| ________________
CM . . .
. Volume IX Number 8. . . . December 13, 2002
excerpt: By the time you start high school you will be exposed to 350,000 television and print advertisements, over 50 percent of which stress being beautiful and thin. Talk about being brainwashed! To make matters worse, many of the images have been altered -- if even supermodels need to have their pictures "fixed" to take out pimples and wrinkles, there's something wrong with our beauty standards, don't you think? Of course, it can be fun to paint your nails, color your hair, and play around with your appearance. Unfortunately, many of the ads about these beauty products lose sight of the fact that using these products is supposed to be a fun way of expressing yourself -- not something you have to do in order to measure up to someone else's beauty idea. In light of the recent media attention focused on obesity, diabetes, and other health issues, the demand for materials that encourage proactive, healthful lifestyles should increase - especially those for young adults. One such book for girls is Body Talk: The Straight Facts on Fitness, Nutrition & Feeling Great About Yourself! by Ann Douglas and Julie Douglas. Body Talk's content was reviewed by a group of qualified individuals, among them a fitness instructor, a registered nurse, and a registered dietician. The authors acknowledge with special thanks the 26 contributors, girls of approximately the same ages as the intended readers, whose observations emerge throughout the text. Add to this the lively artistic design, and the cumulative result is an open invitation to pre-pubescent and adolescent girls to develop healthy habits and positive self-esteem. Beginning with the introduction that dares each reader to "be yourself" to the conclusion that encourages readers to "celebrate differences," Body Talk advocates self-acceptance. Although the authors readily concede that girls will express themselves by experimenting with their images in various ways, they caution readers against naively "buying in" to the capricious standards set by the beauty, fashion, and weight-loss industries, all of which stand to turn a hefty profit on such sales. The cosmetics industry, for instance, "rings up around $45 billion U.S. in sales each year, with 30 percent of all sales being made in North America. In fact, each second, 25 tubes of lipstick are sold in the United States alone" (p. 29). Moreover, popular products and practices can be detrimental to one's health. During the European Renaissance, for example, lead-based cosmetics frequently "led to muscle paralysis or even death" (p. 7). At present, eating disorders are on the rise as many girls strive for supermodel thinness. According to statistics, "One in ten girls with an eating disorder dies and many are left with permanent damage to their bodies" (p. 36). In an effort to combat such sobering data, Body Talk encourages girls to pursue a holistic identity, one that factors fitness and nutrition into the equation of "feeling great" about themselves. Rigorous attention to detail maximizes the book's appeal: it is well-organized, well conceived, and well-informed. For instance, the inter-related topics are laid out in a logical progression which makes the rationale easy to follow. Furthermore, the conversational tone, practical recommendations, and down-to-earth explanations result in a direct yet diplomatic delivery that renders "the facts" very readable. In addition, the wit and playfulness evident in the choice of titles and section headings -- "The Skinny on Skin" (p.22) unmasks the finer points of skin care, for example, while "Playing with Knives"cuts plastic surgery down to size -- injects levity into otherwise serious subject matter. Body Talk also contains rich resources, such as: a list of annotated Web sites for further study, a food guide outlining the recommended daily servings from each of the four food groups, and an alphabetically ordered index. For anyone wanting to counteract negative feelings with constructive activity, Body Talk contains a few recipes, including one for lip balm (p. 29), and another for a "smart-start smoothie" (p.59), although the authors contend that the best "recipe for success" probably is exercise, which is beneficial psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Under Claudia Dávila's direction, Body Talk's visual artwork generates much momentum. Together with Rodrigo Barreda's photography, Dávila's own illustrations draw a reader's eye across the pages with the strategic placement of vibrant colors, various shapes, and an assortment of fonts vying for attention. The splashy layout includes "Chew on This!" sidebar texts which contain factoids such as: "While a typical man has approximately 15 percent body fat, a typical woman has 25 percent body fat" (p. 25). There are even instances when the design defies convention: for one thing, it situates red and purple squares adjacently for an entire page; for another, it applies several font styles and sizes to the same page. Surprisingly, the bold design never overpowers the message. Of all the illustrations, the "Through Thick and Thin" section deserves special mention (p. 8-11). Here Dávila has drawn a tape measure, marked off in five-year intervals from 1800 to 2000, across four pages. Along the bottom of each page, cartoon-like women model the shifting vogue in fashion, while short verbal descriptions appear overhead. For example, readers learn that during the 1920s Flapper era, women bound their breasts and cut their hair in an effort to appear more boyish, whereas 1950s women, in sharp contrast, displayed their curves and wore "flamboyant hairstyles" (p. 10). Aside from the general delight readers gain from images throughout the book, here, in particular, pictures are necessary for them to better comprehend the words. Body Talk is smart and invigorating: a prescription for building self-confident young women. It teaches girls to identify and confront the myths, to replacenegative influences with positive, and then turns them loose to "make a difference" in the world. It would be the perfect addition to a book display in a classroom or library, or could make an attractive and functional gift for that body-conscious 'tween. Highly Recommended. Julie Chychota finds herself in Manitoba once again.
To comment
on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal
use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any
other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
NEXT REVIEW |TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE
- December 13, 2002.
AUTHORS
| TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS
| PROFILES
| BACK ISSUES
| SEARCH | CMARCHIVE
| HOME |
