BODY IMAGE CAMPAIGN

"Let's be shameless. Be greedy. Pursue pleasure. Avoid Pain. Wear and touch and eat and drink what we feel like. Tolerate other women's choices. Seek out the sex we want and fight fiercely against the sec we do not want. Choose our own causes. And once we break through and change the rules so our sense of our own beauty cannot be shaken, sing it and dress it up and flaunt it and revel in it: in a sensual politics, female is beautiful"

Naomi Wolf - The Beauty Myth

YWCA SCOTLAND CAMPAIGN

PROMOTING POSITIVE BODY IMAGE

In September 2002 YWCA Scotland held a 'Fashion Show with a Difference'. The show was inspired by a young woman volunteer who wanted to see young women from different cultures and backgrounds work together. The Fashion Show involved over 50 young women as volunteers from models to makeup artists, administrators to music and fashion designers, the event challenged stereotypes and celebrated body size and shape.

This sparked an interest in Body Image and how women are portrayed in the media and a group of young women volunteers conducted a survey and delivered a workshop at the YWCA World conference in Brisbane , Australia in summer 2003. On their return the group published their survey results and organised a conference for young women called "Get Real: Women Challenge Body Image". This work captured the imagination of many young women and attracted a lot of new interest from prospective partners and volunteers.

Due to the breadth of the issue and often very sensitive subject area, those involved were consulted about how they would like the issue to be taken forward. YWCA Scotland were conscious that focus needed to be maintained on improving self esteem and promoting diversity, and not trying to tackle the many issues associated with body image such as eating disorders as this requires specialised counselling, that we could not offer. The best method for project progression was agreed to be raising awareness through developing a Positive Body Image workshop that volunteers could deliver.

YWCA Scotland continues to highlight media influences and reactions to this increasingly high profile issue. Volunteers have written responses to press articles and young women have attended and reported on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty Launch that aimed to highlight real women in press campaigns.

Following workshop facilitation training, a group of 5 young women volunteers have developed workshops to raise awareness of body image.

They have presented workshops at:

• YWCA GB Conference November, 2004
• ENACT International Women's Day Conference - Women Now, March 2005
• Girls on the Move, Leadership Course, April 2005
• YWCA Central Club, 150 th Anniversary Event, April 2005
• YWCA girls' and young women's groups, various

The workshops explore women's representation in the media, beauty and cosmetic campaigns and study statistics, quotes and research about physical appearance, aspirations, etc. To ensure that positive body image is promoted, the group leave workshop participants with an uplifting message and vow to appreciate their substance and soul, not their shape and size.

Promoting positive body image continues to be a priority campaigning area for YWCA Scotland and we plan to research ideas and develop a new campaign in the coming years. We would be interested to hear from other YWCA s working in this area.

For more information on this campaign please contact Joan Bree