Skinny Models Banned
Modeling agencies are outraged.
The regional government of Madrid, Spain (who sponsors the Fashion Week show) has imposed restrictions that effectively ban skinny models from appearing on the catwalk.
From NY Fashion Week Spring 2007
...the fashion industry had a responsibility to portray healthy body images. "Fashion is a mirror and many teenagers imitate what they see on the catwalk," said regional official Concha Guerra. ( via Washington Post)The model must have a BMI of 18 or over. So far 30% of models have been turned away. Under current health guidelines a BMI of 18.5 or under is considered underweight.
Eating disorder activists said many Spanish model agencies and designers oppose the ban and they had doubts whether the new rules would be followed.UPDATE: This issue has developed further - read more here."If they don't go along with it the next step is to seek legislation, just like with tobacco," said Carmen Gonzalez of Spain's Association in Defense of Attention for Anorexia and Bulimia, which has campaigned for restrictions since the 1990s.
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I think people are sick if they think this thin is pretty or sexy!! If somebody is healthy it means they eat proper, exersize and take in an average amount of calories per day that is sugessted by a doctor. I have always been overweight my self.I have to admit i would love to be a little smaller....but never this skinny.I am in the Beauty Industry and i am a Licensed Nail Tech, I work in a salon and all my clients are all different sizes and shapes...to tell the truth...it freaks me out when i do a really skinny girls nails i feel like i am going to break them when i give them a hand massage!! I think it is good when u can't see peoples bones but i also think it's bad if you so big that u cant wear clothes that fit properly or walk and do daily activities.Many girls die from eating disorders weather it's to be thin or from being over weight...i think the major issue is for somebody to be healthy .... and they should dont worry about what the scale says..remember muscle weights more than fat.Only a DOG wants a BONE!!!
ReplyI disagree. The whole point of being a model is to make the designers clothes look good, and everybody knows that skinny people look better in clothes than average/fat people. Being skinny and looking good is their JOB. If their anorexic, its their choice, you can't ban them from doing their job because of it.
ReplyThere are three different body types: ectomorphs (skinny), endomorphs(round) and mesomorphs (muscular). None of these types is either right or wrong. The sooner people value others on their personality and not their appearance the better. I am skinny but I am not anorexic. I am sick of getting abuse from other people about my size.
ReplyLiz: Note though that body type only determines potential, not what you actually look like. There are skinny endomorphs out there; they've just put more work into it than an ectomorph.
There are also ectomorphs who've won bodybuilding championships. Take Frank Zane and especially Larry Scott, who had the absolute worst genetics for bodybuilding. Bad muscle building genes in both their cases, and wide hips and narrow shoulders in Larry Scott's case. Regardless, they both built spectacular physiques and became Mr. Olympias without steroids.
Replythey look fabulous! loves it!
Replywhat about people who are naturally this thin..? like myself, im only 100 pounds. im pretty fed up with all this because their basically telling me that i look horrible. and honestly these days its not good to look like this. thats not the image thats being portreyed, women now are curvy. so people need to stop complaining about this.
ReplyNola: are you over 5'10" and 100lb, and if so, are you in perfect health (no hyperthyroidism, etc.) and do you eat over 1,800 calories everyday? If you're shorter than these models, then no, you're not "naturally as thin as they are" - I have friends who are short and small-boned who don't look like concentration camp victims at 98lb even.
And if you don't eat around that many (the average maintainance calories for a sedentary woman, or more even if you exercise) then you are that thin, but no, it is not "naturally".
ReplyI'm so happy that these models are banned. It's for their own good and when I recently saw some photos of them I got ill. They were the same size as the Nazi victims who died of starvation. Sickening look and nauseous. I can't help for feel for them now that their minds are messed up. Who knows how many years it has taken off of their life, especially since modeling is not a lifelong professional for the majority.
ReplyI think the whole thing is ridiculous, I am 5'9" and just went to the doctor and found i weight 109, shocking for me to find out that i weight that little but i am in no way like that model in the picture. my ribs dont show and i actually have muscle on my body plus i actually have curves! I cant control my weight at all, I eat what I want when I want it. Actually, probably more unhealthy things than healthy. for the last week I've eaten fast food every day but one. And I work out a few hours a week, so I'm very healthy and have no sickly bones showing on my body like that model up there and yet my bmi is 16.1, I dont think its fair to ban skinny models because of bmi...I do however think that someone who looks like night of the living dead should be fed a big mac and told to get off the runway, it should be determined on health, not weight
ReplyAvalyn, while I get your point - your BMI is 16 and you *still don't look that skinny*, and that model pictured is not one of the skinniest ones on any given fashion week. So how terribly unhealthy are the models used? How low are their BMIs, to look like the particularly scary ones? 14? 13?
