and billboards, and magazines.

It was Paris Hilton’s hip bones, and Britney Spears’ abs, and Jennifer Aniston's taut backside… and Kate Moss.

Thin was in, with the glorification of everything from ‘standard’ skinny to waif-like ‘heroine chic’. It became The Look; desired by many men, and aspired to by many women.

As a size 14-16 woman myself, I felt her words deeply. And I wondered: If we had runways like this this when I was growing up, and all body types had been celebrated in the public eye, would I still have my body hang-ups at 34? And not just me - a whole generation of women who didn’t fit the skinny mould? 

How many might have been spared from body dysmorphia? Or from living with an eating disorder? Or tragically, not living at all.

Genuine diversity and inclusion is not just “positive progress”. It is crucial - especially for the next generation of adolescents. 

For all of us.

For help and support for eating disorders, contact the Butterfly Foundation’s National Support line and online service on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673) or email support@thebutterflyfoundation.org.au. You can also visit their website here.

Keen to read more from Rebecca Davis? You can find her articles here, or follow her on Instagram.

Feature Image: Supplied/Mamamia.