Our generation took body consciousness to a whole new level, with quite devastating results. We were taught to judge others not by the breadth of their character but by the size and shape of their bodies. It saddens me that this obsessive desire to look a certain way has seemingly overridden the desire of being a good person, resisting to gossip, being truthful and loyal to the people around us and acting with integrity. We live in a society where people would sell their souls for a preferred dress size and confidence is based on form and complexion over character development.
What has this philosophy provided us with?
Depression, peer pressure, cosmetic surgery addiction, diet crazes, suicide, bullying, anorexia and bulimia.
The internet is awash with pro-anorexia websites which thousands of girls – some as young as six – are using to compete against each other in deadly starvation games, a study has found.
More than 500 of these ‘gruesome’ sites exist and encourage vulnerable young women to barely eat and just drink coffee, smoke and take diet pills to look like a ‘goddess’.
Using the phrase ‘starving for perfection’ they say users should eat no more than 500 calories a day – the recommended level is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.
They also include ‘thinspiration’ sections with images of super-slim women and in the last year 500,000 girls have admitted visiting them, and one in five were aged between six and 11.
University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich has carried out research into the issue and found than many of these websites are set up by people with anorexia and other eating disorders.
‘It starts with an individual who wants to share their experience and as they get a following they set themselves up as almost Goddess-like,’ researcher Dr Emma Bond, senior lecturer in childhood and youth studies said.
‘When I started this research last January I came across a website set up by a girl who was disgusted with herself because she had put on a few pounds at Christmas. She planned to fast for three days and regain control.
‘In under two hours, she had 36 followers saying things like “You’re wonderful, you’re an inspiration to me, I’m only fasting because of you”.’
Some of the people are even posting pictures of themselves in very few clothes on thousands of blogs and on social media like Twitter.
Official figures show that one in 200 women and one in 2,000 men have anorexia – which means they starve themselves or exercise excessively to stay slim – although some experts believe the true number is much higher.
Around eight per cent of women and one per cent of men develop bulimia at some point. They binge on excessive amounts of food then make themselves sick or use laxatives to stop gaining weight.
Many sufferers of eating disorders hide their problem from family and friends by pretending they have already eaten to avoid meals and wearing baggy clothes to conceal their skeletal shape.
Doctors believe that anorexia or bulimia is more common in people who are perfectionists, tend to worry a lot or are often depressed.
JK Rowling deserves a bit of slack for this latest controversy. Whilst the reference to a ‘mustachioed’ girl is regrettable, Rowling has done amazing things for children with glasses and scars and has inspired orphans to rise above their situation:
Now it appears the book, called The Casual Vacancy, has also angered religious leaders in India because of its portrayal of a Sikh girl as ‘mustachioed, yet large-mammaried.’
The book, about social tensions in a small village in South West England, features a Sikh family, including female student Sukhvinder.
One of the characters, Fats, describes Sukhvinder, his classmate, as ‘mustachioed, yet large-mammaried’, adding that ‘scientists remain baffled by the contradictions of the hairy man-woman’.
Sikh believers are forbidden from shaving or trimming their hair, and the passage was condemned by India’s Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which manages places of worship in India.
Sikh leaders are now closely scrutinising the novel with a view to having the offending passages removed from Indian editions.
SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar described Miss Rowling’s choice of words as ‘a slur on the Sikh community’, adding: ‘Even if the author had chosen to describe the female Sikh character’s physical traits, there was no need for her to use provocative language, questioning her gender. This is condemnable.’
He added: ‘If anything is written against the Sikh maryada (dignity), we will write to [India’s] prime minister Manmohan Singh and urge him to take up the matter with the government in the United Kingdom for action against Rowling.
Jeroen Wolf found 100 people, ranging in age from nought to 100, and persuaded them to reveal on camera how old they were.
He then put all the clips together to make a poignant video showing the volunteers counting to 100 – revealing how the ageing process alters how we look as we continue on life’s journey.
Mr Wolf said his job was easiest collecting shots of youths and middle-aged people, but that he had more difficulty accessing the very young and very old, who are more vulnerable and protected.He admitted that his collection was not completely representative of the population of Amsterdam, where the project was filmed, as representatives of some minorities were more reluctant to appear on camera than others.
An advertising campaign from a New Zealand company telling customers to swap their “ginger children” for ginger beer has been criticised on social media.
A media release from Hakanoa Handmade Ginger Beer yesterday gave “unfortunate” parents with red-haired children the opportunity to exchange them for ginger beer, starting today and running until the end of August.
“Parents with ginger spawn will be able to bring them into The Little Grocer on Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, where they will be able to swap them for a six-pack of ginger beer.”
However, people on the company’s Facebook page said the campaign was offensive.
Ross Ronald said: “Awful – who’s next? Kids with glasses? You’ve totally missed the point and have maybe created the world’s most un-inclusive ad campaign. Humour is best left to those who have some.”