While 18 might be too stringent, it is a start.
Replyi am 14 and i weight 102 lbs
Replykristi, 102lb is underweight for anybody taller than 5'.
ReplyI don't think banning skinny models was the right thing to do. Since when has the problem been that skinny people aren't beautiful and unhealthy. Sure, there are some models who are anorexic and beaulimic, but there are a lot more that aren't. Nobody except women who are blessed with a natural skiiny body can relate or enjoy the shows AND these runway shows are setting a bad example for girls. A lot of women can't help that they are naturally sticks, and some of them probably want to desperately put on weight as much as fat people want to lose weight. except for models because they have been pressured into being thin so they can be (and i quote) "a walking hanger". All of a sudden these people who decided to make these rules became total hypocrites. that skinny isn't good. I think the main problem with the fashion industry and runway shows is that it is teaching our society that there is only one type of beauty, and that unless you are that way, you shouldn't be happy in your own skin. It just seems like everyone is just trying to look good when they are saying these things. If they really want to make a difference put women and girls of all shapes and sizes, fat, tall, short, curvy and thin because there are real girls who are that skinny. The people who made the bann are trying to make a difference for the good, they're just doing it in the wrong way.
ReplyI highly commend the government of Madrid for banning underweight models. I believe that this will be an effective measure in limiting the prevalence of eating disorders. I would just like to debunk one myth that has been going around about this recent ban: that models with a BMI below 18 are mostly "natually thin" and "healthy," and that therefore, banning them would constitute discrimination. Let's face it-- anyone below a BMI of 18 is NOT normal. That person has most likely stopped menstruating, putting her bones at risk for osteoporosis. Her bone mass will begin to rapidly diminish. Her chances of conceiving will plummet. Her looks, even, will lack the radiance of health. Moreover, a person at a BMI of 18 is still considered UNDERWEIGHT!! (A person below 18.5 is underweight according to the WHO). So underweight models are still being allowed! So some mconsideration for those models who are naturally abnormally thin has been given. But a below a BMI of 18.5 is undoubtedly EXTREME.
ReplyRight on, Cara. And saying that being naturally underweight is healthy is like saying that being naturally overweight is healthy. So if a person's BMI is 30 but they don't eat junk or too many calories, is it suddenly better for their health than their BMI being so high for overeating? No, they still face the same health problems, whatever the cause of their overweight is.
ReplyJan and Cara--Right on! I totally agree...nobody is THAT skinny naturally. Even people who are naturally thin are not usually sickly thin without some sort of eating problem. Some of those models that are very skinny may kid themselves and say they "eat normally" and actually be eating what the majority of the population would call a starvation diet.
ReplyI agree with you Spectra. Many of these models are suffering from eating disorders, and are therefore very secretive. People with eating disorders are usually in denial about their problem and are good at hiding it. So if their fashion agency is saying, "don't worry! our girls are fine," they are kidding themselves. They cannot trust models who may be throwing up in secret, and therefore cannot speak for them, nor can anyone else.
ReplyI think it's great to ban the thin models. I was modeling a few years ago and was a size six. My agency told me that in order for me to get work I had to lose a dress size or two. There's always pressure to be thin in the fashion industry. No one can say that the picture display is attractive. The average size for women in the US is fourteen, why would they feel good about theirselves looking at that picture? I think in the end people want to see people who look like them on the runway if you expect them to buy the clothes.
Replythe problem with it is that you're not getting enough nutrients to keep yourself healthy. An example is ana Carolina Reston, who died because her body couldn't fight off an infection because of her malnutrition caused be anorexia, and living on tomatoes and apples. I don't see why people see models like Kate Moss, and the one in the above picture are attractive at all. My idea of an attractive person is someone who is healthy, and at a normal weight for their size.
