THE WINNERS ARE…
The award winners of the first ever Body Confidence Awards presented in association with bareMinerals were announced yesterday evening at the Houses of Parliament.
The event was an electric celebration of the winners’ inspirational and deserving efforts to promote body confidence, diversity and the acceptance of broader beauty ideals.
All who were there agreed it was a game changing event. By turning the spotlight on those clever enough to weave conscious thought into the business of making money by considering self-esteem, the organisers aimed to shine a light on the way forward.
Minister for Equality Lynne Featherstone said:
“Whether it’s a perfectly toned ‘six pack’ or a painfully thin ‘size zero’, men and women are bombarded everyday by airbrushed body images which bear little or no resemblance to reality. These images can cause real damage to self-esteem.”
“The government has set up a national body confidence campaign and is working closely with the media and other industries to reverse this trend and promote more honest and diverse depictions of men and women.
“The All Party Parliamentary Group is carrying out some great complementary work in this field. These awards demonstrate real support across industry to tackle the issue head on.”
THE WINNERS ARE:
Advertising
‘Growing up’ by Dove – for communicating the 2012 Dove campaign whereby Dove brings self-esteem education to girls in the UK.
Beauty
Boots No7 ‘Ta Dah’ range – for their decision to eschew retouching and for celebrating the idea of real women
Broadcast/Print/Publishing
Caitlin Moran for ‘How to be a Woman’ – best seller book that combines contemporary feminist observations about bodies, beauty and what it is to be a woman in an appearance oriented society with page turning humour.
Campaigner
Changing Faces – for their fight to change public attitudes towards people with disfigurements and their ongoing support for those with disfigurements and their families
Central YMCA Health, Sport and Fitness Award
Virgin Active’s Oomph campaign – for using a range of shapes, ages, sizes and ethnic diversity and pushing the more intrinsic benefits of being physically active
Education
‘Body Image in the Primary School’ by Nicky Hutchinson and Chris Calland – for their realising there was nothing for teachers to use in the classroom to confront body image issues and writing an invaluable book for schools to deliver high quality lessons
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk Fashion Award
Mark Fast – for introducing the mix of realistically proportioned models within his catwalk shows at London Fashion Week since September 2009
Retail
Debenhams – Debenhams – for their ongoing Inclusivity Campaign showcasing imagery that is inspirational and realistic by using models who are older, curvier and in Shannon Murray’s case – visually disabled to inspire modern day women. modern day British women .
Mumsnet Award for promoting body confidence in children
Pink Stinks – decided by the votes of Mumsnet members
Celebrity Ambassador of the Year Award
Davina McCall – decided by public votes
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. A judging panel made up of representatives from B-eat, the Centre for Appearance Research, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, AnyBody, Stephanie Heart Enterprises, Mumsnet, and the Central YMCA along with Jo Swinson MP chose shortlists and winners.
2. The Campaign for Body Confidence brings together a range of organisations including: B-Eat, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, Mumsnet, Central YMCA , Anybody, Stephanie Heart Enterprise and the Centre for Appearance Research.
3. Award-winning fashion initiative All Walks Beyond the Catwalk promotes a broader range of body and beauty ideals in collaboration with designers, professional models and education professionals. The All Walks nationwide lectures and Centre of Diversity in Edinburgh explore emotionally considerate design for all.
4. AnyBody is a non-profit organisation encouraging a change in cultural attitudes towards bodies, food and eating so that women and children of the next generation can learn to be happy in and look after their bodies.
5. B-eat is a leading UK charity for people with eating disorders and their families.
6. The Centre for Appearance Research is an academic research centre at the University of West England which focuses on appearance-related concerns.
7. Central YMCA is a health and education charity which works nationally with young people and in the health and fitness sector, through the development of training, qualifications and the provision of activity often to those who are socially excluded or disadvantaged. The charity is actively campaigning on body confidence issues.
8. Mumsnet is now the UK’s busiest social network for parents, generating over 38 million page views per month and nearly 5 million visits per month.
9. Stephanie Heart of SH Enterprises inspires and challenges young women through interactive seminars
10. All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image
This cross-party forum brings together MPs who are interested in what can be done to promote more positive body image, particularly for children and young people. The group is currently conducting a Parliamentary Inquiry into the causes and consequences of body image anxiety in UK society. The office bearers are Jo Swinson MP (Lib Dem), Mary Glindon MP (Labour), Caroline Nokes MP (Conservative) and Stephen Williams MP (Lib Dem).The Central YMCA provides the secretariat to this group. The APPG will be publishing a report of its findings in June www.ymca.co.uk/bodyconfidence/parliament
11. In their most recent campaign “Force of Beauty”, bareMinerals decided to eschew models that represented the elusive notion of beauty, and instead held a blind casting call for women ages 20 to 60. They did not see the women who applied until they were selected for the campaign. Instead, they asked more than 270 women to complete a questionnaire about who they were and what they were like. The company was looking for women who embodied qualities like inspiration, humility and humour. The goal was to capture women who had compelling and interesting stories to tell. With the exception of basic colour correction, the company took pains not to retouch or airbrush photographs of the women, leaving in everything that they came with on their face. They are firm believers that they have a responsibility as a beauty company to start changing the images that women see.