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This week, Unilever announced a company-wide
initiative to ban size zero models from appearing in advertising for any of its
products. The company says it “believes
in a healthy balanced diet and that both men and women have the right to feel
comfortable with their bodies and not suffer from lack of self-esteem brought
on by images of excessive slimness."
Well, it’s about
time.
More than a year
and a half ago, Dove (a Unilever brand) rocked the industry when its brilliant
Campaign for Real Beauty launched during the Super Bowl. The campaign, so
wonderfully committed to building self-esteem in girls and women, set a new
standard for social responsibility and won industry accolades.
But while Dove
bolted out of the station, proudly speeding toward a new, enlightened world,
everyone else stayed behind in the waiting area, looking down and shuffling
around.
We all know about
our nation’s obesity epidemic, particularly the risk facing our kids. We know
that children are at risk of diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other
ailments unless we stop feeding them plates of trans-fats and cups of high
fructose corn syrup. Media have worked hard to educate us, and a growing number
of companies are taking action by altering their products or marketing
strategies. They all are to be commended.
But why are so
few paying attention to the sobering statistics about eating disorders on the
rise among our nation’s children? According to a recent study by Colgate University, two-thirds of all girls have
been on a diet before the age of 10. Forty-two percent girls between first and
third grade want to be thinner. One in ten girls has vomited to lose weight by
the age of nine.
And what’s the number one wish of girls age 11-17? Is it a
horse, a fabulous wardrobe, money, or a cute boyfriend? Nope. Above all things,
they want to lose weight.
While parents can do their best to instill self-esteem and encourage
healthy habits, they’re often powerless against the thousands of images of
unattainable beauty that reach kids through ever-stretching media channels.
Tragically popular are the Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia movements,
which praise the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia and offer tips for
“success.” They also are the subjects of thousands of YouTube videos. At the
moment, there are more than 3,740 “Thinspiration” videos on the site, which
typically feature images of super skinny girls and women, accompanied by such words
of “encouragement” as “Hunger hurts but starving works” and “Beauty is seeing
the bones.” (I purposely am not including a link to an example video, as 61,702
views are enough.)
The images shown in these videos aren’t just uber-thin celebrities
such as Nicole Ritchie and Keira Knightley. Nor are they all shots of models
striking poses on the catwalk during Fashion Week. Many of them feature photos
taken from product advertisements.
Unilever, however slowly, is setting an example of
social responsibility. But it certainly can’t be a sole agent for change. Who
else will step up by stepping away from potentially devastating images of
beauty?
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