ReplyNatabee, I agree with you. The underweight models and actresses have dead eyes. They have no joy in living and it shows. They are sick, and they look sick. How is that "beautiful"? It is an ideal born out of self-hatred. These young women feel they don't deserve to exist, and so the less of them there is, the better.
ReplyI'm so happy that they've introduced this ban! As a fashion-obsessed, youth worshipping culture I feel that we have taken a big step in the right direction. Of course we don't want fat or stick-thin models - but we do want a healthy body image.
ReplyThat idea is absurd, it is not about the restaurants making money, it's about girls and women dying to weigh a certain amount and look a certain way!! It's about being unhealthy and having serious psychological problems because you see an image you think you have to keep because someone else is doing it. Girls see these models and they think, hey if these women are getting paid millions of dollars so that people can gawk at them, then I guess that's what is beautiful, and so I want to look like that. Then they starve themselves, purge, do whatever they think is necessary to be ridiculously skinny. It's the same as the entire fashion industry, girls see airbrushed altered photos of women in magazines, and they go out getting all kinds of surgery to look a certain way that is completely artificial. We should be teaching girls that everyone is different and that being different is a good thing!! We should all learn to be happy and love ourselves the way we are, because everyone is beautiful in their own original way. Imagine if we all looked the same, life would be so boring. Or worse yet, imagine a world where everyone is so shallow and vain all they care about is how they look, what the hell would be the point of living if everyone only cared about themselves?
ReplyI am appauled! Skinny models just look so much better in the clothes on the runway. And im not talking anorexic Im talking skinny. The woman in the photo above is fine she has a great body, I have no problem with it. Im not saying not to put a little larger weight women on the catwalk I think thats great but personally I would rather it stick with the skinny models.
ReplyIsabella, if you think the model in the picture looks healthy, your perception is seriously distorted.
Replyok i think that our modeling world is just FINE! Ok fine we do have a few just way to skinny but face it were always going to have a promblem to deal so why r we trying to fix one that dont need to be fixed?We got better problems in this world!!!!!!!!!1
ReplyYes, thank you Ash!
ReplyBesides if they want to ban skinney people to prevent ana/mia tendances then i think they should ban fat people on tv as well. yeah women should have curves, but come on, some of them just have rolls...of fat. ha! it might just inspire an obesity outbreak in america, oh wait a minute...there is an obesity outbreak!!! i personally like the skinny modles, and the majorty of adults in america could use a glance at a fasion mag. just so they could feel like crap and finnally put down their dounut and get off their butts!
Mia, the difference is, tv is not requiring that the fat people on it remain fat, right the opposite. Their health is not being jeopardized by the industry they work in.
The situation with the underweight models is not just about sending a message to other young people out there (especially because thanks to the "fine work" you and your pro-ana friends are doing on the internet, the opposite message keeps getting spread too), but it is mostly about protecting their rights as workers. While the industry does not force them to have eating disorders, it does offer more work and higher paychecks to people who keep their weight at unhealthy low numbers, so it is the same thing in the end. It is a similar issue to unpaid overtime, in "regular" workplaces. You are not forced to do it, by law, but many people find that if they don't, they are "made redundant". In both situations, workers' rights must be protected because industries will not self-regulate in any weight that benefits workers.
ReplyI am so GLAD that finally Madrid did something about it- God Bless them- because I find it so sad that models and even celebrities end up with eating disorders not realizing that this is unhealthy and depressing.
ReplyFor a long time ago I wondered why the models have to be too skinny like a stick, and not regular looking women with natural curves as God intended us to be. I came up with a funny guess, that the reason could be that most fashion designers are GAY, not giving a ---about real women and not knowing what a great looking women should look like; consequently, making harder on these women. A CASE OF MAN OPPRESSING WOMEN ONCE AGAIN AND WOMEN ALLOWING IT.
POINT OF THE MATTER IS, we SHOULD NOT ALLOW an UNHEALTHY TREND to continue IN OUR CULTURE,and JUST DO AS WE HAVE TRIED TO BAN CIGARRETTE AND BEER COMMERCIALS for endagering our species.
We should CARE about what is going on around us and not let the deceiving media monopolize our healthy, moralistic harmonious human culture.
WE NATURALLY KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT; FAIRNESS, THE NORMAL, THE HEALTHY TO LIVE BY.
