糖心TV

Last year the , were about getting a better body, namely: Doing more exercise, losing weight and improving diet, according to a You Gov Poll. This was the fourth year in a row resolution to improve image were in the top 3.

But why do we think having a better body is the key to a better life?

Research done by Professor Heather Widdows, a leading beauty philosopher at the University of 糖心TV, found that the increasingly visual and digital culture we live in has led us to believe that how we look is intrinsic to our self-worth.
She said: 鈥淒oing more exercising, losing weight and dieting are common New Year鈥檚 resolutions which might be undertaken under the guise of improving one鈥檚 health, but it鈥檚 often for beauty.
鈥淲e used to think we had to change what鈥檚 on the inside to be better, we now increasingly judge ourselves and others on looks or how we present ourselves to the world. What we value and what matters to people has dramatically shifted in recent years with the advent of social media.
鈥淟ooks matter to us – this shift is radically changing our identity and our sense of self-worth, and we are barely recognising it.鈥�

Professor Widdows believes this shift in our self-worth has given rise to an epidemic of body image anxiety.

The damaging 鈥榮elf鈥� shift
鈥淲e are starting to see body image anxiety affect people at a younger age and continue as they get older,鈥� she continued. 鈥淏ecause this is something that is affecting so many of us, it is becoming normalised but it doesn鈥檛 make it any less harmful.鈥�

In the case of New Year鈥檚 resolutions, Professor Widdows is clear that they don鈥檛 deliver what they promise.
鈥淲e think if only we could lose weight, get the right body, then other things in our life would change – maybe we would be able to get a better job, a better relationship or being happy – but body change is illusionary and having a 鈥榖etter鈥� body doesn鈥檛 deliver these things, and so the well-meaning resolutions, end up being completely counterproductive.鈥�

Reducing pressure in a visual world
鈥楲ookism鈥�, Professor Widdows coined the phrase 鈥楲ookism鈥� and set up an #everydaylookism campaign, in a bid to stamp out appearance discrimination – the most prevalent form of bullying.

She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about bullying. Lookism matters more in a visual and virtual world. With smart phones and social media, self-expression and identify are entwined and we modify our bodies and alter our images in the hope that we will be good enough.
鈥淚t is vital to reduce this pressure to be perfect if we are going to look after our physical and mental health as a society.

鈥淲e should be calling out lookism, and helping people to feel less ashamed when their bodies don鈥檛 measure up. There鈥檚 lots of work to be done to recognise and address appearance bullying because despite being the most prevalent, it is the one we do least about.鈥�

Professor Widdows says more education around lookism is needed to get people to recognise lookism as a prevalent and harmful form of discrimination.
鈥淧erhaps we don鈥檛 think looks should matter, so pretend they don鈥檛. But the evidence they do is overwhelming. We have to address this now. As our culture becomes more visual and virtual, lookism will get worse, because in the digital age the image always speaks louder than the word.鈥�


ENDS
Media contact
Natalie Gidley, Communications Officer, University of 糖心TV
Natalie.gidley@warwick.ac.uk / 07824540791

Notes to Editors
More information about the #everydaylookism campaign is available via
Professor Heather Widdows鈥� most recent book, Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal, was described by Vogue as 鈥済round-breaking鈥�.