Psychologist helps redefine beauty ... thanks Beth

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Excerpt:

" The voluptuous curvy women became the anorexic model who gets breast implants which is not natural. "

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toxicbreastimplants@...>Date: Jul 27, 2006 10:16 AMSubject: Psychologist helps redefine beautyIlena Rose <ilena.rose@...>

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS01/607270345/1106/Local

Indian Hill woman spokesperson for Dove campaign

BY JANE STORMER | COMMUNITY PRESS CONTRIBUTOR

INDIAN HILL -- Beautiful women come all shapes and sizes, not just the 5-foot-9-inch white, blonde-haired model who weighs 110 pounds, says Indian Hill psychologist Ann Kearny-Cooke as the new spokesperson and thought leader for the global Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

" The Dove campaign is designed to challenge beauty's stereotypes and get women to begin to discuss what beauty is and to develop a wider definition of beauty to encompass different ethnic groups and different healthy weights, " Kearny-Cooke said.

Fueled by a 2004 global study on women's views about beauty, Dove began using " real women, " not the size 2 or maybe size 4 women general seen in the media, for its advertising and outreach. " I think what happened is, when Twiggy replaced in the 60s as the ideal of beauty, it began a long period where the ideals of beauty became too unrealistic, " Kearny-Cooke said.

" The voluptuous curvy women became the anorexic model who gets breast implants which is not natural. " The definition of beauty became too limited and unattainable for most women which in turn causes a negative impact on the self-esteem of women.

" This isn't just in the United States, " Kearny-Cooke said. " Dove did a great survey were they polled 3,300 women ages 15-64, from 10 different countries. " One of the most striking results was that more than 90 percent of the girls ages 15-17 wanted to change at least one aspect of their appearance, body weight ranking the highest.

" There are studies that found now even girls at normal body weight feel that they need to lose weight, " Kearny-Cooke said. " The danger in that is that they often start dieting and dieting which at some point often leads to overeating when they get sick of the diet. "

Another surprising result from the survey found that 25 percent of these girls would consider undergoing plastic surgery. " I'm not against plastic surgery, but young girls whose bodies haven't even fully developed yet should be trying to figure out what are their signature strengths, great hair or great eyes and learning how to accentuate those, " Kearny-Cooke said. " They shouldn't be trying to change their body to look like someone in a picture. "

Not surprisingly, 13 percent of the girls said they also had an eating disorder. " The message out there is so confusing, " Kearny-Cooke said. " There is supersize pizzas and supersize drinks on one hand and fat-free this and fat-free that on the other. I think that's why we are struggling with more anorexia and with more obesity. "

The answer , according to Kearny-Cooke, lies in starting a dialogue. Through programs developed by the Dove Campaign for schools, community groups and the Girl Scouts, mothers and daughters will learn how to discuss issues of beauty, body image and eating.

In addition, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund will support confidence building programs for girls and young women globally, concentrating on body image and feeling effective in handling relationships and dealing with emotions.

" I think Dove is very courageous to put models out there that are different than we are used to, " Kearny-Cooke said. " Most women love it. They say they feel better looking at these size 4-14 models than at the anorexic type. "

There has been some harsh criticism, denouncing Dove for promoting unhealthy role models. " That's just part of the prejudices in our culture, " Kearny-Cooke said. " This thing that you can't be size 12 and healthy is a myth You can be a size 12 and exercising five times a week and eating healthy. They have a right to be considered beautiful like everybody else. "