WAR, BONE SKINY MODEL AND MICHAEL JACKSON IS JUST NOT RIGHT. lol
ReplyAny one who tries to tell you that the look of most fashion models is normal, and natural, and that they just look that way because of lack of muscle development is just plain silly. I work at a major fashion company. For our last show, a 6 foot tall model tried on a pair of size small stretchy leggings and they needed to be taken in because they fit her like slacks. That is not normal. And I don't think it's attractive. I'm glad for the BMI restriction because I dont want to look at those spindley little legs anymore. I want to see some fabulous amazonian goddess women!
I agree with the comments stating that if a person is naturally tiny and skinny it should be accepted and the person should not be made to feel (by being banned from modelling) that they have done something wrong by being born small. I know that a lot of models do go to the extreme to be skinny and that isn't okay or glamorous in the least, but putting a ban on skinny models in general is stupid, unless they have a way of determining if someone was born skinny and naturally suppose to be around their size, or if they are starving themselves or extreme dieting. I agree with Brandy that bodies in general should be celebrated and loved in this day and age. Whether someone is short, tall, skinny and/or fat, there is too much hate in this world as it is. Speaking from being a model myself, I wasn't born super skinny and I just recently did a photoshoot for FHM and American Photo. It just goes to show you that they don't always choose women who look like "death" for photos. Runways on the other hand I agree they do choose only the tiny ones for designer clothing because it makes sense people. If you were a designer and your fabric cost you a small fortune, then you would obviously choose models who would need the least amount of your material, so you're not spending all your money on the runway, and you have lots of material left to make these clothes for consumers. Just my two cents :) Have a good one.
Replypeople are sucked in (as this model) having to be stick thin and dont eat and such. it makes me so mad because sometimes i feel that im not thin enough to follow my dreams. now that the rules are changing maybe i can gain the confidence i once had
ReplySelf-esteem comes from the self and not from an outside source. It is developed by taking on reasonable challenges and succeeding. Never argue your limitations, or they WILL be yours.
ReplyBut also, if outside sources are always telling you that you're fat, or stupid, or ugly, or whatever, it's pretty hard not to start to believe it. That's just the way people are.
ReplyJanie Rudnick is the best model in the world and you cant stop her
ReplyI always try to give useful sane advise. Whether people take it or believe it is up to them. The choices we make determine our lives. Some face greater challenges than others. We all have to find our own way.
ReplyIt might just be me, but I wouldn't want to look on a runway or in fashion magazines and see overweight people. I'm sorry, but I prefer to look at skinnier people. I'm one of those people who looks alot skinnier than they are (15 years old, 5'4, 108lbs, doctor thought I weighed 95 when I weighed 113) and can't help it. Well, maybe if I pushed out my gut and slumped my posture I might look around my weight.... not happening. If teenage girls want to look skinner, they can a)put down the TV remote b)get off the computer c)put down the big mac or krispy kreme [even though both are soooo good] d)learn proper posture techniques e)suck in OR f)ALL OF THE ABOVE. And I'm sorry, but yeah, I believe that model in the picture at the top of this is beautiful. As a recovered ana/mia, I still look in the mirror and think "thats disgusting" and feel guilty after eating, but I find my body beautiful for the most part, just wish I had a body more like hers. Or I could be crazy. Either way.
ReplyCandii, if you think you have recovered, you are making a mistake. Like with every disorder, it is a constant struggle. You are not "recovered" because your BMI is exactly 18.5, so just enough not to be technically underweight anymore. You still worship underweight models like the one in the picture above, who looks seriously sick, and you still feel guilty for eating. Feeling guilty for eating is about as normal as feeling guilty for breathing. Please get help, ok?
ReplyCara, you are very mistaken. It is possible for someone to have a BMI of less than 18 and still be at a healthy, normal weight for them. The trick is having small bone structure, which naturally weighs less and in turn carries proportionately less muscle and fat. I would guess that you don't fall into that category, otherwise you wouldn't have made your comments. BTW, in case you haven't figured it out yet, the BMI is useless for measuring anything. Using it to ban a model from working should be grounds for a lawsuit.
ReplyW, I'm yet to see a person with a BMI lower than 18 that looks healthy. I know a few, and they don't have EDs (well, one of them is orthorexic, so yes and no there), but they all look haggard and older than their ages. They don't have illnesses, but they are not exactly energetic, healthy individuals either.
I'd like to see these healthy people with BMIs under 18, please.
Reply