By Jeanne Rust, Phd, Guest Author for Elegant Plus Magazine

What can we do to begin to combat the messages we get from the media including magazines and television?

How can we make a difference in the world and begin to teach people to respect who we are as a person on the inside rather than what we look like on the outside?

When am I going to say, This is enough! I am going to refuse to pay attention to what other people think when they judge how I look. I am going to refuse to give away my power to a society that worships a handful of super models who use airbrushed photos!

The PBS website has a marvelous article called Perfect Illusions. The beginning paragraph states, One of the ways we can protect our self-esteem and body image from the often narrow definitions of beauty and acceptability is to become a critical viewer of the messages we are bombarded with each day. Media messages about body shape affect the way we feel about our bodies and ourselves only if we let them! When we recognize and analyze the media messages that influence us, we remember that the definitions of beauty and success do not have to define our self-image or potential. We must use our creative minds to view all media with a discriminating eye. All media images and messages are things that are made up. They are not reflections of reality. Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service. We see what advertisers want us to see to convince us to buy a specific product or service. Advertisers often will make up an emotional experience that looks like reality. Just because they think their approach will work with you, it does not mean it has to work with you! As individuals we decide how we want to experience media messages. We can choose whether we want to think or believe the message. We can use a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image. (I like to put on my super-dooper protective bubble!)

1. When you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself, your body, or others by promoting only thin, formulaic body ideals, talk back to the TV and advertiser by writing a letter.

2. Make a list of companies who consistently send negative body image messages and make a conscious effort to avoid buying their products.

3. Write them a letter explaining why you are using your buying power to protest their messages.

4. Get your friends and/or students at your school or work to join you. There is power in a grass-roots movement.

5. You can tear out the ads you find offensive and send them to the advertiser with the message: I do not want them.

6. Consumers have much more influence with corporations than we realize. Corporations are so competitive with each other in todays world as they fight to get our attention. They have to be flexible and responsive so just a few people raising their voices can make a huge difference. We can look upon this as seed planting. Our seeds will sprout and grow. it might take some time but we can make a beginning in changing our culture!

We can be strong and change the world in which we live!

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Jeanne Rust, PhD is the CEO and Founder of Mirasol, a treatment program for women and teens with anorexia, bulimia, obesity, and binge eating disorder. Her treatment philosophy is integrative combining the best of the medical model of treatment with the most effective alternative ones. Learn more about eating disorders at http://www.mirasol.net

Reprinted with Peremission from: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeanne_Rust,_Phd
http://EzineArticles.com/?6-Ways-to-Combat-the-Medias-Body-Image-Message&id=827128

Popularity: 33% [?]

by Guest Contributor Igigi to Elegant Plus Magazine

IGIGI, provider of contemporary collections in sizes 14-32, worn by full-figured celebrities like American Idol contestant Lakisha Jones and Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky,  announces National Model Search Winner. Brittany Bird of Bakersfield, CA to get a slew of prizes including participation in an exclusive IGIGI photo shoot and a possible modeling agency contract

  IGIGI,  provider of contemporary collections in sizes 14-32 designed to fulfill the lifestyle of the beautiful, voluptuous, and confident woman, is excited to announce the final winner of the national model search the company launched in November 2006. A native of Bakersfield, CA and single mother of a three-year-old daughter, Brittany has become a plus-size model with a goal to show young women how beautiful they are, regardless of shape and size. Brittany’s prizes from IGIGI include participation in a company photo shoot along with professional plus-size models, $1000 gift certificate and books from leading plus-size authors. Other major prizes include a possible modeling agency contract from a reputable modeling agency, $1000 goodies package from Catherine Schuller, creator and producer of 14+ on Sixth, and participation in a fashion show organized by DeVoe Signature Events.

“When I found out I was the IGIGI model search final winner, I was shocked! I could not believe I had won with such an amazing group of women,” said Brittany Bird. “I’m truly honored and I can’t wait to work it with the IGIGI crew for the shoot.”

As a provider of collections in sizes 14-32, IGIGI has always been very conscious of using models that are truly representative of the curvaceous beauty out there in the community. The company has run model searches for the last few years with a goal to scout fresh faces from among aspiring as well as professional models that identify with the IGIGI woman.

“We are thrilled to choose Brittany as the final winner,” said Yuliya Zeltser, IGIGI Founder and Designer. “The response from the community to the model search program has been amazing. It has been an extremely exciting 12 months as we received hundreds of applications from gorgeous aspiring and professional models every month. All these beautiful, voluptuous, and sexy models have made it quite difficult for us to choose a single winner every month. Brittany is our final winner as we feel she represents the beautiful, voluptuous, and confident IGIGI woman and can relate to our customers the best way.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, IGIGI designs, manufactures, and distributes apparel and accessories for fashion-loving women in sizes 14-32. IGIGI designs are created with a goal to accentuate and celebrate the beauty and sensuality of the curvaceous female figure. IGIGI apparel and accessories can be found online, as well as at specialty boutiques and stores worldwide.

Select fashions from Igigi  in sizes 14-32W currently available as of Nov 28, 2007:

Silk Dipuoni Wrap Blouse
Available in More Colors

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Holiday Velvet Wrap Dress
Available in More Colors

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Velvet Beauty Gala Evening Gown
Comes with Matching Velvet Shrug
Available in More Colors

Popularity: 40% [?]

When a Queen Lets Down Her Subjects:  Queen Latifah Representing Diet Industry Giant Jenny Craig

by T. A. Politis, Managing Editor
Musings for the Editor’s Chair at Elegant Plus Magazine

I’d begun this week writing a column on the looming clash of plus-size apparel company giants for market share, but a surprise….. a disappointing surprise…… popped up on the radar screen.  Queen Latifah, a celebrity I had long admired for just plain being good at what she did and doing her thing while proving size really had very little to do with talent, is now publicly linked with diet industry giant Jenny Craig.  To say I’m let down and disappointed is an understatement.  So the other article will have to wait until later in the week while I pause to examine the issues this turn of affairs raises.

