tHE PROBLEM

From ages 5 to 17 mental and physical development are most heavily influenced by our environment. One large contributing factor that has shaped our s

POLICY BRIEF
1

THE EFFECT THE MEDIA HAS ON BODY IMAGE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
If

Barbie was a real human, she would be unable to function due to her
sixteen inch waist, which is four inches thinner than her head leaving
only
enough room for half a liver and a few inches of intestine. She would
be so
thin that she would be unable to menstruate. Girls aspire to be
beautiful, and due to the influences that surround a girls
environment, thinness is idealized. Barbie Doll is one of these
influences, and since girls as young as 5 years old are playing with
dolls like Barbie frequently, they are unconsciously learning that
beauty is physical. According to the Nation Eating Disorder
Association, the most fatal mental disorder is anorexia nervosa. It has
an
estimated mortality rate of around 10 percent. Anorexia nervosa is an
eating disorder that makes people lose more weight than is
considered healthy for their age and height. The desire to obtain more than just thin, to reach
the unachievable level of perfection, is a dangerous goal that is made by many girls of all ages.
Each and every day, all of their energy, all of their time, all of their actions, and all of their
thoughts are dedicated to achieving beauty and skinny. Depression becomes more of a risk
and serious health issues are at a higher chance of occurring. The mental struggles and selfhate are more deteriorating than the physical aspect of an eating disorder. The strain and selfabuse is never worth the goal of perfection. HERself is all about self-love and body acceptance.
All of the energy that is spent hating yourself could be used positively to love and improve
yourself. Switch a compliment for a critic.

DATA AND ANALYSIS:

HERself
November 2014

In a survey conducted within our senior

class, it was discovered that a significant
amount of the females were not
comfortable with their figure. Over half of
the female students out of 60 chose
negative answers to questions regarding
their feelings affiliated with their body. By
analyzing the data, we can hypothesize that
our school is not the only one with a
majority of female students who struggle
with self-love and body acceptance.

as

America is a very fashion forward country, this means

there is high pressure for people to be
beautiful. 24 million people in America
assume that being beautiful means being
thin, and one way to achieve skinny is to
control their weight. Weight control can cause
people to become highly obsessive with
calories and the weight scale. This obsession
leads to extreme acts of desperation to lose
weight which causes the person to have an
unhealthy relationship with their body and food;
a result an eating disorder develops.

Out of all 50 states, California has the highest amount of recorded eating disorders. There
over 300,000 more women with eating disorders in California than in any other state. This
is highly influenced by Los Angeles and Hollywood. We believe that by targeting California
first it will have a ripple effect to other states to promote a healthier lifestyle.

Policy Options
Existing: HEALTHY IS THE NEW SKINNY
Perfection. The word, the meaning, the idea, and the dream plagues the nation. Healthy is the
New Skinny is a campaign that challenges the medias portrayal of beauty, promotes to change
the motives and mindsets of people. They support women all over the world to love
themselves and others. One of their core beliefs is that It is not enough to say I love my body
it is how you treat your body is how you show your love and respect for your body. By
changing your thought process you can live a realistic and healthy lifestyle by being active and
eating foods that are nutritious and supply your body with energy. They want their acceptance
and confidence to be reached out to adolescents and adults to show the importance of selflove and a healthy lifestyle. A way in which they advocate their ideas is by going out to schools
all over California and discussing personal struggles with their body and wanting to achieve
perfection. They talk to the students at these different schools about how they overcame their
struggles to lead a healthy lifestyle, and how it was the best choice they ever made. They have
merchandise to purchase which includes a variety of tops, dresses, and bottoms.
Existing: NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS ASSOCIATION
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is a collaboration between NEDA and other likeminded organizations dedicated to support those who are affected by eating disorders. They
provide a unified voice of strength, advocacy and support in the fight against eating disorders.
Along with having volunteers and interns engaging in activities such as legislative advocacy,
event coordination, and the NEDA Navigator program, they also have a Solutions Through
Advocacy and Reform (STAR) Program, NEDA Walks, Media Watchdog Program, and NEDA
Awareness Week. Their STAR program was created to legislatively advocate for awareness,
education, early intervention and prevention programs, funding for research, and improved

access for the treatment of eating disorders. Their NEDA Walks started in the spring of 2009
and have since then grown to over 50 walks per year across the nation and have raised over 2
million dollars. The walks help to raise awareness about eating disorders and continues to fund
their association. The Media Watchdog Program works to improve media messages about
size, weight and beauty by empowering consumers to advocate for change. The work of
changing the media means recognizing and celebrating advertisements that send healthy body
image messages, as well as taking the time to express concerns about advertisements that
send negative body image messages or promote unrealistic ideals. NEDA Awareness Week
involves volunteers across the U.S. and in at least 30 other countries to host events, join social
media campaigns, and distribute information about body image, the dangers surrounding
eating disorders, and the need for early intervention and treatment.

Non Existant Policy Options: #BeautywithinHERself

We want the hashtag #BeautywithinHERself to motivate and inspire women all over the world
who use Twitter, Instagram, and other social media devices to engage in a healthier lifestyle.
This hashtag can include progress made pertaining to recovery from an eating disorder, an
activity that was done to promote self-love, a healthy meal that was eaten, an exercise that
was completed, and other growths or advancements in self-acceptance or self-love. This
hashtag is to be used only for support and positivity.
Non Existing Policy Options: SELF-LOVE CLASSES IN SCHOOLS
By implementing a health and fitness class course in schools across the country, we will be
able to teach adolescents the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle which includes a healthy
mind and body. We also want to inform these students on the dangers of eating disorders. To
be able to exhibit the differences between a healthy person and an unhealthy one, we will be
comparing both the mind and body of a person who regularly engages in exercise, eats the
appropriate amount of nutrition for their specific physique, and practices self-love to one who is
under nourished, neglectful towards their health, and uses more negative energy than positive
energy.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
HERself Dolls aim to provide our society with an eclectic array of realistic looking dolls. By
realistic we mean diverse, like the real world itself. Our dolls have been created to showcase
numerous different ethnicities and body shapes, and no doll looks identical to the other. The
point of this is to teach/enforce the idea that no matter how different you may look from the
ideal standard of beauty, you are beautiful. These dolls will influence young girls and show
them that it is okay to not look like everyone else and it could potentially create a society where
everyone accepts themselves and others. We will be creating a crowdfunding website, where
individuals can help us fund our new business venture, HERself dolls.