Kate Steen is an eating disorders advocate. In 2021, her petition to improve eating disorder services in Canberra led to the ACT Government progressing the first residential treatment centre for eating disorders in the Territory.
It’s the day after the Australian of the Year Awards, and already the tone of at least one piece of the reporting coming out on the new recipient, Taryn Brumfitt, is infuriating, demeaning, and sexist.
Brumfitt is an internationally successful body image campaigner who has produced documentaries, speeches, and books, including for children, to promote healthy body image.
A decade ago, she posted a set of pictures that aimed to subvert conventional ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. In Brumfitt’s set, the ‘before’ was an image of her competing in a bodybuilding competition, posed and stage-ready. The ‘after’ photo depicted her relaxed, smiling and nude, in a different body.
Spurred by the positive response, Brumfitt moved into activism, directing, writing and public speaking. Her documentary Embrace (available on Netflix in Australia) reveals in heartbreaking clarity the negative way that people perceive their bodies, and encourages us to accept our bodies.
Unfortunately – although not unsurprisingly – news.com.au chose to condense Brumfitt’s nuanced and courageous actions and achievements into a sensationalised headline: ‘Mum-of-four who posed nude named Australian of the Year’.
Labelling Brumfitt as a ‘mum-of-four’, then immediately referring to her nude image, is a barbed attempt to discredit her, and to minimise her story. These sort of clickbait headlines serve as a nasty dog whistle to those who lurk online, waiting to tear women to shreds on the internet. The unsettling inference of the headline is that women, and mothers, and those who have posed nude, are not worthy recipients of honour. It also reduces the importance of the cause, and implies that body image issues are unworthy of attention.
The key message of the article – excellent human wins excellent award – has been lost in the Facebook comments section, where ignorant commentators, spurred by the incendiary headline, demeaned Brumfitt’s achievements or compared them to other nominees.
When the same outlet published their equivalent article on last year’s Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, they titled it ‘Tennis star Dylan Alcott named Australian of the Year’. Reading this headline, I don’t know if Alcott is a father, nor have I been moved to consider his body, clothed or otherwise. He is depicted as a worthy recipient (which he undoubtedly is) by virtue of being labelled a ‘star’. He is validated.
In contrast to news.com.au’s headline, a scan of the headlines from other publications on Brumfitt’s victory is neutral and factually accurate – she is identified as a ‘body image campaigner’ and ‘body image activist’. Even the rest of the news.com.au article is fine. But headlines set tones, and word choice incentivises comments from the masses around the value of achievements. They move the reader. They provoke conversation, both online and in person.
It’s time for news organisations to look past an easy click and fix their headlines to combat reactive and damaging commentary. Language is important. Embrace it.
