The Butterfly Foundation in Sydney, Australia, a charity that supports people with eating disorders and negative body image, has created a new video competition that aims to expose the media’s representation of beauty.
“The Body Con” is a competition encouraging entrants to “create a 30 second advertisement that confronts the belief that being in control of your body is the key to acceptance and success.”
The competition aims to subvert the traditional representation of beauty in the media, by showcasing advertisements that re-brand what the “ideal” body means.
I’m really excited about the possibilities this competition poses for presenting a subversive advertising concept to the body images that are normally shown to us in the media.
I think the competition could bring to light some really interesting advertisements, and hopefully also bring the issue into the public eye.
The Butterfly Foundation says: “We want you to create an ad that exposes the media’s fraudulent representation of beauty and our own misguided beliefs regarding how we are meant to look and be.”
About time!
To learn more, and to submit your entry by August 31st, visit the Body Con website!
Tessa Needham finished her PhD in Performing Arts at the University of Western Sydney (Australia) in 2008. Her thesis explored the potential of performance to provoke change, and part of her research was Bodily, a solo theatrical performance about body image. She loves technology and the creative arts, and is passionate about the different cultural forces affecting the body image of girls and women. She teaches computers and does freelance creative work: www.tessaneedham.com.
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