Models, body image, and realism...

[Behind the Aegis]

I saw this article and thought it was very interesting. I was going to post it in the Feminist group, but I wasn't sure it would fit, so if someone from that group feels it is worthy, please cross-post.

Israeli companies draw the line against skinny fashion models

Two years ago, leading Israeli fashion photographer and fashion agency head Adi Barkan initiated a campaign to fight anorexia among models in the fashion industry in Israel. And now the movement is spreading globally.

The Madrid Fashion Week last week banned underweight models from appearing, and subsequently British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Milan Mayor Letizia Moratti have called on the London Fashion Week and the Milan fashion industry to respectively follow suit.

In Israel, Barkan's efforts have also paid off - the leading Israeli retail companies have agreed not to employ overly thin models for their advertisements. Barkan said he had secured commitments from firms that account for 60 percent of advertising volume in Israel to turn away models whose body mass index - the ratio of height to weight - is less than 18.

"The average BMI among our models is 14. The new pact comes into effect next week, when we expect all the major fashion agencies to sign on," Barkan told Reuters. He said underweight models would have a grace period to catch up.

rest of the story...

[Skittles]

1. average BMI of 14?

I doubt it was much higher in concentration camps....at 5'4" I would have to weigh 82 pounds to have a BMI of 14. :o

[greyl]

2. It's an improvement, but still very skewed.

To "achieve" a BMI of 14 at 6', the weight would be 104 lbs!

http://www.liquafit.com/bodymassindex.htm

[Mythsaje]

3. This is good news, I think...

Fashion models, in my opinion, are almost universally hideous.

[silverojo]

You can say that again

I've always thought that it should be against the law to hire models who are so thin. First off, they're ugly, and they're also unhealthy. Anyone in the fashion industry who thinks these women are attractive has serious mental problems....

[Mythsaje]

7. I've never understood how anyone can find them attractive...

Then again, I like healthy-looking women. Fashion models look like they've got one foot in the grave.

[BlooInBloo]

4. The UK could sure use something like this idea...

I posted this yesterday, but the mods at the time for some reason felt that posting about fat/thin issues wasn't appropriate for GD, and moved it to the Lounge. Maybe it'll find some use in this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5885656

[Behind the Aegis]

5. It looks like this is a new trend.

I hope the US catches on soon. Like someone else said, some models nowadays are scary looking!

[hsher]

6. Spain did it too

http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2006/09/spanish-fashion-show-rejects-thinnest.html

And Designer Jean-Paul Gaultier selected this size-20 model for his latest line:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=408463&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

She certainly has the haughty supermodel expression down. So why not?
It's all fantasy anyway.

[saracat]

8. I wqould agree that a BMI of 14 is too low but that huge model is hideous.

She is the other end of the spectrum.What is wrong with people being in the middle? Or just slender? Too many will use this as an excuse to say overweight is either normal or healthy.The model pictured is anything but!

[zalinda]

10. You don't know if she is healthy or not

There are many people who are overweight, but ARE healthy. Many fat people eat a normal amount of food. There are many things we don't know about the body, and the "fact" that you can only get fat by overeating is starting to look like a false fact.

I don't think that model looks hideous, but she obviously does to you. I think people come in ALL shapes, sizes and colors, and I like them like that. It makes people watching much more interesting.

Oh, and by the way, fat people are the survivors, they have the survivor gene. End up stranded with out food, and guess who will last the longest. Of course there are people who have "earned" every extra pound on their body. But, it's more of an exception than the rule. Quite honestly, tabloid articles on the 500 pound person eating a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon and a loaf of bread for breakfast is fiction. The way they have this person eating, he'd have to be eating every minute he was awake.

You would be very surprised if you actually lived with a fat person and saw what they ate.

zalinda

[saracat]

11. That is true to an extent.I just don't believe an extreme in either direction

is a good example. I am aware that overweight can be from multiple sources not all of which are overeating. I have battled my weight on and off. I had Graves Diseease and they destroyed my throid with radation and I try to be careful to have a high enough dosage so as not to gain. And you are right people do come in all sizes and shapes and bless them all that is part of the fun of being human. I do not find obesity or anorexia attractive.But that is my opinion.
Another point about eating is I find it is not how much you eat but what. For myself I eat a lot of protien veggies and fruit. I have given up sugars and breads and I eat way more than my husband who is always complaining about his weight! But he still eats bread, chips and sugar , though he doesn't eat much.

[Matariki]

9. Interesting - but it really has little to do with how 'attractive' they look

especially to men. having a nearly impossible standard held up for women to compare themselves to makes women feel inadequate and therefore easier to sell to.