Duchess Of Cornwall Says Magazines ‘Bear A lot Of Responsibility’ Towards Young Girls
Camilla is not only the Duchess of Cornwall, as the 64-year-old wife to Prince Charles is also a mother and a grandmother to two girls. The Duchess was quite outspoken the other day about how magazines impact their young female readership, claiming they have a “responsibility” towards how girls come to view their own bodies.
At a celebration marking the 25th anniversary of the National Osteoporosis Society, Camilla described the connection between eating disorders and osteoporosis as a “ticking-time bomb.” The Duchess lost her own mother to osteoporosis and laments other young women failing pray to the condition following disordered eating.
“They [the magazines] bear a lot of responsibility in what they write [because] the girls read them and go on these crash diets, sometimes developing eating disorders. The trouble is that at that age you think you are immortal. You don’t think anything will happen to you. But what they don’t realize is that while they may recover and start eating again, the damage may well already be done.
“They feel like, ”Nothing hurts, I’m not in pain so what’s the problem?” They don’t realize that in 20 years’ time they could end up in a wheelchair because of what they have done to themselves.”
The media is powerful for everyone, but especially children. Considering that many girls do often read up in terms of magazines and media, it is insanely irresponsible for editors and media conglomerates to claim that children do not encounter these messages. And if kids are not coming across these magazines in their homes, a mother’s consumption of them can indirectly impact them as well as they bear witness to her own harmful eating habits or body critiques.
Camilla noted that when it comes to her family, she “drums” home the notion that eating “sensibly” and exercise are what’s best:
“You can eat sensibly, exercise and stay trim. You don’t have to starve yourself and risk damaging your health irrevocably. We need to make young girls aware of this. We need to drive it home.”
That we do, along with media literacy so that kids can learn early that the images they’re constantly being presented with are not real.
(photo: WENN)
