The recent GQ cover showing a suspiciously svelte-looking Kate Winslet inevitably prompted a furious discussion about the influence of celebrities’ images on our physical and mental health.

Whatever the pros and cons of the magazine’s decision to doctor the photograph of the English actress, the publisher sent out the message that a certain look not only sells magazines but is what we should aspire to.

However, for those of us not fortunate enough to have the looks – airbrushed or not – of Ms Winslet or Johnny Depp, what effect do these perfect images have on our self-esteem?

Impossible aspirations

Most experts agree that the relentless barrage of pictures of glamorous stars puts us under pressure to conform to an impossible ideal.

Recently the marketing company Bounty, which supplies parenting packs for new mothers and their babies, entered the fray by launching a campaign encouraging mums-to-be to put their health before fashion.

The decision was prompted by images of public figures such as actress Elizabeth Hurley and singer Victoria Beckham, who both lost weight remarkably quickly after childbirth and were soon – once again – adorning the front pages of celebrity magazines.

Bounty has chosen to use only what it calls a broad range of “real women” in its marketing literature. “We want to convey a true picture…rather than some idealistic image that’s hard for the vast majority of women to live up to,” said a spokeswoman.

“At the moment we receive hundreds of emails and letters everyday from women who are concerned that they don’t look like Victoria Beckham did during her pregnancy, or haven’t managed to get into their old jeans five months after the birth.

“It’s time we put the record straight by raising the profile of ‘real names’. This way we can help women to feel good about being pregnant and motivated to stay fit and healthy for the sake of themselves and their baby.”

Money talks

Her views appear to be endorsed by many of the very women she is talking about including 21-year-old mum Gill Prescott from the Midlands. For Gillian, who gave birth to her baby Jack last year, seeing images of Victoria Beckham and other celebrities was particularly difficult as she’d always been a fitness fan and the self-confessed owner of a “six pack”.

She says that, to her disappointment, she has not been able to regain the physique she had before Jack was born and says that money plays a large part in this.

“When you see highly paid celebrities looking so fit and well-dressed when they are pregnant, while you are walking around with your huge belly, it does affect you.

“I can’t afford a nanny to give me the time to get back into attending the gym or a fitness trainer. Another problem is that people see celebrities looking so well and think anyone can do the same.”

Worrying about the super-slim

Friends didn’t help either, admits Gillian. “I know they were only teasing but because I was always so fit, once I grew they would start chanting ‘fatty, fatty’ and even though I knew it was a joke it still disturbed me.”

However, she has a word of advice for other would-be mothers or those who have recently given birth. “I would advise to try, however hard, not to worry about your physical shape because the chances are you look absolutely normal for a pregnant woman.”

The problem of the adverse influence that celebrities who are naturally “super-slim” can have on young people is also of concern to charities representing those with illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia.

A spokesperson for the Eating Disorders Association says, “It would be wrong to say that images of naturally slim models cause eating disorders.

“But for people with low-self esteem they can be an influence. And less emotionally robust people and particularly the young may not understand that the real world is not that of the celebrity.”

A sting in the tale

However, Professor Mike Griffiths, a psychologist from Nottingham Trent University with a particular interest in the influence of the media, says that in some cases media celebrities and the mediums in which they appear can be a force for good.

He points out that the intelligent scripts of certain soaps such as EastEnders have promoted an understanding of problems as diverse as schizophrenia and dementia.

And while he expresses the same concerns as those who say media images can have a detrimental effect on impressionable people, he says celebrity images can sometimes have a beneficial effect on our health.

“I was once on holiday with my then girlfriend and she was stung by a jellyfish,” he says. “I remembered an episode of Friends in which Courteney Cox’s character talks about just such an incident and how urinating on the burn relieves the pain – it came in useful.”

Further information:

Eating Disorders Association
www.edauk.com

The British Psychological Society
www.bps.org.uk

© HMG Worldwide 2003
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