What sort of story? Bullying, body image, or media studies?

What sort of story? Bullying, body image, or media studies?

I was contacted today by a journalist regarding a story about a young woman in the public eye who has had liposuction, and I was asked what I thought. This is based on my reply. I'm not going to link to the piece, for reasons that will become clear below.
We have some possibly relevant statistics:

  • From our 2011 sample (we have figures going back to 1986): 58% of 14-15 year old females, 51% of 12-13 year old females and 34% of 10-11 year old females 'would like to lose weight'. This compares with 28% of 14-15 year old males, 34% of 12-13 year old males and 25% of 10-11 year old males who 'would like to lose weight'.
  • The self-esteem scores of females are to be lower than that of males of the same age. In Year 8, 35% of females and 45% of males score in the highest bracket of self-esteem scores.
  • ‘The way you look’ remains a major worry for females in Year 8 (12-13y) (34%) and in Year 10 (14-15y) (42%). We know that some young people report being bullied for their appearance, including their size or weight. Up to 20% of 10-11 year olds reported being picked on for 'the way you look' in 2012.

Some comments:

  1. When I first heard about this story, I immediately wondered if it was not really a 'liposuction' story but a 'bullying' one. The story mentioned that "vile Internet trolls" have abused a young woman.

    I expect people who make unkind comments online about this celebrity will not stop after her liposuction. (It's even possible that such comments may increase.)
    However, I don't see many comments in the story from the celebrity about Internet bullying. I wonder if those references were in the original press release. We are invited by the story to think that the Internet comments were relevant to her decision to have liposuction, but that's not clear; if it was the motivation, I think it would be clear. 
    So, I no longer feel that this is a story mainly about bullying.
    [There is some UK-based advice about cyberbullying from ChildLine and Kidscape. I liked the message from http://www.cyberbullyhelp.com/ :
    "Become a courageous bystander!"]

  2. This isn't 'news', it's a press release. It seems to be a press release by or at least with a substantial contribution from the manufacturer of a machine that does liposuction. Any coverage of this story is giving free advertising to the company. I don't think I want to be involved in helping them make money.
    It seems as though the actor in the story has made a professional career decision to have liposuction, and to have the story of that treatment publicised.  There may be a story about the pressures on her, but it's a bit wider than unkind Tweets.
    Attention to women's appearance drives an industry based on women's insecurity. If we cover this story, we will be part of that process too.  The story appeared alongside a whole list of items where the story and by invitation the reader comments on the appearance of many other women. I am not anxious to steer traffic towards that story, that website, or anything like them.
  3. I think some young people, and perhaps some journalists, may need help to tell the difference between real news stories and manufactured stories intended to sell a product. Here are some hints from this one:
    The celebrity quotes lead the story, but there are many quotes and bits of information from the manufacturer.
    The story has two messages: (a) everyone, no matter how small or slim, might need liposuction, and (b) how easy and convenient this is.
    If this was a real story and treated seriously, a journalist would have tried to be much more clear about women's motivation, about the risks as well as benefits of a medical procedure, and so on. The messages might be challenged. There would be a more balanced picture. This was not balanced at all; this was effectively advertising.  Journalists are under pressure to produce stories and press releases are a convenient source, but I fear too often press releases are used exactly as the source hoped, by copy-and-pasting with no additional thought or research.
  4. I think there are lots of other stories about women's concerns, successes and achievements which have nothing to do with their appearance. I feel sure that young people would be well-served by journalism which reflected this range of issues.
  5. I hope all young men and young women find a solid foundation for their self-esteem, which can include, but is not limited to, their appearance. I hope young people can be pleased and proud of a wide range of different body types, and accepting of them regardless of any pride. I did have a hope that the Paralympics might push us in that direction; this clever piece of marketing can only push us back.
Author: 
John
Post date: 
25 October 2012 13:19