Following my body image post, I was contacted by Lisa Cox, about her book Does My Bum Look Big In This Ad? written to educate young people on positive body image and media literacy (she also started Muse In The Mirror, a 'pro-esteem site to inspire positive, empowering reflections of you and your world', which I strongly encourage you to check out!). Here's a bit about it:Ever wondered why you don’t look like the people in magazine ads?
There are heaps of books about how popular culture (like advertising) affects the way you feel about yourself. Unfortunately, they’re mostly written about young people, not for young people… until now!
Lisa Cox takes a behind the scenes look at how the media industry works: showing teenagers how to critically and independently evaluate what they see, hear or read in popular culture and the media.
You’ll learn how to develop and maintain a positive body image as you navigate your way through the media maze.
Does My Bum Look Big In This Ad? is a quick, easy and friendly read - it's written in a conversational tone, and manges to be informative and also a fun and positive read. Not only is it educational, it also makes you feel really good about yourself by telling you about the reality of the images presented in the media - how the industry works, and why advertising and other images in the media are so perfect, and how they're made that way.
I think this would be most suitable for girls on the younger end of the teen spectrum, even preteens - it's short, with large font, and written in an easy-to-follow way, very straightforward - I've recommend it to girls 10 and up. I think a bit of the material in the book are things that older teenage girls are already aware of, but it's still a positive and worthwhile read.
Can you recommend other positive self-esteem (or pro-esteem) books and magazines?
