 It’s
a no-brainer that looking at size negative-two gals airbrushed
to perfection can make even the most self-confident woman
feel inadequate. And surely we all remember staring earnestly
at glossy magazine images as young girls, pangs of admiration
and jealousy firing up our young hormonal selves. And yet,
the same magazines are showing us the same unrealistic imagery
10-30 years later.
So isn’t it time we make a change— for our daughters’
sake?
That’s what the Girls Scouts think. The organization recently
conducted a study on how the media’s portrayal of women affects
girls, questioning more than a thousand girls between the
ages of 13 and 17.
Some of the results:
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Nearly 90 percent
of those surveyed say the fashion industry (89 percent)
and/or the media (88 percent) place a lot of pressure
on them to be thin. |
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| • |
65 percent of
girls think that the body image represented by the fashion
industry is too skinny; 63% think it is unrealistic;
and 47 percent think it is unhealthy. More than
a quarter (28%) say the fashion industry body image looks
sick. |
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Yet 60 percent
say that they compare their bodies to fashion models,
and 47 percent say fashion magazines give them a body
image to strive for. |
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Only 46 percent
think the fashion industry does a good job of representing
people of all races and ethnicities. |
“The fashion industry remains a powerful influence on
girls and the way they view themselves and their bodies,”
says Kimberlee Salmond, senior researcher at the Girl Scout
Research Institute. “Teenage girls take cues about how
they should look from models they see in fashion magazines
and on TV and it is something that they struggle to reconcile
with when they look at themselves in the mirror.”
And unfortunately, the negative impact can run deep. According
to a campaign spokesman, Joshua Ackley, “the health implications
of the preoccupation with unrealistic images are serious.
Nearly one in three girls say they have starved themselves
or refused to eat in an effort to lose weight. In addition,
more than a third (37 percent) say they know someone their
age who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder.”
After studying the survey’s results, the Girl Scouts has
partnered with Dove to offer self-esteem programming for girls
across the country, and will be focusing its leadership program
on body image in the media.
The Girl Scouts also helped Representatives Tammy Baldwin
(D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduce the Healthy
Media for Youth Act (HR 4925) to Congress. The bill aims to
promote healthy images of women in the media through a grant
program that will support youth empowerment groups and media
literacy.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but these small changes
really do add up. Find out how you can get involved at www.girlscouts.org/itsyourstory.
Daisy is a writer/editor based in Chicago. When she’s
not polishing up content for FHI, she’s writing for other
mags with positive messaging. Find more of her work at her
website.
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