An All Party Parliamentary Group report in to body image published on 30th
May, says that girls as young as five now worry about how they look. Whilst
many of us understand that many media images of celebrities are unrealistic, there
is obviously a definite problem with body image for very young people and this
will have serious consequences in the years to come.
The report also says that appearance is the greatest cause
of bullying in schools which is nothing new on its own, however it also refers to statistics such as around half school girls and up to a third of boys
have dieted to lose weight and that 1.6 million people in the UK have eating
disorders.
The media has to examine the images they produce on a
daily basis. The use of airbrush techniques to alter the model's image to reflect what currently happens to be considered the perfect body shape, should preferably be banned . The report is available to view
on-line at http://www.ymca.co.uk/bodyimage/report
In the executive summary, Liberal Democrat MP and Chair of the
APPG on Body Image, Jo Swinson says:
“Body image dissatisfaction in the UK has never been higher,
particularly among young people. The pressure to conform to the impossible body
“ideals” we are bombarded with in advertising, magazines and on the catwalk is
overwhelming and damaging.
Low self-esteem, depression and eating disorders are all
increasing, along with unhealthy behaviour and thoughts: girls as young as five
now worry about their size and appearance, and 38 per cent of men say they
would give up a year of their life for the perfect body.”
The evidence gathered by the all party parliamentary group,
leads to a number of clear conclusions according to the executive summary of
the report:
• Media, advertising and celebrity culture were perceived by
almost 75% of respondents to the consultation to be the main social influences
on body image.
• The appearance ideals portrayed by visual media and
advertising were seen to be at odds with the general population or the majority
of consumers and it was estimated that fewer than 5% of the population could
ever realistically attain the body ideals presented.
• Media criticism of body weight, size or appearance
together with a perceived lack of body diversity and over-reliance on image
manipulation was seen to contribute to body image dissatisfaction.
But perhaps one of the amazing statements in the report’s
list of findings, given the total inaction by the media bodies concerned; is
this statement:
• Representatives from advertising and media said there was
a genuine desire to use more diverse, relatable and authentic imagery.
I have to say that this is the biggest pile of bullshit I
have ever come across, along with the naivety and complacency of those MPs
actually believing it.
In a Twitter exchange with Jo Swinson, she rejected any idea
of legislation in response to my applauding the work done on the subject by the
APPG of which she is the chairperson.
We can clearly see from that, that once again absolutely
fuck all will be done to carry out any of the recommendations, many of which
were in a far more in-depth report done some 2 years ago.
Where this report differs is that it attempts, (but fails)
to address the issue of body modification through cosmetic surgery in that it
recommends:
- Proposed tightening of regulations for cosmetic surgery and supplements advertising
- Mandatory screening of patients undergoing cosmetic surgery
- Research to assess the long term impact of cosmetic surgery on patients
- Establish a patient group to provide support on cosmetic and body enhancements
But nowhere does it talk about the regulation of, and
licensing of cosmetic surgeons and the clinics and services being promoted on
the high street, in magazines and on TV and radio commercials!
For a 78 page report, the recommendations listing of just 23
recommendations in 3 categories, no timescales or strategy, is purely a ‘cosmetic’
exercise resulting in a toothless pile of rhetoric!
This report is in fact available for downloading, but only
from a website that advertises diet programmes!
This is irresponsible and goes
against the principles within this report, and is typical of a media which is
both unprincipled and immoral.
It reminds me of the habit the The Sun and other such rags
have of placing stories of rape and other sexual crimes against women with
lurid headlines alongside pictures of half naked ‘page 3’ models; with equally
lurid comments.
It is also clear to me that absolutely ZILCH will be done
because legislation is in fact required but not recommended in this report.
This report is in a long line of reports, full of
good intentions, but all excluding a recommendation to legislate. Without legislation nothing will change!
Back in February 2010, leading child psychiatrist, Dr Linda
Papadopoulos produced a report for the then Labour government on the
sexualisation of young people in our society.
In her executive summary, Dr Papadopoulos explains:
“Although the original intention of the review was to focus
on how sexualisation
is affecting girls, it quickly became evident that we could
not talk about girls without acknowledging the concomitant impact on boys and
the hyper-masculinised images and messages that surround them.
This is not an opinion piece, the evidence and arguments
presented within this document are not based on conjecture but on empirical
data from peer reviewed journals, and evidence from professionals and clinicians.
Behind the social commentary and the headlines about
inappropriate clothing and games for children, there are the real statistics,
on teenage partner violence, sexual bullying and abuse that need to be
acknowledged and addressed.”
