What did you worry about when you were a child?
According to research by the
Australian Institute of Family Studies, today more than half of children aged 8 - 9 expressed dissatisfaction with their bodies. The same report revealed 61% of boys and 56% of girls aged 10 - 11 actively tried to manage their weight in the past twelve
months.1
Children growing up today are facing body dissatisfaction in a way that’s never been seen before. This generation is rapidly approaching adolescence and there are grave concerns about the impacts it will have on their
mental health, confidence and self-esteem.
What we do know is that the way to reach children is to speak to the people around them – older kids, teachers, parents, young adults, grandparents, everyone – which we can do right now using the power of story, online media and real-world
communities.
We created our teaser on ‘negative self-talk’ to dramatise one simple truth that our experts have been trying to communicate to mainstream audiences for years: we have to understand the way we think about our own bodies to ensure
we don’t transfer these ideas onto the people around us.
‘There’s so many ways that The Mannequin Project can be positive and the
research definitely supports this approach to making change happen’
- Professor Susan J Paxton
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University
Partnering researchers and experts with educators and creatives, we’re raising funds to create the first chapter of an entertaining and thought provoking documentary that shows everyday
people how body dissatisfaction plays out in our lives and the small choices anyone can make to help stop it.
Every donation counts, so please help us reach our funding goal and share our teaser with your friends, like it on social media and comment on it too.
Or join our team of volunteers and community champions who are trying to create change in an uplifting way that mainstream audiences will want to be part of: [email protected]
We need your support to take the first step. So please, get involved.
HOW WILL WE USE THE FUNDS?
Tipping Point: $35,000 will fund Chapter One, which will explore how body dissatisfaction affects all of us, along with research to inform subsequent chapters of the documentary:
> $25,000: Chapter One will be a standalone film released online – it will need excellent production values to compete with online kitten videos and big-budget advertising, and will be driven by a lot of volunteer hours
> $10,000 will be used to consolidate our research into a feature length documentary script – our team has one year of insight which will need a lot more work to translate into scripts
Ultimate Goal: If we reach $60,000 this will fund our distribution infrastructure because it’s no good having an amazing resource if it doesn’t reach the people who need it. Of this extra $25,000:
> $10,000 will develop an in-school program. Working with teachers and partner agencies we’re going to translate our content into in-school packs, which is something we’ve done in the past in the fields of teen mental health, drug and alcohol
harm minimisation and sexual wellness
> $10,000 will be used to grow a large online following which is key to distributing content and will be incredibly important in obtaining funds for the rest of the documentary
> $5,000 will create a range of engagement media (just like the teaser) to encourage busy, disengaged people to watch each chapter of the documentary as we release them online
'I am very excited to support and be involved with The Mannequin Project. The Mannequin Project’s ultimate goal is to start a new type of conversation about body image that anyone can be part of because ultimately it
affects all of us.'
- Dr Rick Kausman
Medical Doctor & Author
WHO'S BEEN INVOLVED SO FAR?
A complex issue like this requires a lot of research and we’ve spent a year working with creatives and experts to build a current knowledge base and understand the barriers that we’ll need to overcome when trying to engage busy, mainstream audiences
in conversations about body dissatisfaction.
Our deepest thanks goes out to all the brilliant people involved so far. This has included writers, filmmakers, event managers, graphic designers, strategists, bicyclists and the occasional shingles sufferer. But most of all we’d like to thank our advisory
board who have generously contributed their time, insight and passion every step of the way.
‘The team have gone above and beyond in their dedication to seek a deep
understanding of body image and the various factors that shape
the way we feel about ourselves and our bodies’
- Fiona Sutherland
Accredited Dietician, Body Positive Australia
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
The Mannequin Project’s ultimate goal is to start a new type of conversation about body image that anyone can be part of because ultimately it affects all of us. This documentary is going to create the fodder for that conversation along with a range of entry
points for different people to get involved.
Teenagers:
Believe it or not you’re in one of the most powerful positions to affect change. You’re approaching adulthood, you’re pretty cool in the eyes of the kids beneath you, and you have friends and adults around you who are intrigued by who you’re becoming,
what you think about and what you have to say.
Don’t worry if you can’t donate, just be sure to have your say on social media. Share the teaser far and wide and maybe even watch it with your friends or parents and talk about what you think it has to say.
