Seventeen magazine's vow to celebrate all body types: It's about time.
| Los Angeles
In the August issue of Seventeen magazine, editor-in-chief Ann Shoket responds to a fierce campaign to 鈥渒eep it real鈥� by vowing to keep photo shoots transparent, celebrate all body types, and never change the shapes of girls鈥� bodies or faces. And it鈥檚 about time.
Many teen girls are caught in the body-image trap, but it snares people of all ages. Last month, talk-show host Anderson Cooper kicked off his guest 鈥� the British mother Sarah Burge 鈥� because he could no longer hear her defend the decision to give her eight-year-old daughter vouchers for breast implants and liposuction, redeemable when she turns 18. Ms. Burge has reportedly spent more than $500,000 in plastic surgeries to become 鈥渢he human Barbie,鈥� as she calls herself.
The following week, news broke that the US Senate Federal Credit Union sent out a mailing with a photo of a smiling tanned blonde featuring large fake breasts in a low-cut, tight shirt. The mailing urged credit union members to consider borrowing cash for any upcoming 鈥渂ig plans.鈥�
The over-tanned human Barbie could be any Botox addict I see at the beach every summer in California鈥檚 Orange County. In fact, the city where I was raised, Irvine, Calif., is so notoriously appearance-conscious it ranks as the No. 1 city in America in household spending on high-end fashion.
Last year, I returned to my hometown to lead several discussions on the documentary film 鈥淢iss Representation.鈥� The film, written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, attempts to refute the media portrayal that 鈥渁 woman鈥檚 value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality,鈥� as the film鈥檚 website describes it.
I had high hopes of creating radical change around issues of female empowerment and body image among Irvine鈥檚 youth. But I found resistance instead.
After I asked a question about the difference between growing up male and female, one young woman insisted that this difference 鈥� of girls being pressured to dress or act in a certain way 鈥� 鈥渏ust doesn鈥檛 exist anymore. There is no pressure in high school.鈥�
I was speechless. She attends my alma mater, and when I went there in the early 2000s, girls obsessed about weight 鈥� and teeth whitening, shopping, manicures, pedicures, waxing, and hair salons. With plastic surgery, it鈥檚 getting worse. And all over Orange County, mothers sign waivers for their underage daughters to tan.
In the all-girl groups I led, I tried to steer the talk about body image to leadership and empowerment. But the girls consistently re-directed. 鈥淕uys are only into really skinny girls, like Lady Gaga鈥� one teen admitted, 鈥渟o I鈥檓 always on a diet.鈥� The group eagerly echoed, 鈥淚 KNOW!鈥� and 鈥淢E TOO!鈥�
So much for no pressure in high school.
On the flip side, Lady Gaga tries to empower youth with her new Born This Way Foundation. But I believe female youth need to look elsewhere for a leader in the next body-image revolution. After all, like the high school girls I met suggested, Lady Gaga鈥檚 strutting on stage in a bra and panties like a stripper has not helped them one bit on campus. High school boys watch her suggestive videos and expect their girlfriends to perform the same role.
As long as we don鈥檛 reconfigure the way girls see themselves on TV, in movies, on billboards, in fashion magazines, and in music videos, even our smartest teenagers will continue to believe the media lie that all their worth is in their fastidious attention to the superficial and transitory.
Michelle Obama is working hard to cultivate nutrition and healthy living awareness. We need more female leaders like writer Lisa Bloom, author of the book, 鈥淭hink: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World,鈥� and documentary maker Jennifer Siebel Newsom. They can help create a new generation of empowered females around the topic of healthy female body image.
Various youths are finding their own way to combat the media canard that a woman can only be attractive and happy if she is skinny.
Julia Bluhm, a teen from Maine, created a Change.org petition demanding that Seventeen print one unaltered photo spread per month. With fellow activists, she handed the petition 鈥� with more than 84,000 signatures 鈥撀� to the executive editor of Seventeen. The magazine listened, and has committed to 鈥渃elebrate every kind of beauty.鈥�
These efforts are vital if we are to prevent the next media and beauty obsessed mother from giving her preteen daughter vouchers to grow up and become another human Barbie.
Chelsea Carmona is the West Coast regional manager of , which aims to increase the range of voices and quality of ideas in public discourse. Joe Loya, an essayist, playwright, and author of the memoir, "" contributed to this commentary.