She adds:
“I want my little girl, indeed, all girls and boys, to grow
up confident about who
they are and about finding and expressing their
individuality and sexuality, but not through imposed gender stereotypes or in a
way that objectifies the body or commodifies their burgeoning sexuality.”
Her report recommended exactly what the most recent report
does, in stating that we need to start with the education of young people in
schools:
“The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to
issue statutory guidance to schools to promote a ‘whole school’ approach to
tackling gender inequality, sexual and sexist bullying and violence against
women and girls.”
Currently, sexualisation and sexual bullying via the use of
mobile phones is so widespread amongst children that it has become part of the
culture within our schools!
But some of the report's recommendations are far reaching and
innovative, and address the problems head on in the ‘real world’:
In a section specifically aimed at the media, the report
recommends:
18) A working group of high profile women in media together
with academics
should be set up to monitor and address gender inequality in
the media.
19) The establishment of a media award that promotes
diverse, aspirational and non-sexualised portrayals of young people.
It goes further still in addressing publicity and
advertising in our communities such as the one below:
24) The content of outdoor advertisements to be vetted by
local authorities as part of their gender equality duty to ensure that images
and messages are not offensive on the grounds of gender.
25) Broadcasters are required to ensure that music videos
featuring sexual posing or sexually suggestive lyrics are broadcast only after
the ‘watershed.’
26) The current gap in the regulatory protection provided by
the Video
Recordings Act 1984 to be closed by removing the general
exemption for
‘works concerned with music’.
It is also appalling that UK job centres advertise jobs in
the sex industry and that retailers are happy for young children to be able to
access magazines which promote the sexualisation and objectification of girls
and women.
The report’s recommendations in this area are:
31) The existing voluntary code for retailers regarding the
placements of ‘lads’ mags’ should be replaced by a mandatory code. ‘Lads’
mags’ should be clearly marked as recommended for sale only to persons aged
15 and over.
32) The government overturns its decision to allow vacancies
for jobs in the adult entertainment industry to be advertised by
Jobcentre Plus.
Two years on from that report absolutely zero has been done
to address any of the issues or implement any of the recommendations inherent
in Dr Linda Papadopoulos’ report!
Once again the government has wasted money by ignoring one
report, only to order another. Such prevarication is the British way of doings
in order to ensure absolutely fuck all is done to change things!
There is no financial or legislative incentive for
industries responsible for the current body image cancer in our society to
change.
The fashion, advertising, promotion and film and TV
industries make billions out of the body image crisis they create, and they
have no reason to stop what they are doing - feeding the cancer they have
created.
They are not naive stupid people, they know exactly what
they are doing.
For advertising companies to deny that imagery they create
has any effect upon people is to deny the value of advertising in the first place and need for the
industry's existence and is an unbelievable claim for the industry to make!
Changes have been repeatedly promised by the industries
concerned, but clearly without legislation, their promises are empty. In fact
the severity of the situation can be seen from the current advertisements for both Spec Savers and
Lynx, to mention just two. Both company’s adverts continue to be blatant sexism
and fills the screen with the subliminal message that being thin is desirable
and the only body shape to be acceptable.
Once again, the issue of parental guidance is under the
spotlight! Yet again parenthood in the UK falls completely short when it comes
to parental responsibility and protecting our children.
Allowing kids the unfettered use of technologies such as
social networking, webcams, mobile phones, and the use of computers in kids
bedrooms for after-school access to the internet; are just some of the ways in
which the insidious creeping of media imagery to brainwash children into
conforming to unrealistic and damaging body shapes and sizes, along with modes
of behaviour which put them at physical and emotional risk; are perpetuated.
The outcry from parents when a school headmaster suggested
that mobile phones should be banned from
being carried into school and used during break times, and indeed in the
actual classroom, exposed the total lack
of awareness of the problem amongst parents; and of their lack of commitment in
addressing it.
The road to hell is lined with good intentions, and hell is
exactly where 1 in 4 people are right now due to the media, beauty, fashion and diet
industries.
In closing this blog, I can do no better than to quote Dr
Papadopoulos’ own words from the conclusions of her report:
“Sexualisation is a profoundly important issue that impacts individuals,
families and society as a whole.
Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful,
in line with the evidence presented in this report, and similar reports from
the US and Australia, we will miss an important
opportunity here:
an opportunity to broaden young people’s
beliefs about where their value lies; to think about strategies for guiding
children around sexualisation and objectification;
and to create new tools and spaces for young people to
develop and explore their sexuality in their own time and in their own way.”
In the end both that opportunity and that of the latest report has and will be lost in a political environment of naivety and complacency!
