ANU students and staff are invited to attend a seminar Melinda Tankard Reist will be delivering to the students of Sustainable Marketing MKTG2002.

Bio

Melinda Tankard Reist (www.melindatankardreist.com) is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She is author/editor of four books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009), now in its 7th printing, and Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray). A newspaper columnist, Melinda is a regular guest on Channel 7’s Sunrise and Morning Show, and has also appeared on ABC Q&A and The Gruen Sessions as well as many other TV and radio programs. Melinda is co-founder of the grassroots campaigning movement, Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation, exposing corporations, advertisers and marketers who objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products and services. Melinda is named in the Who’s Who of Australian Women and the World Who’s Who of Women.  She is an ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia and the Raise Foundation.

Abstract

Young people are bombarded with objectified and hypersexualised images and messages from media and popular culture. They are shaped by dominant cultural narrative that tells them they have to be thin, hot and sexy to be liked and accepted. As well, children are often represented in sexualised ways in media and advertising, described as ‘corporate paedophilia’. Drawing from current global literature on the subject, Melinda will explore with us how the proliferation of harmful messages contributes to a distorted view of bodies, relationships and sexuality in young people, hampering their healthy physical and emotional development.  How can we address sexualisation and objectification and bring about a world free of sexploitation?

Contact: Gary Buttriss