The ideal body type may differ across countries, but the pressure to appear a certain way affects women all the same, writes Kate Harveston in her guest post
The women I admired growing up were air-brushed dolls with not a hair out of place, smooth as powdered babies with creamy complexions - not a blemish or scar in sight. Scanning the plethora of magazines sitting glossy in their stands, my thirteen-year old self scoured for someone to relate to and recognise. I never did.
UK-based burlesque comedian Fancy Chance talks about her experience of growing up in a mainly white community in the US and how romanticised portrayals of Asian women have affected her life
Guest blogger Vicky talks about standards and expectations of beauty and body size, and how the Daily Mail positioned Samantha Brick in a way that could only provoke hostility.