Skinny models: The thin line
A study calls for a ban on skinny models.
When supermodels like Kate Moss are constantly quoted as saying, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, it’s no surprise that teenage girls — impressionable and vulnerable that they are — will opt to live on water and air to get protruding collarbones and ribs. Models have frequently been depicted as images for the “ideal” body frame, giving women all over the world a false impression of what they “should” look like. However, after years of controversy — and some deaths due to anorexia nervosa — experts now see the dark side of the fashion industry and call for a ban of skinny models from the catwalk, reports IANS.
Proposed bans and backlash
Academics at the London School of Economics (LSE) said restricting the use of photographs of underweight models in magazines would help ease the pressure on women to be very thin and hence save them from psychological traumas that lead to anorexia and other eating disorders. The Guardian reports that LSE’s study — the first known economic analysis of anorexia — found that reducing the number of images of skinny women on television and in magazines would “lift some of the social pressure women feel to be thin”.
A similar line of thought was taken up by Germany’s popular women’s magazine, Brigitte, when it announced its decision to ban professional models from its pages, replacing them with images of “real life” women instead. The editors of Brigitte said it was an attempt to stamp out the ‘size zero’ model, reported by guardian.co.uk.
However, the intention of causing a revolution by introducing such rules falls flat when fashion stalwarts like designer Karl Lagerfeld speak vociferously about the “beauty of being thin”. As a reaction to Brigitte’s announcement, the German designer, 71, said the decision was driven by overweight women who did not like to be reminded of their weight issues (marieclaire.co.uk). “These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly,” he said. The designer added that the world of fashion was all to do “with dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women”.
No doubt,this debate will carry on until a collaborative effort is made by both media and fashion biggies to deconstruct the notion of the ‘ideal’ size zero figure and promote healthier role models to look up to.
Models who succumbed to eating disorders
Ana Carolina Reston
Brazilian fashion model Ana Carolina Reston passed away in 2006. At the time of her death, Reston, who had been hospitalised for kidney malfunction due to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, weighed just 40 kg at a height of 5 feet 8 inches.
Eliana Ramos
Ramos was a famous fashion model in Latin America and was signed to Dotto Models, a modelling agency in Argentina. In February 2007, Ramos was found dead at the age of just 18. Examinations indicated the cause of death as heart attack, believed to be related to malnutrition.
Isabelle Caro
On December 30, 2010 it was reported that the French model and actor Isabelle Caro died aged just 28 after battling anorexia. At one stage during her illness she weighed just 55 pounds at a height of 5 feet 5 inches.
(SOURCES: digitaljournal.com, fashionmodeldirectory.com)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2012.