“This is a disgusting but of bullying – towards children – and I hope you have some human rights complaints coming your way,” said William Robertson.
Plastic surgery will never be the answer to bullying. It only sends the message that the bullies were justified in picking on a child with big ears or a hook nose. It says that unless you do something about your looks you deserve the bullying that comes your way:
Nadia Ilse is looking forward to the new school year, when she will no longer be called “Dumbo” by her peers for her “elephant ears.”
To ward off school bullies who began taunting her in the first grade for her ears, Nadia begged her mother at the age of 10 for an otoplasty — an operation to pin her ears back.
The teen, now 14, was recently granted her wish by the Little Baby Face Foundation, a charity that provides free corrective surgery to children born with facial deformities.
Nadia told CNN that the bullying turned her talkative self into a withdrawn, antisocial girl. The taunting “hurt so much,” she told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
When the Little Baby Face Foundation was contacted by Nadia’s mother, the organization brought the duo to New York City from Georgia and did more than just pin her ears back. The organization’s founder, Dr. Thomas Romo, III. also performed reduction rhinoplasty, reducing the size of the nose, and mentoplasty, altering the chin.
The foundation covered the estimated $40,000 cost of surgery.
I worry about the message sent here. Girls have such a hard time dealing with body image issues. Plastic surgery shouldn’t be the answer to bullying – teacher intervention should.
Unfortunately sports stars are idolised by children. I say unfortunately, because all too often they let themselves and their followers down by insensitive behaviour and poor decisions.
A YOUNG girl claims she was told by a St Kilda football player that the club saved themselves for ”hot chicks” and that ”there should be a no fat chicks section” in their contracts.
The girl, who has not been named, said the comments were made last week at Melbourne airport while she was trying to get a photograph for her friend.
She told the Herald Sun she was horrified by the experience.
“Instantly my eyes filled up with tears,” she said.
“Body image and how I look is important, so that comment, coming from someone who is in the public eye, made me feel like a monster.
“Now I think everyone around me is thinking those things.”
And what about this for a lackluster response?
St Kilda’s head of football Chris Pelchen confirmed the club had acted on the incident.
In a statement he said: ”The St Kilda Football Club can confirm we received a complaint from the mother of a young lady alleging comments were made by the players at Melbourne airport on Friday that upset her daughter.
”The Club has spoken to the playing group, and while there is some conjecture about the comments, the Club is mindful that sensitivities need to be respected.
”The family involved have indicated their appreciation for the professional way the St Kilda Football Club has managed the matter.”
The team made a donation to the Butterfly Foundation and also provided a guernsey to the young girl.
The sport’s body (the AFL) should step in and demand stronger consequences. This is beyond unacceptable behaviour.
Click here to join in the discussion on body image and our youth.
I am of the opinion that one shouldn’t need to discuss ‘weight’ with issues with your children. I prefer a more positive approach where healthy food and exercise is promoted rather than “negative talk” which is likely to make the child even more self-conscious.
A new report says parents are concerned that talking to their child about their weight will lead to an eating disorder.
This figure rises to 65% of parents who identify their child as being overweight or obese.
More than 1,000 parents with a child aged 5-16 responded to the Let’s talk about weight survey on Netmums and shared how they feel about bringing up the topic of weight with their child.
I do understand that the problem is more complicated than just advocating health over weight loss. I also realise that children are too smart not to realise that healthy lifestyle measures are a result of their weight issues.
What is your opinion? How should parents discuss weight issues with their children?
This morning’s newspaper asked readers to comment on whether or not they thought this woman was fat. Whilst I don’t think this woman is fat at all, it is the question itself that got me worked up.
It reminded me about how obsessed we are about weight, and how this obsession is going to ensure that our children will spend more time aspiring to fit a certain look rather than to become good people.
Nobody seems to care anymore whether a person is caring, selfless, charitable or kind. These are attributes of losers. Surveys that ask what we would prefer to be, beautiful or kind, favour beautiful every time. The rationale being, that nobody is jealous of a kind person in the way they are of a good-looking one.
How are our children supposed to make sense of this?
It upsets me to see Primary aged children so conscious of their weight. It bothers me no end that 8-year olds know everything there is to know about the perfect body size and shape, but have no insights on the correct protocol for offering ones seat to an elderly person on a crowded train. The thought would never have entered their mind.
Haven’t we learnt our lesson? Did we not realise that an obsession with looks leads nowhere. It doesn’t make one happy. Why are we creating kids that follow our sick ways? Why are we perpetuating the message that there’s nothing wrong with gossiping, fakery and selfishness, but eating ice-cream is a sin?
So, no, I don’t find the woman fat. But guess what? I don’t care whether she is fat or not. I care whether she is a good woman, a kind wife, a loving mother, a loyal friend, a friendly co-worker etc. And ultimately, that’s what I want us all to look for.
