Madrid Fashion Show Bans 5 Thin Models

I seeded this nearly a week ago.

They didnt ban only five models - five models were banned after the start, but 30% of the models were kept from even showing up. All had to meet a certain BMI (still certainly too low to be healthy, but hell, at least they're trying).

My roommate told me about this, and all we could say was "Finally." It's about time that the industry (or at least part of it) starts doing something about this. I'm a red-blooded American heterosexual male, and I can say completely honestly that stick-thin females have very little appeal to me. I'm not saying it's ok to just eat whatever you please -- being overweight is also a turn-off -- but there's a limit to which "thin" is attractive. Take a look at Nicole Ritchie... not pleasant.

I'm glad this panel decided to do something about it. Too many adolescent girls decide early on that they need to be "thin" like the models in order to be "pretty" when really they just need to keep themselves healthy.

I think this is great, and I just hope that the rest of the fashion industry starts reacting to this. There's a difference between being thin and healthy and just plain starving yourself to fit into that unrealistic -4 size dress.

Sounds good. Maybe we should keep celebrities who are too attractive from making movies as well.

In relation to the Bordo reading, the issue of being slender or "fit" seems to be overly emphasized in today's society. Being slender seems to imply that one is healthy and is able to control their impulses (obviously their eating habits, but it's also inferred that their life is in control). Since models are supposed to have the "ideal" figures, it is associated with these ideal qualities. Women, especially teenage girls, tend to adopt these views subconsciously, that being overweight or fat is "indicative of laziness, lack of discipline, unwillingness to conform, and absence of all those 'managerial' abilities that, according to dominant ideology, confer upward mobility." It's good that there's a standard BMI that models should have, not because they are "too skinny," but because their image can have a negative influence on people who would emulate that image. Even though models should look fit, it really doesn't look right when they're slender to the point where they look emaciated.

I agree with Gina's comments about how the image of those fit are implied to be healthy and those that are overweight can't take of themselves. I'm a male and I don't find any of these skinny to the bone models any attractive at all. I know there are girls out there, especially young ones that look up to models and say "I want to be like her". However, in our society today, I find more girls looking up at actresses and stars instead of runway models. Their physical appearances are very influential. Not many actresses and stars are skinny as these models on the runway, however, there are some that are relatively thin and some that are overweight.

It is pretty useless for designers to hire skinny models to walk down the runway. The average person is not going to look as good as the models with the same article of clothing on. In a way, it sort of trick buyers into thinking that they will look like the models if they purchase the designers' clothes. People who have imperfect body will strive to attain the model figure by doing unhealthy things to themselves. In a way, this is kind of destructive to society. Models are people who we look up to and strive to be like. For example, Martin Luther King is a courageous role model. Models are supposed to influence us in a possitive way. Therefore, I don't think skinny and unhealthy girls should be called models. They just influence society to do harmful things to themselves.

I thought that this article was very interesting because it is the first that I heard of a show that would do such a thing to models. I don't think that what they are doing is wrong because a lot of young girls do have the mentallity that they must be slender and thin to be beautiful. Beauty is beyond looks but it takes a while to realize it when there are so much pressure from the society. I really think that a girl should realize what really makes them happy instead of trying to impress others. But then again what the judges did in this show is discriminating against models who are beautiful and competent but they are not able to gain the weight. What happens then? The judges try to stop one discrimination yet they just began another.

I heard about this article earlier this week and I think it's a great idea. I have watched many shows on tv that have to do with models and I find myself shocked to see how skinny some of the girls are. Sure, some people are naturally skinny, but very rarely girls are born so skinny that their ribs are showing or you can see all the bones in their spine. I think it's good that people are finally taking a stand to help those girls who are deathly skinny because it's sad to think that women are starving themselves simply to get modeling jobs.

I think the information in the article is somewhat pleasing. I would personally ban those type of models as well but what i dont get is why do models have to be skinny. I know there is an existence of plus size models but thats not what people see on television and at shows. The abundunt skinny models are not the best influences in our society. They put themselves through so much pain to get pleasure in appearance, but pleasure to who, society or themselves? Bordo explains about the paradox of high obesity rates and now high anorexia rates in America and i believe this article showes this comparison a little. It seems though that showing bones is unacceptable for models, which it should be, and being normal size is too big. I personally hate the struggle to be perfect; to be at the perfect weight class is just one example of many. Why is society made of these perfectionist. it sickens me and i think Bordo is agreeable when she states "I wanted people to look at me and see something special..."

It's good that they banned these models for being underweight and below a BMI of 18. It sets a bad example for everyone and especially for young girls who admire these models and want to emulate them and to do that they starve themselves. Most models are just born skinny and through starving themselves they do it to a point where its unhealthy for themselves. It's sad that through the media and nobody in the industry changing the way things are, girls belive that weighing extremly less than your supposed to is beautiful. I know I do, but I still believe the majority of people find extremly thin model to be gross distgusting or not as beautiful as ones with curves and aren't just all bones.

This is a step in the right direction for the fashion world: only accepting models with a BMI above 18. Although this still isn't very healthy, at least they are trying. This change, however, doesn't exactly solve the problem. It merely turns underweight models away, so they can still find work if they are still underweight, just not in Madrid. Of course, this recent event may even prompt other countries to ban underweight models. "London Fashion Week has said that they won't put any restrictions on the models that designers choose." But, it may take a long time in order to do this and change people's conception of what beauty really is and what models should look like. Unfortunately, we live in a thin obsessed society where skinny models are idolized. High school girls will obviously believe that they have to be think in order to be beautiful, if they are smacked in the face with "skinny = beautiful" propaganda. I personally think plus-size models are just as beautiful as those stick-thin models. I find extremely skinny models to be grotesque and emaciated.

After reading this article, I felt like it was a great leap of courage on the fashion industry's part. It was very darring and not many would go out on a limb to do this. These skinny girls are not the "it" girls and should not be holding a standard that everyone needs to live with. By limiting the weight and what not on these models, it is proving to that these models and their skinniness is not everything. There are more to these girls than just skin and bones. The designers want real people modeling their clothes because those are the people that are going to by the clothes. The average woman in America is not going to be 6' and weigh 95 lbs. Those numbers are unreal and no one could be held to that standard.

The fact that Madrid did ban these underweight and unhealthy models from their fashion show is a plus. There is to much emphasis, in the fashion and entertainment industry, on being thin. Thin is okay to a certain point, that is until it becomes unhealthy. Hopefully this decision will help young girls to see that being skinny isn't everything. This way instead of being occupied with how to look like a model, they can actually take the time to admire the clothing designs, knowing that they don't have to be a stick to be able to wear them.

I think that it is about time that the government has put restrictions on the size of models. Although, the restrictions are in Spain, i think that it is a good thing that there is a start. The trend of restriction might spread across the fashion industry. It is very sad that the models are so, thin that they need to have restrictions and it has gotten to a point in which people are even looking unhealthy. I hope that the restsrictions stay in place and that models start to become healthy.

"Young girls aspire to look like the catwalk models — when those models are unhealthily underweight it pressurizes girls to starve themselves to look the same." This is a great example on how collective thought is and how it is assimilated in the American Dream, if it really is. Not only does it infect these young girls but there is also a chance that it will go beyond that generation and continue on, just as what is happening now. WHO should extend its hands more and promote health above image.

eBambi
The Models - Photographers (but not only) social network.
Join now: