The pressures facing young women to be thin and what we can do to combat negative social stereotyping
An article by Analiese Jackson
Look anywhere these days – billboards, the internet or on the television – and you’ll be inundated with pictures of nymph like, pre pubescent looking women, gazing at you with their come hither looks plastered across their emaciated faces. The majority of females used in popular media present women, especially young women, with an idealised body image that is so far removed for reality, that many pretty young things are prepared to do almost anything to attain these waif like figures. Positive role models for young New Zealand women are few and far between and the consequences of this are starting to show.
According to an article published in Kai Tiaki Nursing in 2007, by the age of 15, approximately half of all schoolgirls in New Zealand will have attempted dieting in order to lose weight. Out of these women, one percent will suffer from Anorexia Nervosa at some stage in their lives, whilst an additional three percent will suffer from bulimia. Currently, it is estimated that, in New Zealand, between 5 and 8% of the population is suffering from some type of eating disorder and 80% of women in this country are dissatisfied with the way they look.
These statistics, quite frankly, are horrifying. If the numbers are anything to go by, many, if not most, women in New Zealand are buying into the idealised Western image that thin is in and that success is directly correlated with the way in which we look. But why? Why aren’t we all happy with the way we already are? Why are we all so obsessed with the way in which women look? Who is driving this weight loss agenda? And how are we able to prevent this destructive sense of self from continuing throughout the generations?
Through a variety of different sources, I sought to find out just how women in New Zealand perceived their body image and self worth and how these social constructions can be detrimental to the average women’s self worth.
Although, being a woman myself and all, I felt pretty qualified to make some assumptions as to why we women are expected to fit a particular mould here in New Zealand, I thought that I’d talk to some young women studying at Massey to get their take on what its like to be a young woman in New Zealand. They’re all undergraduates here at Massey and study vastly different disciplines: one studies English, one Science and another Media Studies. They ask if, in exchange for being candid with me, I can give them Spice Girls pseudonyms – after all, says the girl who I will call Geri, it’d be ironic as the Spice Girls were the “poster girls for bad body image … they were all anorexic or bulimic anyway”. I agree, and we proceed to talk about being a young woman in New Zealand and the pressures put upon us to conform to a certain stereotype.
We start by discussing their thoughts on what society perceives to be the ideal body image. It’s evident that all three agree on what is socially acceptable. Victoria summarises what is “hot” by saying: “There is such a strong pressure on chicks [to conform to a certain image in the media] – guys are meant to be tough and muscular and big and buff….”
“…and ‘sex me’ hot…” interjects Mel
“Yeah, and that. Girls are meant to be skinny as and if you’re packing too much in the trunk, then people will judge you for it”.
It’s evident that, over their adolescent years, each of the girls has had very different struggles to accept their bodies. Mel has, over the past year or so, lost a significant amount of weight (she estimates around 25 kgs) after the birth of her first child. She told me of how, given that she was in her teens when she had her baby, she felt constantly judged by her peers for her weight and her life choices. While she is now at the weight she was before she fell pregnant, she has a whole new outlook on life and on her body: “I used to think I was fat before [I had my baby]. Now I reckon I’m fine, though my tummy isn’t as toned as it used to be…” she says, albeit slightly wistfully.
Geri, on the other hand, has found herself struggling with her weight over the past few years: “I gained about 30 kilos, but I’ve lost 5 of it on the diet I’m on” she says. Until recently, Geri had never succumbed to the idea of dieting: “I’d never dieted in my life…that’s why I’m so fat” she says matter-of-factly. At the moment though, she’s focused on losing weight mainly through exercising, as she’s found that people have treated her differently since her weight gain “I used to be the girl that guys whistled at on the street and I always had my arse slapped in public – not that that’s a good thing or anything- but now I feel as though I’m being constantly judged.”
Forms of judgement, confides Geri, come in anything from name calling (“I got called a butch dyke recently” she told me) to judgement that comes from within, like when she’s trying to flirt with guys and they may not reciprocate: “I usually think “oh, he doesn’t like me ‘cos I’m fat,” when it could really be that he doesn’t like my personality or something else” she says.
We get talking about other forms of judgement that they feel from societal groups. Surprisingly, a lot of the pressure that these young women feel is directed at them to look a certain way comes from their parents. “My dad sometimes says to me: “you’re looking a little chubby today; you should get on the treadmill” says the naturally slender Victoria. “Yeah, and Victoria was at my house the other day trying on a dress of mine and my dad says: “Oh, that’s not something that you could ever fit” says Geri emphatically. It is, to these young girls, the judgement of their parents that matters to them most, though Victoria puts it down to a “generational thing”: “There’s this old lady in our class [who Victoria guesses to be “about 40”] who gives you a dirty look if you look a certain way or wear a certain thing…I got judged for wearing a singlet today. I’m only wearing one because it’s really humid outside!”
