Call for larger fashion mannequins:
Today is potentially quite an interesting day on the topic of body image in Britain – I’m actually rather excited. An MSP by the name of Dennis Robertson is campaigning for a variety of different sized mannequins to be used in Women’s clothes shops and this evening the Eating Disorders and the Fashion Industry debate will take place. You may have seen already that Debenhams in London has already started using size 16 mannequins in their store and this campaign hopes to have other companies follow suit.
My feelings are that this is a worthwhile discussion and I have a lot of respect for this politician for taking on this campaign to help improve body image and confidence in this country. Eating disorders has affected his family in an extremely tragic way and I understand the undeniable feeling that you can’t sit back and do nothing about it any more. Especially when you are surrounded by unhelpful influences that may unintentionally fuel the fire of an eating disorder.
What I find particularly interesting about the article is the use of the word ‘diversity’. Diversity is a hot topic in our culture just now, we are constantly taking measures to ensure all ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc. are accounted for and given equal opportunities. Don’t worry, I’m not about to start advocating that employers ensure their staff each have a dress size fairly represented, however what I do mean to say is that maybe it would be beneficial to have a more accurate representation of our society. I love the fact that Britain houses a huge spectrum of different creeds and cultures, but we are all different shapes and sizes too. What would be so terrible about actually showcasing all those shapes and sizes that are stocked on the clothing stores shelves anyway?
The debate will take place at 5.05pm today and I’m sure I will have some thoughts on it afterwards. You can watch it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/scotland/
Danielle Stewart
My name is Danielle Stewart and for almost 10 years I have suffered on and off with eating disorders. It is a subject I am extremely passionate about, especially living in such a body conscious and appearance obsessed world which I believe is very dangerous to how we view and think about ourselves. I feel that eating disorders are an epidemic waiting to happen and possibly already begun. Since they are incredibly secretive and isolating disorders, it is difficult to ever know the true number of people affected. Therefore my blog is dedicated to sharing my own personal thoughts and experiences, discussing the psychology behind eating disorders and spreading the word on articles of interest. The more we start talking more openly and frequently about eating disorders, the more help and action will be generated as well as reducing the fear of admitting and seeking help for this mental illness. If nothing else, I want you to know that you are not alone in what you're going through.
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