Former model Nicole Weider is helping young women create self-perceptions that defy the “less is more” trend currently sweeping through mainstream media. Weider’s Anti-Cosmo campaign, a grassroots initiative aimed at restricting minors from Cosmopolitan magazines sexually charged content, has gained 20,000 signatures. The potential success of Anti-Cosmo means the pop culture mag will be sealed in a non-transparent wrapper and available only to those aged 18 and older. Weider believes it also means the first step to encouraging self-worth and a healthy self-image for many girls.

Was there a pivotal moment or personal life event that led you to create Project Inspired?

Weider: My idea to create Project Inspired happened slowly but surely as I went through a personal transformation. I had been modeling and acting for several years in Los Angeles and was left feeling empty and degraded by the whole experience. I realized that this wasn’t what I wanted out of my life and fell into a depression as I realized I had no backup plan. I hadn’t gone to college because all through my teens and early 20′s I was focused only on Hollywood. It was then I began praying to God every night to show me what I should do with my life. He slowly lifted me out of my depression and I began to understand that my story could help young girls avoid the mistakes I had made. It’s funny because when I met my future husband I told him I was going to have a blog though I wasn’t sure yet exactly what it would be about. God was just beginning to stir in me and show me my mission. Over a period of a few months the idea for Project Inspired crystalized and I knew that I had to share all that I learned about the dangers of popular culture and the power of a relationship with God. I launched it in March 2011, and I have been thrilled to see the passionate response from so many thousands of girls!

How important is Project Anti-Cosmo for young women?

Weider: It is so important! You cannot believe how the girls respond to it. Every day I get dozens and dozens of comments and emails from the girls telling me how Project Inspired has changed their lives. There are so few positive outlets for girls these days. Everything they are exposed to in popular culture tells them they have to be highly sexualized in order to be successful in life. It’s as if a girl is only as good as her sex skills! Really it’s so disgusting…and worse…it’s so damaging to them.

“Everything they are exposed to in popular culture tells them they have to be highly sexualized in order to be successful in life. It.”

Are there any non-sexually emblematic magazines out there that encourage young girls and women to establish healthy self-images?

Weider: If there are, I haven’t seen them. It’s a sad situation that we can’t think of a mainstream magazine that would actually help young girls develop healthy self-images instead of telling them that if they aren’t highly sexualized then there’s something wrong with them.

The Internet has opened a door for young people that allows them access to things that were previously restricted only to adults. What can we do to ensure that youngsters remain youngsters in spite of the inflow of information?

Weider: The Internet makes it hard to control what kids can access. The best a parent can do is use parental controls and I strongly encourage parents not to allow teens to have computers in their rooms. Teen computers should be in a family room where parents can monitor what they are doing. Of course they can always use computers at friends’ homes so it is so important for parents to get involved with who their children’s friends are. You cannot believe what some young teens are up to today and parents need to insist on knowing their kid’s friends and the parents too.

What role does Christianity play in Project Inspired?

Weider: Christianity is the foundation of Project Inspired. While Project Inspired deals with every type of issue a teen girls wants to talk about, we deal with those issues from a Christian perspective. We try to equip the girls to live in today’s modern society, where unless they are totally sheltered, they will interact with secular media and non-religious friends. We try to teach them how to be strong in their faith and make the right decisions when they are inevitably confronted with the choices that most all teens confront.

There have been many reports circulating in recent years regarding the trend toward “sexualizing” young girls in the media. After analyzing television programs, movies, song lyrics and advertising campaigns and the antics of celebrity role models, the American Psychological Association found the number of sexualized images in the media cause for concern. What can parents, families and communities do to protect young girls from falling prey to these self-effacing images?

Weider: The most important thing is to talk about it with your kids. Yes you can shelter them from a lot of the sexualized images and messages but not all. So you need to talk to them about it and give them a strong foundation so when they encounter these images it won’t sway their thinking or decisions. A strong relationship with God is essential to this.  I am leading a campaign to ban Cosmopolitan magazine from being sold to minors. We have over 20,000 signatures on our petition at change.org. I encourage everyone who cares about the over-sexualization of young girls to sign it. The Federal Trade Commission is paying attention to this and with enough signatures we can get them to act to prevent Cosmopolitan from aggressively marketing sex to minors.

-Li St. Michael

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