Young adults:
We’re hoping our approach resonates with you because you’ve seen the damage that body dissatisfaction can do and how much time and thought-power it can waste.
We’re asking young adults to peruse our perks, see if there’s anything you like and consider our approach, which is all about creating little gems of content that mainstream audiences will want to engage with and share online.
If you think we’ve got a chance of affecting some positive change, please join the effort and donate, we’re relying on you to help us raise the funds for the first chapter of the documentary because you understand the power of media as a force for both good
and bad, but also for change.
Teachers and parents:
Body dissatisfaction is handed down from one generation to the next. Whether you're caring for toddlers or school aged children, there’s a good chance they’re going to be exposed to a lot of talk about 'how people look' in the classroom, on the playground,
on screens and at home.
It’s important that they get a full understanding of what a body is meant to do, what’s natural and what isn’t, and most importantly, how you feel about your appearance and what you value in others.
We’re going to be working with teachers, curriculum gurus, parents and community groups over the coming months to develop some great in-school initiatives.
We’re hoping you can help us to fund this component so that one day, not so far down the track, you and the children in your care have some powerful and fun resources to facilitate this conversation.
There are 10,000 schools in Australia and we’ll need your help to get this into all of them.
Older adults:
Yes, your section is the longest because you still have an attention span. We’re asking older adults to get involved because you know that there’s a very suspicious correlation between the increase in media consumption and the rise of body dissatisfaction
in young people.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority have reported that young people spend over 30 hours per week engaged with media: that’s more than 60% of their free time.2 At the same time, over 50% of children aged 8 – 9 are suffering
from feelings of inadequacy, self doubt and body dissatisfaction.
It doesn’t take a degree to see that all these kids walking around with every orifice and socket plugged into headphones and locked onto tiny screens is having a negative impact. But if we can meet them where they choose to spend their airtime, and
give them another set of ideas to think about, in a structured and engaging manner, the media can also be used for good.
So we’re asking you the older adults, the wise, the patient and the witnesses of both the BC and AD eras (that’s
Before Computers and After Digital) to reflect on the significance of it all, and help us to fund our online platform and engagement media.
We want you to get involved in digital activism and to have your say, because you have wisdom and insights and relationships with young people that we want to learn from and hear about. So please dig deep, donate and join us on this journey, because
together, we’re all going to learn a lot… and we’re gonna have some fun along the way.
WHAT'S OUR APPROACH?
Body dissatisfaction is a widespread and potentially dangerous issue handed down from one generation to the next. Somehow conversations about how we look have become interpretations of what we have to offer the world, and as a result feelings
of inadequacy, isolation and self-doubt have reached pandemic levels.
While this is a social issue, it’s also a deeply personal issue, and although many people are aware of body dissatisfaction, there remains all too little understanding of its root causes or how it weaves its way into our deepest thoughts.
Our approach is to show people how this stuff plays out in our lives – stuff like negative self-talk or media saturation or appearance conversations – so people can spot these situations and behaviours as they unfold, and start to make more conscious choices
about what we say, think about, judge in others, and subconsciously teach to the next generation.
WHAT'S OUR GOAL?
We’ve spent over one year researching this issue and developing strategies to transform expert theories into powerful stories. This process is ongoing but the rewards are clear: engaging, factual stories with carefully considered messages can help all sorts
of people – men, women, boys and girls – to learn about the issue, increase their resilience and understand their role in turning the tide.
At the same time, we need to captivate and engage our audience so they’ll go every step of the journey with us. That’s why we’ve put creatives and storytellers at the heart of our approach: so we can turn an educational initiative into a fun and engaging
experience.
Just think Brussels sprouts wrapped in chocolate. Or perhaps our experts can say it better…
‘We need to start positive, meaningful, connected conversations, that demonstrate
we have value as humans that go beyond our appearance’
- Fiona Sutherland
Accredited Dietician, Body Positive Australia
References:
1. AIFS Report (2013, p. 119 - 121) “Body image of primary school children” LSAC Annual Statistics Report, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia
2. ACMA Report (2010) “Trends in media use by children and young people” Australian Communications and Media Authority,
Link to PDF (This is the most recent, relevant report published in Australia)
