She's your mother, daughter, or wife. She's your neighbor, colleague, or your best friend. She's also your valued consumer. No matter what you call her or the role she plays in your life, she's a woman. And if she's like most women, she's struggled with her body image at least once in her life.

Women everywhere are burdened with negative body image, thinking they simply don't measure up to the "thin ideal." These thoughts are sold and confirmed by media that continue to perpetuate an unattainable beauty ideal.

This poses as a concern to you because beauty is your business. How women feel about their bodies is how they feel about your brand. The more discouraged women feel when they look at your models, the more negatively they will perceive you. Conversely, the more empowered women feel when they look at your models, the more positive their attitude will be toward you.

While the fashion and cosmetic industries have built their business on selling a beauty ideal that physically differs from their consumers, it no longer holds ground. Contemporary consumers not only reject this ideal, they are savvy and skeptical of the fantasy. They desire to see themselves - their bodies, ages, sizes, and colours - reflected in today's advertising.

This is where we step in. I invite you to join us in fashioning a beauty paradigm that reflects our reality. By promoting inclusive, empowering, and positive images of beauty, we can showcase models that reach out to consumers, inspiring them to reach back. If you change how you represent your consumer, you'll unleash newfound empowerment and economic potential at the same time.

And gone will be the day that someone says: "The dress looks great on the model, but never on me."

This will not be the first time society has rejected a beauty myth. From the whalebone corsets of 19th-century Europe to the bound feet of ancient China, oppressive forms of fashion have rightly been toppled. And yet, the woman who posed for what is regarded as the West's most beautiful female sculpture-the Venus de Milo-is considered too short and too curvy to be a model today.

We have gotten off track and it's time to get back. It's time for fashion to get real.

Together, we can fashion reality. Are you in?

Ben Barry
CEO
Ben Barry Agency, Inc.