6 in 10 women still don’t think there’s enough body diversity in the media

By Alice Hughes via SWNS

Six in 10 women still don’t think there is enough body diversity in the media.

A study of 2,000 female adults found despite 42 percent believing body diversity has improved in the past five years, they feel there is still a long way to go.

Sadly, three-quarters avoid looking in the mirror because of how it makes them feel about their body.

As a result, 78 percent believe it’s important to see relatable body types in the media to normalize differences and encourage acceptance (both 65 percent).

The research was commissioned to launch ITV1’s Loose Women Body Stories campaign to mark International Women’s Day.

Ahead of a special "Body Stories" episode, airing on March 8 at 12:30 p.m. on ITV1 and ITVX, editor of Loose Women, Sally Shelford, said: "Loose Women’s Body Stories campaign was originally launched in 2017 to inspire and promote body confidence for all of our viewers.

“We are so proud that it is returning for International Women's Day with a powerful, joyful shoot and an equally powerful message on the importance of celebrating and seeing body diversity."

The findings also revealed 57 percent have no body confidence - but 23 percent would feel better about themselves if they saw people they identify with in the media.

Similarly, 76 percent want to see more diversity reflected in high street fashion brands.

Three-quarters have avoided wearing certain clothing to prevent showing off their body, including bikinis (63 percent), crop tops (58 percent) and short skirts (49 percent).

While 65 percent admitted a lack of body confidence has stopped them from doing things they’d like to, such as having their photo taken (70 percent), going swimming (58 percent) and wearing activewear (39 percent).

With 24 percent blaming a general lack of confidence in themselves and 18 percent putting it down to feeling insecure about their body.

Many have missed or canceled events, including birthday celebrations (26 percent) and dates (18 percent), due to feeling insecure about their body (18 percent) and struggling to find anything to wear to suit their shape or size (17 percent).

When it comes to social media, 37 percent said it has a negative impact on how they feel - compared to just four percent who claim it’s positive - and feel unconfident (32 percent), annoyed (18 percent) and ashamed (14 percent) when they see unrealistic and filtered images of others.

Contrastingly, those polled via OnePoll, feel encouraged (26 percent), assured (20 percent) and happy (18 percent) when they do see their body type represented in the media.

This year’s Loose Women Body Stories campaign, "Celebrating Every Body," sees a host of Loose Women panelists, including Carol McGiffin, Dame Kelly Holmes, Gloria Hunniford OBE, Judi Love, Katie Piper OBE and Sophie Morgan, take part in an inspiring Body Stories photo shoot for the first time, as well as candidly share their own body stories - in a bid to help viewers feel seen and represented.