Tell us the truth - Girls call for honesty over airbrushing
Our girls and young women are demanding action from
the Prime Minister to introduce compulsory labelling to distinguish
between airbrushed and natural images in order to ‘shape a
generation of self-confident girls and young women'.
The petition, which launches at our Fusion
event on Wednesday 4 August and online on Thursday 5
August follows on from Girlguiding UK’s 2009 research, the
Girls Attitudes
Survey. This survey demonstrated that 50 per cent of 16-21
year old girls would consider having surgery to change the way they
look and 42 per cent of 11 to 16 year olds admitting to
watching what they ate or cutting down on certain foods to
excess.
Want to have your say on the matter? Get on Twitter and tweet
using #gukforrealimages.
Chief Guide, Liz Burnley CBE, said: 'From the research we have
conducted and our everyday experiences working with girls and young
women, we know how profoundly they feel the pressure to conform to
a particular body image and how badly they can be affected by these
unobtainable ideals.'
'We are proud to support the calls of our members who believe
that it is time that the Prime Minister addressed their concerns
and acted in the interests of girls and young women across the
country.'
Chief Executive of Beat, Susan Ringwood, said: 'Young people
with eating disorders tell us that being surrounded everyday by
pictures of unnaturally ‘perfect’ bodies makes their own recovery
so much more difficult to achieve.
We know the difference it would make to all young people’s self
esteem and body confidence if they could be sure which of the
images they see are natural and true to life.
We are committed to working with Girlguiding UK and others to
make this important call to action a reality.'
The petition is supported by singer Javine who said: 'It is
great to see the members of Girlguiding UK calling for girls and
women to be shown more representative body images. Girls need to
learn to be confident with their bodies. They need to cherish
themselves from their heads to their tip toes, embracing both their
beauty and their flaws.
Growing up is hard, and girls can often become influenced by
unrealistic pictures which depict how women should look, not how
they do. Such pictures can often destroy the confidence which
should be helping girls blossom into tomorrow’s leading women.'