New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg has taken a step to make New York a better place for young girls by creating a public campaign that tells girls that they’re beautiful the way they are.
Taking a jab at the professional image-makers’ concept of beauty through a US330,000 campaign called The NYC Girls Project. The campaign slogan – “I’m beautiful the way I am” – may be simple; but the message aims to reach out to girls from ages 7 to 12, who are at risk of negative body images that can lead to eating disorders, drinking, suicide, bullying, and even underage sex.
Samantha Levin, the mayor’s deputy press secretary who also helped conceive the idea, said she was inspired by the stories of little girls who wear body-shaping garments and getting plastic survey to improve their appearance.
“I think being a woman in this society, it’s sort of impossible to not be aware of the pressures there are around appearance, around weight, around trying to always look a certain way,” she said.
According to the New York Times, the NYC Girls Project ads feature girls of different races and sizes, some playing sports and one in a wheelchair. The campaign is said to be the first campaign aimed at female body image to be carried out by a city, and will have its ads going up on major public transportation next week. A 30-second video will also be shown in taxis, on YouTube and the campaign’s site.
As for activities, the NYC Girls Project will also offer physical fitness classes for girls, a program that addresses self-esteem issues for girls, and a Twitter campaign called #ImAGirl.
Christopher Ochner, a researcher of obesity, eating disorders and nutrition at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in Manhattan, said the ads could be effective because they offered a more realistic picture than “the media’s portrayal of ideal beauty, which is still this stick-thin, crazy-thin” standard. Average girls, he added, look at fashion models and say, “ ‘If I’m not like that, then nobody’s going to need me or love me.’”
We’re all in support of this amazing effort to remind girls that they’re beautiful the way they are. Now, let’s hope we’ll have one in our country soon. [Source]
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