Generally though, these three girls seem to be at ease with themselves and their body image: “I look at people and I’m like “Fuck, I wish I looked like her” but at the same time I’m just like “Fuck, who really cares?!” Geri nods in agreement: “I think that a lot more girls care about it more than we do” she says, gesturing to her friends. Victoria and Mel nod in agreement. Suddenly, Mel pipes up with “Shit, all this talk is really making me hungry. I could really do with a chicken burger. Who’s keen?” We cease our discussion to go indulge in some chicken-y deliciousness.
With my eyes sufficiently opened to the societal pressures facing young women, I went to speak to Dr. Maree Burns, Agency Manager of the Eating Difficulties Education Network (EDEN), a non-profit, community based organisation administered by a collective of women. In order to attain a more academic grasp on the subject matter, I found myself sitting in her Westmere office one rainy Monday morning.
According to their website, EDEN’S mission statement is to “promote body trust and satisfaction, size acceptance and diversity on an individual and societal level”, but, considering the conversations I’d had with young girls earlier, I imagined that this would be a rather difficult message to convey. I asked Dr Burns about the challenges of getting young women to accept this message:
“I think its quite challenging in the current social environment, where there’s a lot of messages about actually not accepting yourself as you are and seeing the women’s body as a project that continually needs to be improved and that people should have this investment in shaping their physical body in some way. What that does is divorces people from a relationship with their body that’s based on intuition and feeling and replaces it with a relationship that’s based on external prescriptions like diets or number of hours at the gym. That gets us in trouble in terms of having a loving and accepting relationship with ourselves.”
What are these pervasive societal factors? Along with the typical answers that you’d expect, such as the media and peers groups, Dr. Burns points out a relatively new forum where being critical of ourselves and others is not all that uncommon: Social Networking Sites: “Another increasingly problematic thing is the increase of social networking sites. It seems to be another forum in which young women can scrutinise one another and monitor one another and comment on one another’s body size and shape and weight related practices…because it’s 24/7 phenomenon, and it seems that young women are encouraged to participate…and potentially to post photographs of themselves and enter into this kind of competitive forum”.
This leads to an interesting question: does Dr Burns believe that competitiveness between women drive this weight loss agenda? “It’s a really interesting question and it requires quite a nuance to answer. As women, we do ourselves buy into a lot of those messages and we start to reproduce some of those messages about ourselves and our judgements of other people, but I think everybody plays a role. Certainly, boys and men play a role in terms of dominant ideas around heterosexual attractiveness and I think increasingly as well there is increasing pressure on men in terms of dominant ideas to do with masculinity and what is attractive…there are way more women and girls struggling though”.
There are several ways that Dr Burns suggests we can turn around this negative way of looking at ourselves and others bodies: “People can often feel overwhelmed about this idea that “we live in a society that is often hostile towards size diversity…what can I do?” but I think each of us has a role to play in terms of potentially refusing to participate in dieting and restriction of eating…[and] thinking about the kinds of conversations we participate in, like, do we participate in conversations where we disparage our own bodies or other people’s bodies, because that has an impact on anyone who is within listening range”
“Also, and I think this is more of an activist thing to do, if you see advertisements that show women’s bodies in ways that objectify or sexualise them or show incredibly thin models…then write to the people that make that product or the people doing the advertising and express your concern about that” says Burns.
In order to help the wider New Zealand community begin to become more aware of the concept of size diversity, in 2007, EDEN launched the Love Your Body campaign. What originally started out as a day event in Aotea Square has become an extended event in conjunction with businesses such as Thunderpants, The Body Shop and Pumpkin Patch, who have committed to promoting the ideas of accepting yourself for who you are: “It’s really struck a chord with New Zealanders; the idea of a Love Your Body campaign and that people really are sick of being told that they’re not okay and feeling not okay and are looking for ways to disrupt that issue.”
So, whilst it appears there are a number of societal influences intent on making you feel crap about yourself, we can start by making small gestures: stop engaging in talk about how fat/skinny/chubby/plain/ugly you are and encourage your friends to do likewise. If you hear someone talking in a derogatory way about other people, pull them up on it. It may or may not break the cycle, but at least you’ll know that you don’t put up with that kind of malicious gossip. And, if your budget allows, buy a singlet or pair of underwear from The Body Shop this week, as the proceeds go to helping EDEN fund their highly important work. Without getting all preachy, these are just a few small things that you can do to make your world a better place.