CHANGE THEIR DREAMS

by Natasha Devon and Ruth Rogers of Body Gossip

Illustrated by Michelle Thompson - www.michelle-thompson.com

In February the nation was stunned by the story of 20 year old Claudia Aderotimi, who died after receiving the illegal buttock implants she imagined would propel her into a glittering career as a hip hop model. The media treated the story with a subtle yet perceptible contempt, the general consensus seeming to be that this girl was silly and deluded (and the implication being that she wasn’t in any way indicative of average UK youth).

Unfortunately, here at Body Gossip, we know differently. As part of our educational programme we tour the country speaking to teenagers in schools, colleges and universities and attempting to ascertain why body image has become such a contentious and dangerous issue. The reasons behind various body neuroses are complicated and many faceted, but we have noticed a trend amongst the young people we’ve encountered.

Today, physically emulating a glamour model, WAG, pop star or footballer is seen as the shortcut to everything they represent - and the average teenager desperately craves – acceptance, wealth, popularity and success. The recession and the current depressing state of the employment market convinces many of them that they’ll never thrive in a more traditional career whereas celebrity worship culture and the increasing availability of cheap plastic surgery makes attaining a twenty first century aesthetic an inviting and relatively easy prospect. The result is a generation clamouring for breathing space in what is, despite what they might believe, still an incredibly elitist industry, whilst suffering from crippling low self-esteem. As Body Gossip ambassador Shona Collins (How to Look Good Naked), who petitioned in Parliament for body confidence to be part of the National Curriculum, observed – many young people are completely unaware of where their talents truly lie and that’s an injustice that must be addressed.

Natasha recently hosted a radio debate discussing society’s fixation with our bodies and was shocked by the reaction of her studio guests. Whilst a fashion industry insider vigorously maintained that ‘heroin chic’ was not only desirable, but aspirational, a beauty industry representative claimed that not naturally having the physical attributes to become a model shouldn’t discourage you from pursuing your ‘dream’.

What seemed to be overlooked by both parties was that modelling is just a job like any other. We wouldn’t encourage children to become accountants if they were terrible at maths, so why are we allowing them to sacrifice themselves at the altar of celebrity? Just as we know that an eating disorder can be fatal, so Claudia’s story has shown us that invasive cosmetic procedures also carry the risk of death. Both are options many young people are taking in their quest for a warped version of modern ‘success’.

Bizarrely, the most sensible opinion we have heard on the topic issued from the mouth of bumbling moron/peculiar genius hybrid Karl Pilkington, star of An Idiot Abroad and frequent subject of Ricky Gervais’ satirical scorn. In a recent podcast, he argued that if there was a medical version of the X Factor, today’s youth would be fixated on becoming doctors and surgeons instead of pop stars. He remarked that the complete inability to hold a note didn’t seem to dissuade a lot of contestants from pleading a lifelong devotion to music, so logically it must be their five minutes of fame they found most appealing. The million pound recording contract promised at the end of X Factor could therefore be substituted for anything, an internship at an engineering company, for example. It’s an interesting theory and one that, despite seeming ludicrous, actually stands up to scrutiny.

The solution, Karl Pilkington says, is simply to “change their dreams”.

To find out more about Body Gossip, go to www.bodygossip.org. This year, Body Gossip is publishing a book of real body stories; you can submit yours for consideration at the web address above. You can also catch Natasha Devon representing the campaign on BBC3’s How to Live with Women in March 2011.