Pretty stupid

Young Australian girls are under constant pressure to gain “the perfect body image”. This usually means to be thin, and conforming to a body shape that is notionally linked to a successful, fun and sexy lifestyle. For most young women, trying to achieve an unrealistically thin body can lead to endless dieting, excessive exercise, depression and sometimes fatal eating disorders. Often the culprit is seen as the fashion industry’s cult of slenderness with “heroin chic” and waif-like models. This documentary explores this issue with the editors of women’s magazines Cleo, Cosmopolitan and Dolly, including an interview with Pia Loyola, fourteen year old Dolly/Impulse 1998 cover girl competition winner. Other interviews are with a dietician and a model management agency. This interesting and topical program looks at the issue of the ideal female body, how the fashion industry, advertisers and women’s magazines determine their views on female beauty and ideal body shape, and the new responsibility women’s magazine editors have in educating their readership about the uniqueness of individual bodies.