More naked bodies, please
Louise Ostgaard is a health educator, and when she had enough of the warped body ideals for women, she put out a video of herself in lingerie on Facebook. In her video she states, "This is an ordinary girl body.” Needless to say, the video has attracted a lot of attention.

"I hear so many discussions about diets and how to work out—or not. People take photos of their favorite part of the body from the right angle. I want us to stop constructing ourselves for others and just photograph our body the way it is,” says Östgaard. Through a Facebook group and the hashtag #tjejkropp (girl body), she encourages other girls to do what she’s done, and already there are some 40 girls who have shown their bodies.
"When I put up the video, I didn’t realize it would become so big. I just put up an image on my little Facebook,” Louise Östgaard continues. One of the girls who has followed Östgaard’s advice is another Louise, who put up ”before” images of herself as severely underweight, and "after” where she is healthy, with the words: ”This is my struggle, my life. It’s about never giving up.” This Louise believes ”tjejkropp” is an amazing initiative.

However, there are those who feel the exact opposite. ”Girls, don’t put up this type of video on Facebook! Why stand around in your underwear pinching your fat and commenting on all that’s 'wrong’ with your bodies. Everyone can watch these videos. I think it just reinforces the body fixation,” one person writes. But Östgaard remains positive to the discussion: "I think it’s good. Many people answer and share each other’s posts. This is not my discussion, but I’d rather see people discussing the issue. There’s a need to talk about it. That’s what this all shows.” And according to gender and media researcher Hillevi Ganetz, more naked bodies are needed: ”The cure against an idealized female body that’s been photoshopped, is more naked bodies, more realistic images of the body,” Ganetz says. She says that a woman is always running the risk of being viewed as an accessible object. In order to get away from the objectification of women, a bigger movement is needed. "A woman alone cannot do much, but if there are many more videos at the same time, it could make a difference,” she says.

The video was taken offline by facebook but you can follow the discussion at Louise Östgaard's facebook page