Do you love what you see when you look in the mirror?
Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance?
Women and girls spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, fashion, magazines and diet aids. These industries can’t use negative images to sell their products without our assistance.
Together, we can fight back.
Love Your Body Day 2007 is October 18.
The National Organization for Women Foundation is hosting a poster contest to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Love Your Body Campaign.
The grand prize winning poster will be used as part of a national campaign to challenge the violent, drug-addicted, starved, surgically-enhanced images of women and to fight against industries that profit from women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.
Guidelines
Posters should be graphically attractive and use a dynamic message. We especially look for images that demonstrate beauty is not limited by body size, body type, ethnicity, age or physical appearance.
Each entry must include the artist’s name, address, phone number, valid e-mail address and category number on the back of each poster.
Only original artwork will be considered.
Copyrighted Images/Subjects: Original signed release forms are required for copyrighted images or materials. Release forms are also needed for “subjects,” whether public or private citizens. Release forms are not provided by NOW Foundation.
Artwork: Poster should be no larger than 9″ x 12.” The poster must include the words 2008 Love Your Body Campaign and the NOW Foundation web site address, www.nowfoundation.org.
Category winners may be asked for additional materials including a high-resolution .jpg of the poster. Computer-generated poster winners will be asked to send a disk or CD of all poster files.
Artists may submit multiple posters in the same category, but may not submit posters in different categories. When creating your poster, please remember that the winning poster will be reproduced and distributed.
Your poster will not be considered if you:
1. Submit collages or posters that mimic ad campaigns (e.g. MasterCard “priceless commercial).
2. Send an electronic entry.
3. Mount, frame or laminate your entry.
4. Send copy larger than 9×12.
5. Do not include requested information on the back of the poster.
6. Put the date (10-17-08) on your entry. Do put the year (2008) on your entry.
Prizes
Category I: $400 prize for open competition (non-student)
Category II: $400 prize for undergraduate or graduate student
Category III: $200 prize for high school student
Category IV: $100 prize for elementary and middle school student
One category prize winner will be selected as the grand prize winner* to be reproduced and distributed nationwide as the official 2008 Love Your Body Campaign poster and featured on the NOW Foundation web site. The grand prize winner will receive an additional cash prize of $600.
• *The NOW Foundation reserves the right to alter the final poster design or to reject all submissions for the final poster design. All category prizes will be awarded even if no design is accepted for the poster.
• All submissions become the property of the NOW Foundation and may be used for commercial purposes. No entries will be returned, so please keep all your files and/or scan your work.
All submissions must be mailed to:
National Organization for Women Foundation
1100 H Street, NW, Third Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
Deadline: Postmarked December 1, 2007
The 10th Annual Love Your Body Day will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2008. The campaign is intended to speak out against ads and media images of women and girls that are harmful, dangerous, offensive, and disrespectful; and to speak up for media images of women and girls that are diverse, realistic, promote health, and encourage self-esteem.
Past Love Your Body Poster Contest Winners:
Beryl Roda, Grand Prize Winner, 2007 and winner in Category 1 (open)
Designers need to think about others for the sake of improving the human existence. What we have received is a gracious blessing. Without it, we are nothing. Which is why we need to give it back.