There are frumpy, unfit people out there, with pale complexions who have unpopular taste in clothes. Some of these people are also tremendously kind and good-hearted. It would be criminal for us to marginalise these people, as some of them are the real beautiful people!
I am not a big fan of Barbie. However, I think the initiative to get Mattel to include a cancer suffering “Bald Barbie” has plenty of merit:
Most kids in America recognize Barbie immediately.
She’s tall, she’s thin, and she’s…bald?
Rebecca Sypin is one of the people behind this Facebook campaign urging Mattel to create a bald Barbie, one she says children battling cancer and other diseases that cause hair loss can relate to.
“When you go to the supermarket, sometimes you have little kids who’ve never seen it before, staring, and I think it would make it much more mainstream and more normal for kids to see that,” said Sypin.
Sypin knows about children and cancer all too well. Her daughter, Kin Inich, is battling leukemia.
“Everybody else has hair, even a boy has hair and you don’t. So it would make you feel like you’re Barbie, you would be the glamorous girl with the big lifestyle and everything now,” said Kin.
The Beautiful and Bald Barbie Facebook page has been up and running for less than a month, and already has more than 65,000 friends.
But despite that support, Sypin says the bald Barbie idea has gotten a cool reception from Mattel, saying that the company has told her they do not take unsolicited Barbie doll suggestions from outside sources.
A bald Barbie may still be a possibility though. Mattel released a written statement Thursday saying the company is honored that so many people are looking to Barbie as the face of such an important cause.
“We receive hundreds of passionate requests for various dolls to be added to our collection,” the statement reads. “We take all of them seriously and are constantly exploring new and different dolls to be added to our line.”
Let’s face it. The reason that Mattel seem less than enthusiastic about the idea, is that it would almost certainly make a loss. That, and the fact that the Barbie name is synonymous with looks and dimensions that lack realism and are deliberately out of proportion. A doll that humanises the Barbie name and presents her as flawed and vulnerable is not what they are setting out to do.
I will be watching closely to see whether or not Mattel has the conviction to bypass profits for this extremely noteworthy cause. If they don’t, it will only serve to reaffirm my current dislike of the product.
I have a confession to make. As driven as I am to help my students master the curriculum, there is something more important to me than their academic achievement. I would not be even remotely satisfied if my students were at or above the national standard in numeracy and literacy if they also happened to be bullying, bullied or struggling to cope with everyday life. Conversely, if my students were below national standards but were functioning well and getting along with each other, I would be far more satisfied.
That’s not to say that I don’t understand that a vital function of my job is to educate. I know that all too well. It’s just that I wont let that distract me from my mission in setting up a classroom that is caring, friendly and allows each child to express themselves in their own unique way.
I am sick and tired of reading about how bullying is causing kids as young as 7 to diet. It infuriates me that so little is done by teachers to protect young kids from this stigma and prevent bullies from causing distress. I know what I am claiming will be seen as a gross generalisation, but how many teachers are prepared to overlook a hurtful comment about weight or ignore the activity by the “in-crowd?”
No classroom should have an “in-crowd”. In-groups cannot exist without a readily defined “out-group”. It is a teacher’s job to foster a classroom environment without such divisions. It is more important than any equation or scientific experiment.
Topical Teaching 
It’s Time to Get New Role Models
July 18, 2012Unfortunately sports stars are idolised by children. I say unfortunately, because all too often they let themselves and their followers down by insensitive behaviour and poor decisions.
Take this story from my country, Australia, for example:
A YOUNG girl claims she was told by a St Kilda football player that the club saved themselves for ”hot chicks” and that ”there should be a no fat chicks section” in their contracts.
The girl, who has not been named, said the comments were made last week at Melbourne airport while she was trying to get a photograph for her friend.
She told the Herald Sun she was horrified by the experience.
“Instantly my eyes filled up with tears,” she said.
“Body image and how I look is important, so that comment, coming from someone who is in the public eye, made me feel like a monster.
“Now I think everyone around me is thinking those things.”
And what about this for a lackluster response?
St Kilda’s head of football Chris Pelchen confirmed the club had acted on the incident.
In a statement he said: ”The St Kilda Football Club can confirm we received a complaint from the mother of a young lady alleging comments were made by the players at Melbourne airport on Friday that upset her daughter.
”The Club has spoken to the playing group, and while there is some conjecture about the comments, the Club is mindful that sensitivities need to be respected.
”The family involved have indicated their appreciation for the professional way the St Kilda Football Club has managed the matter.”
The team made a donation to the Butterfly Foundation and also provided a guernsey to the young girl.
The sport’s body (the AFL) should step in and demand stronger consequences. This is beyond unacceptable behaviour.
Click here to join in the discussion on body image and our youth.
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