There are those who are applauding Queen Latifah’s move, asking why shouldn’t a woman clearly comfortable in her own skin not promote healthy lifestyle?  In fact, some believe she has a moral obligation to do so as a role model and a celebrity.  And, guess what, fundamentally I agree with the view that healthy lifestyles are worth promoting.

 But this is where it gets messy and opinion diverges.   Those applauding this particular business partnership between a curvy celebrity and a diet industry giant are accepting a fundamental  assumption pervasive in our culture.  That’s right an assumption, not a fact.  Thinner equals healthier.   Actually two assumptions.  The other is: dieting will make you thinner (and therefore healthier, right?).  There have been lots of advertising dollars, spin doctors, pharmaceutical industry paid “scientific” studies to prove this too.  And let’s not forget the sound bites and media blitz yelling hysterically about the rise of obesity.  The fact is, Queen Latifah herself probably believes in these assumptions.  So many of us do.

There is another school of thought altogether that promotes healthy lifestyle choices - eating right and getting enough exercise PERMANENTLY — not restricting calories to unhealthy levels temporarily to lose weight and then going back to poor eating patterns. (And healthy eating choices does not just mean only the number of calories that you consume, by the way. It takes into consideration food quality and overall nutritional value as well.) This alternative view, known as Health at Every Size,  also does not focus on the numbers on the scale as the marker of success, but rather how well a body is functioning.  Let me say that again. It is worth repeating:  Health at Every Size does not focus on the numbers on the scale as the markers of healthly lifestyle success. Diet companies do. It’s been proven many times that those that go on big name diets  gain the weight back at an alarmingly high rate within just a few years. And one thing we do know for sure is that yo-yo dieting wrecks metabolisms and leaves people far more susceptible to disease than if they never went on the diet in the first place.  We ran an article by fitness professional Jennifer Portnick awhile back that addresses many of these issues in greater detail that you might want to consult for more information.

Also, there is a lot of evidence out there that doesn’t get talked about much,  especially not from a business that makes its money selling diets to you or a media that loves sensational headlines and imagery:  weight gain may not be the causal factor of a lot of the diseases to which it is linked, but rather is one of the first symptoms of the disease as it takes hold. So losing weight isn’t the cure all it’s held up to be often, either.

So you think that perhaps your lifestyle choices could use improving and you want to better your health, right? You feel sluggish, not your best, and huff more than a little bit climbing stairs.  And you don’t like that.  You want to improve. Yay! That’s great news!  That’s truly the first step to loving yourself - staying in tune with how your body is functioning and taking care of it when all is not well. 

The solution, however, I would suggest is not in the bottom of pre-cooked, over-processed, tiny caloried food boxes of Jenny Craig.  Nor is it in the magic diet pill being sold at the supermarket.  If you are serious about creating a healthier you, educate yourself in what healthy food choices are.  Get yourself to a nutritionist if you need help understanding why not all yogurt is created equal and why whole foods are better than processed (even if the box reads “low calorie” or “diet”). Then work on gradually altering eating styles permanently — and no that doesn’t mean never eating chocolate cake, fried chicken or ice-cream ever again, just maybe not three times a week and always in moderation.  Find a fitness professional who can help you develop a sensible exercise plan you can stick to for life if you find yourself unable to do it alone, or find a walking buddy.  And if you need to, visit a psychologist to help you with any emotional issues you may be linking to food or eating. 

No quick fixes.  No short term solutions.  And very little standing on scales to measure goal success.  Some people, many people in fact (although not all and very rarely to the waifish sizes usually seen as “success” in diet driven literature), find that they lose weight when they normalize eating and exercise patterns.  But, and this is a big BUT,  when weight-loss and fitting into a size 6 (or 10 or 14) dress isn’t the end goal, this lower bodyweight set-point is a non-issue. Rather the reward and goal of changing lifestyle patterns is what it should be…..that an individual can keep up with their toddler better or they find they have fewer colds, their blood sugar evens out or lowers and therefore risk for developing Type 2 diabetes declines, or they just generally are more active and enjoying life more. That is how better health is measured.  So, for those that have bodies that fall on the heavier end of the human “normal” body weight bell-curve there is no failure when weight or size loss isn’t achieved.  Diet companies even when they use the words “health” and “healthy” still measure success by pounds or inches lost, and don’t care much what other parts of your health may have been wrecked in the process.

So yes, I’m hugely disappointed by the this big business partnership. She may not be their spokeperson, but rather is accepting advertising dollars as a sponsor for her “Trav’lin Light” album (three guesses why they wanted to be linked with that slogan) tour.  But most people won’t see the fine line of who is sponsor and who is sponsored.  The Queen has fallen far in my esteem and affections.  There are so many healthier causes she could have aligned with than the yo-yo diet industry.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Joy Nash’s original Fat Rant video clip took the internet by storm earlier this year.  Since then she’s become a talk show guest taking on the likes of MeMe Roth and gotten neck deep in national size-acceptance issues.  She’s smart, well-spoken …. and yes fat.  But not in the media stereo-typical way that seems to delight in images of sloth when portraying fat people.  She’s very cute and curvaceous, fashionable and well dressed. And, let’s not forget funny, but unlike the usual fat comedian, not in a self-deprecating (might we even say self-loathing) way that we usually see.  No Kirstie Alley self-hating antics for her. 

 Check out Part 2 of her Fat Rant.   Kudos! 

Now excuse me while I go feed a sleep addiction and take a nap.

Popularity: 15% [?]