Banning size zero models

This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Comments

[Liz]

Indeed. BMI is a ridiculous way of determining whether or not someone is healthy. It doesn't take into account anything about the individual, it's simply a height/weight chart.

[Jackie Danicki]

Well, even if the methodology was solid, it is creepy and downright immoral to attempt to inflict this idea of what is a socially acceptable appearance on an entire country or continent. It's also pretty offensive, implying that women are so simple that the mere sight of thin women plunges us into eating disorders. These people are dangerous and evil, and I'm not joking.

[Ivy]

I have to disagree with you gals. Anyone will admit that TV, glossy magazines, singers, actresses, and runway models, with their often skeleton-like figures, contribute to young girls developing eating disorders.

I'm in my mid-twenties now, and not so easily affected with the today's view on a perfect body, but it did really bother me when I was in my teens. I came close to developing an anorexia, and let me tell you I wasn't fat at all. No schoolchildren were laughing at me, my friends were some thinner, some fatter, but I wanted desperately to be like those models I looked at in Vogue.

I surfed the web a bit to find how today's girls are coping with 'perfect looks' syindrome, and have found more than one blog and myspace of a girl leaving the anorexic path.

If parents and schools aren't doing their job, maybe this is the way to go. And one last thing, do you fit in a 0 clothing size? I don't, but am not pressured with it anymore.

[Jocelyn]

I dont think its a rediculous idea. I do think BMI is a rediculous way of going about measuring if someone is too thin, and for the record, I wear a 0, and I'm not " too thin"

[Jackie Danicki]

I really need to ask, because I can't believe you really mean this, Ivy: Do you think it should be a criminal offense to employ people whom the government deems too thin?

[Sarah]

Ok. Here's a perspective from an anorexic parent. I work in the beauty industry and have for 20 years, as a senior exec. I know first hand, having worked at all the major fashion houses we use 14 years olds to model career clothes and 28 year old to demonstrate the fabulous effects of anti-aging creams.

Now, I work remotely from a city 300 miles away while my 13 year old daughter is slowing weaning herself from hospitalization for anorexia. This has wreaked havoc on my family's life, and it is heart breaking that a straight A national honor student finds no value in herself when she's a size 6 at 5'6".

Don't kid yourself. The obsession with thin celebrities is a totally paralyzing for kids. And for a parent - if I let my kid jog and go about her business at 80 lbs, where she would very likely have a heart attach, I'd be party to assisted suicide. But then you have Nicole Richie, who no one will touch because she is only famous for being skeletal. The kids at the hospital look at these girls and their comments - it's not fair.

10% of kids die from this disease. Do I think that people should be banned from being a certain size to model? No, but call a spade a spade. It's not real and it's a bs cycle.

[michel]

If she was a size 14 would it be OK for her to find no value in herself?

[Marley]

As a recovering anorectic, I do not believe it is the media's fault that this disease is rampant. I may have devoured Vogue and Elle, and grown up in ballet, but I will not blame that for the fact that I developed a mental illness. I believe I was genetically predisposed, as well as compensating in some way for being raped. I think that it is shallow to say that it's the industry's fault for the illness- it may inspire girls to want to be thin, but actually giving in to the addiction of starvation and/or purging? That's a sign of a more serious issue- it's not just about wanting to be thin. It's dealing with issues of fear, of control, of depression, of anxiety- and the way a person deals with those issues is not controlled by the fashion industry.

[Jackie Danicki]

I can honestly say, as one who has had an eating disorder for most of my life, that if I chose to be negatively affected by anyone else's size, it would be other girls I knew at school. I would constantly compare myself to them, because they were in my midst and who I'd have to line up with to get weighed. I no more believe that those girls should be banned from public view in order to stop others from feeling self-critical than I believe that it should be a criminal offense to employ people deemed by the government to be too thin. Please do not fool yourself: First, it's the 'overly thin,' next it will be the 'obese,' and none of this is leading anywhere positive for anyone in this world.

[michel]

Well said, Jackie.

[Katie]

Eeeeesh, the government trying to legislate this is such a bad, inefficient answer. That said, it would be marvelous to see most models on the runway and in fashion spreads that have some curves to them. The overly skinny look of most models does not reflect my reality: they do not look like anyone I know, nor can I see anyone I know in those clothes as a result. But legislating it, god, it's not even so much dumb as it is highly ineffectual. Jeebus. What are they thinking?

But if designers willingly choose to use models with a bit (or more) of curviness? That I can get behind as a consumer. That would make their clothes more appealing to me because I could better see how they hang on someone with a more voluptuous body.

[Jackie Danicki]

Katie, I hear you, and I fully support customer pressure on these companies to do that which will make the customers happy. What I could not be more opposed to is the criminalisation of body types, in any way, shape, or form (no pun intended). I also do not believe that the government should have the power to outlaw businesses from employing whoever they wish to employ. I find it hard to believe that those arguing for such a legal ban actually want that, either.

[Ivy]

Jackie, I don't think that it shoud be a criminal offense, but something must be done to stop 150 000 (according to Naomi Wolf) people in America dying from eating disorders. Therefore, I do believe each and every model should have a clean bill of health (not BMI, which is rather ridiculous) to do their jobs.

I do not want any body type criminalized, but the sad truth is that our kids do look at the runways, catwals and red carpets and all they see are thih, thin people.

[Ally]

I don't think this is ridiculous at all, it's been a long time coming.

It would just have been nice if the fashion industry would have taken it upon themselves to be responsible about the images they're projecting to young girls.

Jackie, the girls you admired at school were a by-product, albeit filtered and watered down, of the people and designs we see on the catwalk (whether or not you identified it as such at the time). They have a lot to answer for, and this is a much-needed first step.

[Jackie Danicki]

Ivy and Ally, this ban makes sense only in a world where there is no such thing as personal responsibility. While it is true that personal responsibility has eroded a great deal, I think it's quite clear that this has been a bad thing, and is not to be encouraged.

The fact of the matter is that each of us is responsible for our own health and well-being, and no other person on this planet can be expected to take responsibility for us.

Also, to follow your views to their logical end, then any overweight models must also be denied the right to work. Honestly, the whole plan is not just silly, but downright evil. The government - and those who would use the state to exercise their social engineering experiments - has revoked enough freedom, and it is time to stop. I'm quite surprised and disappointed to find people on my blog arguing that less freedom, not more, is what is needed.