Small bust, big heart

Fish-lips and a flat-chest… this is the cross that the young, beautiful Denise Richards had to bear as a teen.  Denise reveals in a recent feature how peer pressure and bullying as she grew up in Illinois, rather than the demands of Hollywood, was the reason she chose to buy herself a pair of new boobs, aged just 19.

I find it staggering and sad that a gorgeous young woman would feel so desperate about being flat-chested that she would go under the knife.  When your body is healthy, pert and youthful — and in pretty good nick, if you’re Denise Richards — what have you got to complain about?

Teens don't always recognise the benefits of being a Pancake Princess

I’m not insensitive to the hurt caused by cruel taunts.  I don’t remember being on the receiving end of any, despite my very tiny chest, but I had body insecurities just like any young girl.

I solved them with a Wonderbra (back in the days when I could find one that fit).

I get that it can be painful being dealt a body by nature that doesn’t match up to the ideal you’re bombarded with in magazines and movies.  And I know it can be soul-destroying never graduating from your training bra, when all the other girls go cup, cup and away!!!

I just wish that young women could find a better retort to body issues than surgery.  And I wish that surgeons had more moral gumption that to be granting the wishes of women that haven’t had a chance to grow into their bodies and learn to be confident about them.

What do you think?  Have you been the victim of peer pressure?  How did you deal with it?

Tags: body confidence, body image, boob jobs, breast implants, small bust

Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington as they appeared in L'Oreal's ads

The impossibly plastic, airbrushed faces of Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington used by L’Oreal in its advertising present an image of beauty that is impossible to attain.  Their Stepford Wife faces stare lifelessly from the pages of magazines… they have no humour or personality, but at least they don’t look OLD!

The stunning models themselves, in real life, are complex, intelligent women.  They are not line-free, but does it make them any less beautiful to be showing signs of age?  Not in the least.  So why does the cosmetic giant feel the need to deceive the public by erasing the evidence of life and laughter from their faces?

Thankfully, advertising watchdogs have seen sense and the “misleading” adverts for Lancome and Maybelline have been banned, after the Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson complained that they were “not representative of the results the products could achieve”.  In a big hurrah for natural beauty, the Advertising Standards Authority agreed that the images were exaggerated and breached its code of conduct.

SBBH is devoted to celebrating women who are happy in their skin.  But I am keen to find out what you think about this ruling?  Do you think ads like these contribute to body image problems, or are you happy to accept glossy magazine advertising for the fantasy that it is?

Tags: airbrushed advertising, L'Oreal advertising, natural beauty