Featured Articles
Author of Health at Every Size, Linda Bacon, has released more letters for all of us to use in our fight against size discrimination and in our journeys to spread the message about Health at Every Size as a superior model for increased health. Enjoy this one, which addresses those people who think that accepting people of all sizes is a dangerous practice.
One of the problems preventing people from exercising more regularly is believing that their bodies do not already meet the requisite criteria for beauty and that they are therefore not allowed to be a part of public - or even private - locations where bodies are the primary focus: gyms, parks, pools, beaches, etc. Recognizing the need and the desire of people of all shapes and sizes to get up and move their bodies regularly, Greg Kline has a series of suggestions for how people’s needs can be heard and addressed.
Food is advertised in a very sensual way, almost as a means of convincing women to forget men and just put all of their emotional baggage into food. We must be wary of advertising done in this fashion, and this article will explain how it’s done and how to see through it.
GO GIRLS! (Giving Our Girls Inspiration and Resources for Lasting Self-Esteem) is a program developed by Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc. (EDAP; http://www.edap.org). Its goal is to prevent the development of eating disorders among high school students through media literacy education, media activism, and media advocacy (1). Media literacy education involves enhancing participants’ ability to analyze critically messages in various media forms and to create media messages that reflect an alternative viewpoint (2). The media activism component relates to changing the media through protesting or praising particular media products. Media advocacy involves using the media to communicate messages in the participants’ own words with the goal of changing important aspects of their environment.
As consumers we are not powerless to approach the media forces that be and demand change of them. The process to change the images that young women are provided with will not be quick and it will be a series of battles rather than a larger war, but with a little community activism, we can change the way that young girls grow up perceiving themselves. This article is about one professors experiences, both in and outside the classroom, doing just that.