By Kyra Gillespie
Jessica Sanders wants young girls to learn how to love their body.
The 25-year-old former Beaconhills College student has created a book to show girls that they don’t need to change to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.
She is in the process of releasing the book, titled ‘Learning to Love Your Body’, and has also founded her own social enterprise dedicated to empowering women and girls to develop positive relationships with themselves and their bodies.
The mission of the upcoming book is to show and celebrate diverse bodies, normalise natural bodily imperfections and to teach girls to view their bodies as more than just objects.
Targeted at girls aged 8-12, the book is a foundation guide based in preventative education.
“I believe in preventative education, especially in this day and age of social media,” Jess said.
“Latest figures show that 50 per cent of primary school-aged girls want to lose weight, so by the time girls get to their teenage years it’s almost too late because those pathways and ideas have already started to take shape.
“I hesitate to put an age bracket on the book, because I believe these ideas should be instilled in girls and women as early as possible.”
For many years, Jess said she noticed a widening disparity between how girls and women are depicted in literature, film and television compared to the real, lived experience.
She recalls a trip to Readings bookstore in Melbourne which lead her to the ‘girl’s’ section of the store.
“The shop assistant and I stared at each other confused – but not surprised – as we scoured the book store looking for children’s books that celebrate diverse bodies and found none.
“We found books on puberty, a couple on body image which were pink and featured thin, blonde, white girls on the front cover, but nothing that showed – yet alone celebrated – different girls’ bodies.
“The shop assistant turned to me and said, ‘If you make this book I’ll put it on these shelves.’
“Eleven months later and I’ve just launched the crowdfunding campaign that will hopefully get this book on those shelves.”
Jess’s goal is to raise $24,000 which will cover the cost of production and distribution of Learning To Love Your Body, written by Jess and illustrated by feminist illustrator Carol Rossetti, creator of the viral ‘Women Project’ series.
“Together, we carefully created characters who are authentic, physically and culturally diverse, and most importantly, empowered and confident.
“I created this book because I’ve often wondered what a difference it would have made if I had been exposed to the important concepts illustrated in this book as a young girl.
“I wanted to show young girls that there is another option, that you don’t need to change yourself in order to feel comfortable and confident in your body.”
The Kickstarter funds will go towards Re-shape, a social enterprise Jess founded back in 2017 dedicated to empowering women and girls to develop positive relationships with themselves and their bodies.
“Learning to Love Your Body is my first project but it definitely won’t be my last.
“I founded Re-shape to act as my vessel for future projects, community building and activism; all with the ultimate goal of nurturing self-love, self-acceptance and self-confidence in girls.”
Jess’s Kickstarter launched Thursday 16 August, and can be found by searching ‘The Body Positive Children’s Book.’
Follow Jess’s project on Facebook and Instagram
