When do women admit to finally loving their bodies?

And could these ads really make it happen sooner?

For many women, the path to body acceptance is a long and emotional journey.

From a young age, girls are surrounded by images, words and attitudes informing them that in order to be considered ‘beautiful’, they must have clear skin, long legs and/or effortlessly sleek hair that swings delicately in the breeze.

This message radiates from magazine covers,  television screens and advertising billboards. All it can take is a comment from a stranger, or watching her mother sigh as she examines her figure in the mirror, for a little girl to start questioning her body.

It’s no wonder, then, that it can take years for a woman to accept and embrace the way she looks. In fact, according to new research, the average Australian woman doesn’t learn to love her body until she reaches the age of 45. That’s over four decades of feeling insecure, inadequate and unhappy – we don’t want to live like that, and we don’t want our daughters to live like that.

To encourage women to appreciate their bodies sooner in life, glossy monthly Marie Claire has devised the #whywait initiative.

“When we found out that was the age of women actually liking their body we thought wow, isn’t that incredible and we thought can we re-shift it,” Marie Claire editor Jackie Frank told Mumbrella. “If they get to a stage where they do like their bodies, why are we waiting until 45?

“We thought we would challenge the way women are thinking about it and go to the creative minds, we invited the top ad agencies to produce a single page ad convincing women to like their body.”

The magazine invited six local advertising agencies to take part – and the results hit very close to home.

A number of people have suggested the campaign is hypocritical, having been founded by a fashion magazine that celebrates slim models and gorgeous, sometimes airbrushed celebrities within its pages. While this is certainly a valid point, the overall aim of the concept, and its execution, are surely a step in the right direction. If the images in this gallery can help just one woman look at her body with different eyes today, that can’t be a bad thing, can it?

Let us know what you think in the comments section.