Milkshakes for Models
What’s not to love about Fashion Week? Mere blocks away from where I now sit, flocks of 17-year-olds with legs longer than my entire being are strutting their stuff in huge tents in Bryant Park. The frocks fashioned with these half-human/half-sapling creatures in mind…the hairstyles as carefully constructed as a sonnet…the single-digit body-mass-indexes. When you see one of these young ladies in person, let me just tell you, it's a little alarming. How can a person be so thin and still be alive? It makes you wonder would happen if the fashion world were to – gasp! – start favoring a “healthier” look?
Cl_jazznpercy posts this news on the Battle of the Sexes board: “The organizers of the top fashion show in Spain decided that they wanted their models to project a healthier image, so they banned all models who had a BMI (body mass index) of under 18.”
Gasp!
lucy4980 writes, “I think it is a great idea. The media has this warped view of beauty that they feed us at every turn. Women spend untold amounts of money and energy trying to live up to an unhealthy standard. Change the standard and some of our societal problems will go away.”
But, as julip510 points out, “I have a sister who is 5'11" and she resembles the Spanish model pictured in the article...she eats...but you can see every rib on her...she's just naturally skinny ...so, pondering that some women who ARE naturally freakishly thin and tall gravitate towards modeling. I wonder if this rule would actually discriminate against them...”
I know, I know. We are all so worried for those poor women. What will they do when they can’t depend on their looks? Will they have turn to acting? Or dancing? Or – perish the thought – banking?! Teaching children?! Okay, I guess I’m not feeling terribly sympathetic. When really, it's not the fault of the uber-thin. enchanteddreamm8 really puts her finger on it here: “I guess this is good in a way. I still don't know yet whether this will address the root cause of the problem - the fact that physical appearance is seen by many as the basis of beauty and self worth. Hopefully it will help at least a little bit.”
What do you think -- is discriminating against certain body types unfair, no matter what the body type? Or is this a step in the right direction? Weigh in. (Heh. Weigh. Get it? Hm.)
PS – Fellow iVillage blogstress Grrl Genius has a really funny post on this very subject. Great minds, Grrl G, great minds.
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I won't mention the modeling agency my daughter worked for, but she modeled for them until she became of normal weight for her age & height. She was tall & skinny until she started developing more at the age of 17. They told her that she had to either lose 20 lbs. or gain 20lbs. to continue modeling!!! It was not ok to be normal looking! She looked great! Luckily my daughter got fed up with the whole idea of being the "perfect" model size & has maintained a normal healthy weigth & is happy with that. It actually helped her have more estemm for herself after that experience. She truly embraced her new body and looks healthy and beautiful.
Well, good for your daughter! It must be so hard to have that extra level of pressure added at that age -- when even under ideal circumstances it's hard to feel ok about yourself. You must be v. proud of her. Thanks for sharing her story!
I don't think the media is to blame for this body image uncertainty.
A model's job is to MODEL CLOTHES. The reason they are that thin and tall is that THE CLOTHES are the focus, not the girl. If a model came walking out with large, bouncy breasts- it would distract form the clothes- you'd be looking at the breasts, not the clothes! A tall, thin woman with smallish breasts is the perfect BILLBOARD for fashion clothes.
Secondly, there is now and have always been larger actresses and beautiful women. Kate Winslet, Salma Hayek and plenty like them. I think the real issue here is people's lack of humility. Yes, we'd all love to look drop dead gorgeous. Most of us don't. Just deal with it! No one is forcing anything down our throats. The "in" thing in the 40's and 50's was to be fuller figured (Marilyn Monroe, etc.)- reg women never complained they were being forced to be fat! Just because you don't measure up to the latest "thing" doesn't mean the big, bad media is to blame.
.. and another thing- when I turn on the tv, go to the movies or flip through a magazine I don't want to see normal looking women. I can go to the supermarket for that. I want to be entertained and look at BEAUTIFUL people- male and female, whether they are very thin or very curvy. The fact that I'm not beautiful myself... boo hoo... it doesn't mean anything. Do I want to be beautiful? Hell yeah! Will I whone about how the fashion industry and the media is conspiring against me and women in general to be something we can't be? No! It's common knowledge that men are turned on by curves. You know the old saying "As long as women have curves men will have angles" ;)I think we women are more obsessed with concentration camp thinness than men are. I think some of these models today have beautiful faces, glowing youth and beautiful skin and hair... they are beautiful in that way and I like to see it. But their bodies? Yuck! I would hate to look like I had a genetic disease- all super tall, gangly and flat chested! :(
Once again, its all just about immitating the lifestyle. Everyone wants to be an icon. We all have to be super-sucessfull, super-glamorous, super-perfect. Its no longer just the thin factor, its every bit of you being put up to the scope of society. How much do we spend on looks in money? In time? How many articles are there about looking like a super-model for less, how to get the "perfect" hair, the "perfect" make-up, the "perfect" skin and nails and butt and bust. We have a million products to counter aging, weight gain, hair loss, greying.. the list goes on. After all the time and effort, I'd be exhausted trying to lead the life of one of these super models. We all need to stop obsessing over those images. If they want to weigh 30 lbs under their weigh, let them. Less focus on them, more focus on us.
he most part of a life we do not think of quantity on a head - them approximately 100 thousand. On the average the person in day loses the order of 50-100 pieces. But when this quantity increases, problems begin. WBR LeoP
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