Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Current affairs article #2
Pub Date: 05/03/2007 Pub: ST
Page: 8,9Day: MondayEdition: INHeadline: GOING SKIN DEEPBy: TESSA WONG#ALFRED CHUA#RAJESH MISIR#MARK LIM#ERMA DZALINPage Heading: INSource: SPH
INDEPTHTHE BIG STORY THIS WEEKTEENAGE GIRLS FACE PRESSURE MEETING IMPOSSIBLY HIGH STANDARDS IN LOOKS. TESSAWONG FINDS OUT WHY BEING FIXATED ON PHYSICAL FLAWS IS ANYTHING BUT HEALTHY
Nor Hidayah Zainudin, 15, is planning to have plastic surgery when she isolder.“I don’t like my nose, it’s too big. I wish it was as sharp as that ofHollywood stars,” said the Secondary 4 student at Jurong West Secondary School,who has hated her nose since she was a lot younger.She is not the only one. Too tall, too fat, too big-haired, too flat-nosed –all are worries of teenagers unhappy with their appearance.The girls, that is.A recent survey by skincare and toiletries company Dove found that up to 60 percent of Singapore’s teenage girls are unhappy with the way they look and theirweight.The study also revealed that one in five young Singaporean women would considergetting plastic surgery to alter their appearance.Before she goes under the knife, Hidayah pinches her nose often to make itsharper, a habit she developed when she was 13 after gradually realising that“sharper noses look more beautiful”.While social worker Carol Balhetchet points out that it is natural forteenagers to feel self-conscious, being fixated on flaws is not.“It becomes dangerous when girls get obsessive and start having false ideas ofhow they’re supposed to look,” said Dr Balhetchet, who is the director of theYouth Development Centre at the Singapore Children’s Society.It may be down to the fact that teens are constantly under pressure to conformto an impossibly high standard in looks.“Nowadays the media advertises perfection in looks and fashion, and this doesimpact on a young person’s vulnerable self-esteem and confidence,” DrBalhetchet said.She added: “Many get their benchmark for looks from well-known celebrities andpersonalities and like to compare themselves to them.”But the very celebrity icons featured feel just as insecure.The rail-thin star of TV’s The Simple Life, Nicole Richie, has become thedubious poster child for eating disorders, while pop princess Britney Spearsrecently shaved her head and got tattoos in response to the pressures ofconstant fame.The fashion industry, often blamed for glorifying feather-weight models, isbeginning to wake up.Still, it took a tragedy to make that happen.Last December, Italy and Spain banned too-thin models from fashion catwalksafter several models died from eating disorders.Models now must have a healthy body-mass index and must be certified healthy bya doctor before taking to the catwalks.Here in Singapore, the prevalence of girls with low self-esteem about theirbodies has led to the launch of at least two new campaigns in the past twoyears to combat the problem.Last month, Dove launched its Dove Self-Esteem Fund, whose main programmeBodyTalk teaches girls to deal with negative feelings about their appearance.Professional trainers tour secondary schools islandwide, including many girls’schools, to teach realistic standards of beauty through slideshows, videos andtalks.Meanwhile, Youth Advolution for Health (YAH), a group started in 2005 by theHealth Promotion Board, is a student-run organisation that promotes a healthylifestyle, by encouraging anti-smoking and loving one’s body through variousevents.Said the chairman of YAH, Miss Celeste Phua: “It’s important that avenues existfor teenagers to share their worries about their bodies, and learn more aboutdoing the right things to stay healthy.“What is most important is taking good care of your body, not feeling bad abouthow you look.” Additional reporting by Erma Dzalin, Alfred Chua, Rajesh Misir and Mark Lim What do you love or hate about your body? Is low self-esteem about one’s bodyjust “a girl thing”? Have your say at stinkandspill.stomp.com.sg!
