Body Image - Objectification and Sexualisation

Body Image - Objectification and Sexualisation

Women’s Forum Australia is deeply concerned that young girls and women are objectified and sexualised. Public images of women heavily focus on women’s sexual features rather than other attributes such as intelligence or work capacity.

Women’s Forum Australia rejects the message sent by media and advertisers – in an attempt to sell products – that women are inferior and flawed.

Women’s Forum Australia encourages women to be critical rather than passive consumers of popular culture – with the ability to accept healthy, positive messages, and reject fake or damaging messages. We exhort each woman to celebrate her own uniqueness and withdraw from conforming to the attractiveness ideal presented by marketers and media.

WFA Research


Faking It magazine, Selena Ewing and Melinda Tankard Reist (ed) 
Please note that 'Faking It' is no longer distributed by Women's Forum Australia

WFA Submissions


Joint Statement on Sexualised Advertising in QLD 
Submission to the National Body Image Advisory Group
National Women's Health Submission

WFA Published Articles


Body Image is more than about size
Girls now the sum of their body parts, Melinda Tankard Reist
National strategy on body image doesn't go far enough, Misty de Vries

We Recommend You Read


The Butterfly Effect, Danielle Miller
Girl Stuff, Kaz Cooke
What’s Happening to Our Girls, Maggie Hamilton
Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls, Melinda Tankard Reist (ed)
Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls