Jodie is a 33 year old Australian woman with a background in media and public relations, who started her international online group, Don't Tell Me What Size I Must B in August 2000.

Having always struggled with her weight, and being immensely frustrated with the choices and designs of fashion available for women, Jodie wanted to galvanise public opinion to change the way that plus size women are regarded by both the media and fashion industry.

Don't Tell Me What Size I Must B was immediately successful, and has gathered over 1000 members worldwide since its beginnings. The group has been featured on radio, television, in print and online across the world. It is an affiliate of the International Size Acceptance Alliance and the Size Wise Angels Network.

INTERVIEW WITH JODIE HUNTER

From Sarah:
Hi Jodie, It's great to see someone making a positive influence in the world of body image. How did you get started with your club and do you have any tips on what I can do in my area to help other females learn to love their bodies even if they are not a size 2?

Hunter:
Hi Sarah! Thanks for your support, I appreciate it. I knew what I was angry about and wanted to change, so initially I looked for a group that was doing something specifically about the media and fashion industry. When I discovered that no one was really tackling those areas , I decided to start a little group to see what response I would get. I was really pleased and surprised when I had so many people joining up, and the more I talked with people about these issues, the more I realised there was a need for this group and the information that I have on our website. Learning to love your body is a long process of self discovery and overcoming society's culture of shaming people whose bodies don't conform to the 'ideal'. Joining a group like ours helps you to get to that point, but it also helps if you treat your body well. Don't punish yourself for not being 'perfect'. Eat well, be active, avoid the fad diets that get paraded out on a regular basis.

From Lisa:
What is the direction your organization is going in now? Is there anything I can do to help because I would love to see a trend in our country toward more realistic views of women. P.S. I love your message and your hard work.

Hunter:
Hi Lisa, we're just going to keep the pressure up on media organisations and the fashion industry to become less size discriminatory. What can you do? So much. Please, don't underestimate the power that you and everyone else has as a consumer. Sixty percent of women are plus sized. We are the majority - and if we all spoke up about our needs and the way that they are being ignored and dismissed, we would not be ignored. These industries are only getting away with it now because we are not speaking up. Write letters, write emails, join groups like mine, and when you go shopping, tell the stores you shop in what you want from them. If we say nothing, then we will continue to be treated as if we don't exist, and that the smaller size ranges are the only ones whose opinions matter.

From Marissa:
When I was a teenager, I had to buy my clothes at the Ladies section of the department store. I was always dressed in something that had been designed for women in their 30`s or 40`s, and I was just 13!! I'm glad to see that nowadays there are more choices for women of all ages.

Hunter:
Hi Marissa, Its getting a little better for teenagers in terms of choice, but its still a pretty bad situation for most plus size teens around the world to get age-appropriate and size friendly fashion. We all know that our teen years are so important in terms of developing good self esteem. Its such a tragedy that most teenage girls use extreme dieting methods during this delicate time of transition in order to conform to the media and fashion industry's idea of what they should look like. Kelly Osborne may not be everyone's ideal role model, but I have to love her joyful attitude to her body and her cynicism towards the body-perfect obsession of her peers in the music industry.

From Tina:
Hi Jodie, Do you think that fashion designers are starting to get the message that fashionable women come in all sizes, or are things staying the same (or maybe even getting worse)?

Hunter:
Hi Tina, well some fashion designers are beginning to understand that there is this incredible market just waiting to be discovered, whereas the majority continue to prefer to be oblivious. We need to work on changing their mindset, so that they see us as a viable market with genuine needs and interest in fashion. One European designer, Anna Scholz, said that no one in her entire design class was interested in this type of fashion - and that wasn't long ago. If you see plus size fashion that you like, please remember to send them an email of support or let them know if you aren't happy with the designs.

From Heather:
Hi Jodie! What's with the Limited Corp. ditching Lane Bryant? And what's the buzz on the future of the company?

Hunter:
Hi Heather! , Lane Bryant has been bought by Charming Shoppes Inc. Incidentally, the website is going extremely well, with over 700,000 unique visitors each month and there are plans to make it possible to buy their fashion online. They've changed the look of their clothes to attract the under 30 market in the past couple of years. The move has paid off, with more than 30% of their customers now coming from that age group. There are plans to open about 25 new stores each year, particularly in the southern regions of the USA. One beef that I have with LB is that their models seem to be around size 14, but rarely above that. Please, write to Lane Bryant (http://www.lanebryant.com) and ask them to have a more representative range of sizes in their models. In fact, any plus size store you see that shows their clothes on models under size 14 should be written to!

From Jen:
Being "fat" is associated with all kinds of stereotypes and preconceived notions by the general thin-obsessed public. Is there any one fat myth or stereotype which tops your lists of pet peeves?

Hunter:
Hi Jen, my pet peeve is that "all fat people are lazy and gluttonous". When you see insults flying around news boards towards larger people, you almost always get comments about "eating a bucket of fried chicken" or "sitting on their butts watching television all day". These are statements which basically say that because you are fat, you are unemployable, lazy, and disinterested in your own health. I don't know anyone like that, and it disallows for the fact that obesity is tremendously influenced by social, emotional, physical, environmental factors.

From Jen:
The concept of "Thin is in" has been around for almost 40 years now, but clearly the "preferred" body type has not really remained constant during those four decades. The waif look engendered by Twiggy has gradually given way to more sculpted physiques. Currently, Western Society is faced with a hard-bodied, silicone-injected standard that is nearly impossible for the average person to emulate. Have you any predictions on where we are headed for the next evolution in extreme shaped bodies? And do you see such high-tech procedures such as genetic manipulation coming into play as body preferences become more and more unrealistic?

Hunter:
Hi Jen, thanks for your question. I think that we are facing so many changes in medical practice due to technological advances and research, that any answer I give would be a stab in the dark, as to what science will be available. What I worry about is that drug companies, in their search for the 'big money' via producing weight loss drugs, will continue to push dangerous formulas onto the public. Many diet products are being removed from the market today because they cause serious health problems. Not to mention some of the surgeries available today. Nothing is completely safe, but it seems to me that many of these products are being sold to an unsuspecting public, desperate to avoid the current stigmatism of being overweight. Additionally, most of the "shock horror" studies on obesity are being funded by the diet industry itself. Less than 2% of the USA government's medical research was spent on obesity. So these diet companies do shoddy research and then declare that their fad diet, or diet pill, or surgery is the 'answer'. We need independent research carried out in the future. I hope that we will one day be able to achieve a balance instead of an ideal figure. A future where differences in body shapes are celebrated and adored, rather than the push for all people to conform to the same unrealistic shape of a model or actor.

From Tanya:
What advice do you have for parents? I have a son, not a daughter, but I know that I can still have an impact on things based on how I raise him to view and treat people, male or female.

Hunter:
Hi Tanya, The best thing you can do for your son is lead by example. Be positive about your own figure, be positive about other women's bodies, and be an activist as far as promoting better body image is concerned. Explain to your son about the way that magazines and other media manipulate images to create fake images. The recent Kate Winslet controversy is a good example. Tell him about the power of the diet industry and don't go on fad diets yourself. Encourage your son to seek out positive characteristics in his friends that are beyond 'the way they look'. Give him love and encouragement about his own body, no matter how he looks.

OTHER COMMENTS:

From Starfire:
I'm not sure what I want to say here... I've *always* been a big girl... even when I was little. Always been unfit... always been unhappy with myself and my body. I did a lot of destructive things to myself, and flirted with eating disorders for way too long. That was until something just clicked for me about 2 or so years ago. I don't think it was any one thing... maybe a lot of things coming together... but it just felt like time for me, personally, to start taking responsibility for my body and my health. I tried to shift the focus right away from how I looked, and made it about how I felt... tried to be as healthy as I could without obsessing. It was hard, because I was terrified that any kind of focus on what I was eating would send me straight back to starving myself. I have lost weight since then... about 3 and a half stone, or 20 odd kilos. But what's more important to me is that I'm fitter... I can do more... and I'm stronger. I'm not totally 'fixed'... I still feel scared of slipping back into old habits... seeing all this hard work just disappear - or else tipping over the edge and starting to starve myself again. But mostly, I think I'm happy with where I am, and how I'm doing... Which is a nice feeling ;-) blessings and hugs Starfire