Beauty in the Digital Age Models Recreated

Welcome to beauty in the digital age - where not even the model looks like the model

Educating girls to the reality of digital manipulation was part of a pilot project being trialed by Queen Victoria Women's Centre (QVWC) in April to arm them with the facts to deal with a lifetime ambush of images portraying unrealistic perfection.

Teaching the techniques used even after makeup and lighting have enhanced a model's features, the full day 'Young Women, Body Image and the Digital Age' forum helped girls understand the unrealistic and unattainable body image benchmarks and expectations being set in fashion and other media, where in the end, not even the model looks like the model!

Forty Year 11 girls from 20 Victorian schools will participate in the pilot, as digital imaging, body image and health experts encourage positive body perceptions by highlighting today's beauty myths. The forum showed how legs are lengthened, curves removed or exaggerated, hair thickened, skin blemishes erased and torsos stretched to create unattainable perfection.

Studies show many teenage girls have distorted body images. Often these perceptions, which can lead to eating disorders and other psychological problems, are shaped by unrealistic ideals presented through the media. With retouched models upheld as yardsticks of perfection, girls (and boys) are fed dangerous, unobtainable 'standards' that are moving further from reality.

The forum, which QVWC is implementing with funding from the Office for Youth Affairs as part of the $2.1 million 'Teenagers Go For Your Life - Positive Body Image Strategy', will also use peer education, with participants required to develop a presentation to communicate and share their learnings back among their classmates.

The upside is that with technology anyone can be a model.
The downside, inflated perceptions of how to achieve a beauty look maybe just a figment of technology.

The Shilling Wall

Like water to wine, they turned one shilling into 5.7 million dollars

In 1896 a group of female firebrands called on Victorians to donate just one shilling to establish the Queen Victoria Hospital. From one shilling, they raised the equivalent of AUD $5.7 million today, and forged a space for medical women in the days when the only acceptable occupations for women were as governesses or teachers. Run by women, for women, it was the first of its kind in Australia and one of three in the world. In 2007, Queen Victoria Women's Centre (QVWC) is putting out the call again to Victorians to contribute to the Shilling Fund and help raise funds to continue the vital work of QVWC in dealing with issues such as domestic violence, law, wellbeing, career and life challenging situations.

Donations to the QVWC Shilling Fund are tax deductible and will continue the work of QVWC in breaking down barriers and helping women achieve their full potential. All donations over $150 are eligible to nominate an inspiring or significant woman to take her place on the Shilling Wall.

'The Shilling Wall': As one of a number of exciting projects planned as part of the Shilling Fund, QVWC is building the Shilling Wall which will be a striking landmark feature for people to make a lasting tribute to an incredible woman in their life. The Shilling Wall will stand in the Shilling Wall Garden in the grounds of QVWC, providing a public space for relaxation and reflection on the achievements of sung and unsung women. She could be your mother, daughter, wife, sister, teacher or friend. Or maybe someone you've never met, but whose actions during her lifetime have affected you during yours. Tributes on the Shilling Wall start at $150 and range to $5,000. Contact QVWC to find out how to make a tribute on the Shilling Wall and honour an inspiring or significant woman who has touched your life.

For more information visit: www.qvwc.org.au/