I came across this this morning and almost fell out of my chair with disgust at how some people think. The article talks about how a top level fashion show in Madrid is turning away models who are too thin. They are wanting models who look healthy. They are stating that the modeling world can have an unhealthy influence on young girls possibly leading them to anorexia or bulemia. I completely agree, and on more than just one point. I have often thought that too skinny is even more unattractive than being fat. But what really got me was this:
"I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer," said Gould, Elite's North America director, adding that the move could harm careers of naturally "gazelle-like" models.
"what about discrimination" - I would venture to guess that Gould is pissed because her aresenal of models are of the unhealthy variety, and her real compaint is that she is going to lose a lot of money from this scenario. If you really want to complain about discrimination and freedom of designer then why is it only now that you are making a stink. I have never heard of anyone making a stink about the overweight model before. Puhhleeeze.Take a look at this picture and tell me which one looks healthier, the girl facing you ar the girl walking away?
[Update: First, this picture doesn't fully describe what I am feeling because even the girl facing me is pretty skinny, but how many pictures are floating around out there that would help me get my point across. Second, I might be unfairly equating healthiness and attractiveness, but I don't think so. I think that what makes one attractive is some aspect of healthiness. That might be physical, but it could also be emotional or spiritual. You can be attracted to one while the others are severely lacking. Ideally you want all of them nicely packaged.]
3 comments:
Actually, attractiveness - when unencumbered by cultural fads - is health. We are physically attracted to mates with whom we can make healthy children. And the reason we see all those old photos and paintings of plumper women is because the voluptuous woman is, in our animal brain, healthier than the thin woman - or at least more likely to survive childbirth (and the winter for that matter.)
As for mental and emotional health, I think we are attracted to those who are of the same health as we are. Hmmm. That doesn't speak well of my state of mind when I got married.
I followed the link and saw one of those "too thin" models, but I think she looks fat. I mean, I can barely make out the bones in her back!
But seriously, Willie has it spot on - this cat just doesn't want his stable of waifs to lose their earning power. I'm perplexed by the fashion industry's demand for chicks who look like the Crypt Keeper. I wonder if it's some kind of misogyny; that secretly all these gay designers hate the models because the desginers wanted to be women themselves.
A complete shot in the dark, but who knows?
Jinx! Jinx! I was just about to post about this topic yesterday. I had the same reaction to the "discrimination" comment by the modeling agency director. And I want to meet these "naturally gazelle-like models." No one is "naturally" supposed to be looking like the body of the Corpse Bride unless you're from a country suffering from famine.
That said, I'll take a devil's advocate view, and say that these fashion houses should probably have the right to use whatever type of model they choose. It's their clothes and artistic interpretation--who am I to say that a woman with a normal BMI wouldn't throw off that artistic vision?
But in the end, I can't ignore the affect these "gazelle-like" models have on young adolescent girls, and sometimes the government needs to take a stand for public health. Anorexia nervosa is a pretty scary disease, and likely causes an almost irreversible aversion to food. It amazes me to see some of the girls I've seen with this disease who have their anorexia "controlled" but still have to make conscious deliberate decisions to eat. They can't enjoy food. Now that's what I call hell.
Look at the woman in the foreground. Is it just me, or does her dress look like it's being eaten by her vulva?
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