- New code of conduct for fashion industry
- Mags to phase out cosmetic surgery ads
- Designers told not to hire skinny models
SKINNY models could be banished from catwalks and magazines under a major overhaul of the fashion industry.
Diets for rapid weight loss and cosmetic surgery advertisements will also be phased out of magazines, while clothing labels will be asked to stock a wide range of sizes under a new industry code of conduct.
Designers will be asked not to hire either models with a dangerously low body mass index (BMI) or excessively muscular men.
Youth Minister Kate Ellis will today unveil a new body-image tick of approval, similar to the Heart Foundation's healthy foods tick, to be awarded to magazines, modelling agencies and fashion labels that meet the following criteria:
- Disclose when images have been retouched and refrain from enhancing photographs in a way that changes a person's body shape, for example, lengthening their legs or trimming their waist, or removing freckles, lines and other distinguishing marks.
- Only use models aged 16 or older to model adult clothes - both on catwalks and in print.
- Refrain from using models who are very thin - or male models who are excessively muscular.
- Stocking clothing in a wide variety of sizes in shops to reflect the demand from customers.
- Using a broad range of body shapes, sizes and ethnicities in editorial and advertising.
- Not promoting rapid weight loss, cosmetic surgery, excessive exercising or any advertisements or editorial content that may promote a negative body image.
In a world first, the Federal Government is trying to tackle the issue of body image so ordinary Australians do not feel pressured to attain unrealistic cultural ideals of beauty. Ms Ellis said she was determined to stop the glamourisation of unhealthily thin women, which has been blamed for children suffering eating disorders.
"Body image is an issue that we must take seriously because it is affecting the health and happiness of substantial sections of our community," Ms Ellis said.
"The symbol is a win for consumers. It will empower consumers to tell the fashion, beauty, media and modelling industries what they want and provide greater choice."
A panel of health and academic experts will spend the next six months defining the criteria that organisations have to meet in order to be awarded the body image-friendly symbol.
The Government has also committed another $500,000 to develop new education programs with the help of eating-disorder group The Butterfly Foundation.
The school program will see 2500 educators trained to teach 100,000 students aged between eight and 18 about positive body image, covering topics such as media literacy and self-esteem.
The code has already received the endorsement of teenage magazine Girlfriend, and Ms Ellis' office is currently discussing the code with leading modelling agencies.
The Australian Women's Weekly editor in chief Helen McCabe said her magazine would begin identifying digitally altered photographs of celebrities. Ms McCabe said readers wanted published images of women to be more realistic.
"As Australia's biggest-selling magazine, I am proud to be taking a leading role in what is going to be a gradual process for the industry," Ms McCabe said.
29 June 2010
'Australia to ban ultra-skinny models'
via:
23 June 2010
News Coverage of South Side Murder
via Genderqueer Chicago:
A transfeminine person was found murdered in a South Side neighborhood on Monday. The Chicago Sun-Times coverage of this death can be found here. (Warning: Please do not read this article if the subject matter might be triggering)
The article makes some disturbing assumptions about folks along the transfeminine spectrum, most apparent in the following sentence:
"Investigators do not believe his body was dumped there or that he was a missing person, according to police who said that corner is frequented by prostitutes."
This point insinuates that the victim's death could not possibly be the result of a planned murder because given victim's "female-clothes," Woulard must have been a sex worker, exempt from harassment unrelated to sex work. The sentence also suggests that the murder of sex workers, regardless of their identity, should be expected in their line of work.
I am outraged by the insensitivity with which the Sun-Times has dealt with Woulard's death, the assumption that all transfeminine people as sex workers, and the depiction of sex workers as acceptable targets of crime. I encourage everyone to write the Sun-Times addressing these issues. You can contact the Sun-Times online here.
Anniversary of Title IX
June 23, 1972-- Title IX became a law. Read more over here at feministing.com.
Can You Spot What's Missing?
via Feminism/Popular Culture:
I was just looking for some statistics on the RAINN website and I noticed that something was missing. They provide a lot of useful information including a breakdown of victims of sexual assault by gender and age, a list of effects of sexual assault on victims and society, the frequency with which assaults happen and with which they are reported and then the provide information about rapists.
Here is what they provide:Approximately 2/3 of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim.
73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger.
38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
28% are an intimate.
7% are a relative.He's not Hiding in the Bushes
More than 50% of all rape/sexual assault incidents were reported by victims to have occured within 1 mile of their home or at their home.
- 4 in 10 take place at the victim's home.
- 2 in 10 take place at the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative.
- 1 in 12 take place in a parking garage.
43% of rapes occur between 6:00pm and midnight.
- 24% occur between midnight and 6:00am.
- The other 33% take place between 6:00am and 6:00pm.
The Criminal
- The average age of a rapist is 31 years old.
- 52% are white.
- 22% of imprisoned rapists report that they are married.
- Juveniles accounted for 16% of forcible rape arrestees in 1995 and 17% of those arrested for other sex offenses.
- In 1 in 3 sexual assaults, the perpetrator was intoxicated — 30% with alcohol, 4% with drugs.
- In 2001, 11% of rapes involved the use of a weapon — 3% used a gun, 6% used a knife, and 2 % used another form of weapon.
- 84% of victims reported the use of physical force only.
Rapists are more likely to be a serial criminal than a serial rapist.
46% of rapists who were released from prison were re-arrested within 3 years of their release for another crime.
- 18.6% for a violent offense.
- 14.8% for a property offense.
- 11.2% for a drug offense.
- 20.5% for a public-order offense.
They do say "he is not hiding in the bushes" but that is the ONLY reference they make to gender. They were very interested in gender when it came to victims but that information is strikingly absent when it came time to discuss perpetrators. They mention the age of perpetrators, the race and even the marital status but not the gender!
I came to the site looking for information on how how often women commit rape to compare to how often men commit rape. That information cannot be found. If someone else has that information (or can find it elsewhere on this site) please do let me know.
I do not wish to castigate RAINN, I think they do amazing, necessary work. I just wonder why they left that rather important, even crucial, detail out? I believe that they assume that we will assume that the perpetrator is a man. It is such a commonly understood fact that men rape and women are raped that it goes without saying on one of the best resources for victims and researchers alike. So entrenched are we in rape culture that we do not even need to be told that men are the most likely offenders even on a website dedicated to providing statistics about those very crimes. But beyond that, it misses an important opportunity to highlight assaults committed by non-typical offenders like women against women and women against men and in so doing, erases the experiences of those victims.
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