Ban on skinny models

[Snail Shell]

I've never been a fan of the whole stick-figure body type for women. I look at some of the movie starlets and fashion models today and I've never thought it looks attractive. I don't even think it looks healthy. Then this came up on the news today and I just about had kittens I was so thrilled.

In an effort to promote healthy eating in young people, Spain has issued what they called "body type analysis" on fashion models. To model in Spain, your Body Mass Index must be at least 18 or higher. For example, if you are 5'9" tall, you must weigh at least 122lbs to legally be allowed to model. This is to ensure young people have a healthy body image to grow up with.

To put this to North American standards, the news channel took this to a Canadian modelling show and weighed the models there. Of the 12 models that participated, only of them met the new Spanish standard.

I think this is a great idea! I really do! What all are your thoughts on this?

Snail Shell

 

[Cosmo_ac]

frankly, i don't like it. I don't think it's the governments job to regulate models. I don't see them trying to make a push to regulate film and music stars, who probably have a greater influence on a childs view of what they should look like then models. If the Government wants to have more curvy men and women modelling, thats fine, create government sponsered modeling business's, or new lines of clothing, but don't pull this shit.

 

[BellaRisa]

I'm pleased that Spain is doing this. I'm hoping other countries will follow suit.

Not because I feel that models should be curvy; frankly 5'9 and 122 lbs ain't all that shapely in my book, she needs another 20 lbs, mostly below the waist, to make me happy . I just want to see models have gorgeous yet more attainable figures that young girls and women can aspire to and be inspired by. Athletic women who eat for energy and who know their way around the gym, and don't look as though they can barely lift the needle for their daily heroin, y'know? I have two young daughters, and I purposely keep magazines with the lollipop head models out of my home; I read Oxygen and Shape and women's Muscle and Fitness instead, for myself and so my girls learn that health and strength are what's valuable. And as for the government getting involved, I'm for it; when something reaches crisis mode the country's officials need to step in. And little girls dying in the name of thin is indeed a crisis.

Bella

 

[maniactickler]

Im 100% against the government getting involved. i prefer a woman whos in shape, but im not into the tall, stick figure types. if a girl wants to starve herself to get that way, thats her problem.

 

[BellaRisa]

if a girl wants to starve herself to get that way, thats her problem.

It's her problem until the rest of the country has to deal with the consequences, pay taxes for her treatment if she can't afford to do so, etc. No man is an island, this kind of thing really does affect more than just that girl. I'd prefer to see the starving look less glamorized so that young girls don't try to emulate it.

Bella

 

[lk70]

I'm not at all familiar with how Spain's government works. Are they typically this intrusive? If so, I think this is a great thing to take a stand on. If not, it does seem odd that they would concern themselves with such a thing (not that it's not terribly important.)

Heavy government involvement in this sort of thing is a slippery slope.

 

[TicklishLurker]

Im 100% against the government getting involved. i prefer a woman whos in shape, but im not into the tall, stick figure types. if a girl wants to starve herself to get that way, thats her problem.

The problem is not that the model wants to starve herself, it's the modeling agency that puts these rules on her. That's why the government needs to get involved. The same way they need to get involved with a bad parent.

And 122 lbs is way too thin for someone 5' 9". I'm five foot three inches, I'm SUPPOSE to weigh 135 lbs. That means someone 5' 9" should weigh at least 145 lbs. At 122 lbs she won't even have boobs and will look like a prepubesant 12 year old boy.

 

[Mz Chaos]

frankly, i don't like it. I don't think it's the governments job to regulate models. I don't see them trying to make a push to regulate film and music stars, who probably have a greater influence on a childs view of what they should look like then models. If the Government wants to have more curvy men and women modelling, thats fine, create government sponsered modeling business's, or new lines of clothing, but don't pull this shit.

Although I agree that thin gals look unhealthy and it don't hurt none for a woman to have a little meat on their bones..
I have to agree...
It ain't none of the governments business... seems they're sticking their noses in where they don't belong. If the public don't like what they see... then they need to step up and say something to the folks who hire the models and who encourage the gals to starve in order to keep their jobs.

 

[TicklishLurker]

Although I agree that thin gals look unhealthy and it don't hurt none for a woman to have a little meat on their bones..
I have to agree...
It ain't none of the governments business... seems they're sticking their noses in where they don't belong. If the public don't like what they see... then they need to step up and say something to the folks who hire the models and who encourage the gals to starve in order to keep their jobs.

What's going on here though is the government is trying to put an end to things like anorexia and bulimia by attacking one of the sources for the poor body image most young girls have - the modeling industry.

If the government can tell people they need to make their kids eat fruits and veggies and excercise, then they have every right to also tell the models to put on twenty pounds.

 

[Goodieluver]

As long as they are pretty, i dont care. The only bother i have is the govt mandating it

I mean hell, we have companies in america who are firing people who are overweight because of insurance risk and for a smoke break, some people need to walk down the block from their employer

 

[BellaRisa]

I've posted the news article on this subject below.

While I actually dislike big government, I do think it's the leaders' responsibility to do what it feels is necessary to promote health and well-being amongst its citizens. That should include keeping the glorification of unhealthy practices to a minimum whenever possible. Furthermore, I suspect that if every government waited until the majority of its people wanted something very little would get done, simply because folks don't like change. Heck, the south would still be segregated and women wouldn't be able to vote if the vocal majority was what always got things accomplished.

Bella



MADRID (Reuters) - The world's first ban on overly thin models at a top-level fashion show in Madrid has caused outrage among modeling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues.

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Madrid's fashion week has turned away underweight models after protests that girls and young women were trying to copy their rail-thin looks and developing eating disorders.

Organizers say they want to project an image of beauty and health, rather than a waif-like, or heroin chic look.

But Cathy Gould, of New York's Elite modeling agency, said the fashion industry was being used as a scapegoat for illnesses like anorexia and bulimia.

"I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer," said Gould, Elite's North America director, adding that the move could harm careers of naturally "gazelle-like" models.

Madrid's regional government, which sponsors the show and imposed restrictions, said it did not blame designers and models for anorexia. It said 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.

The mayor of Milan, Italy, Letizia Moratti, told an Italian newspaper this week she would seek a similar ban for her city's show unless it could find a solution to "sick" looking models.

QUALITY, NOT SIZE

The Madrid show is using the body mass index or BMI -- based on weight and height -- to measure models. It has turned away 30 percent of women who took part in the previous event. Medics will be on hand at the September 18-22 show to check models.

"The restrictions could be quite a shock to the fashion world at the beginning, but I'm sure it's important as far as health is concerned," said Leonor Perez Pita, director of Madrid's show, also known as the Pasarela Cibeles.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain, which represents those at Madrid fashion week, said the group supported restrictions and its concern was the quality of collections, not the size of models.

Eating disorder activists said many Spanish model agencies and designers oppose the ban and they had doubts whether the new rules would be followed.

"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.

 

[maniactickler]

I dont have a problem with government suggesting it, but as far as making it a rule or law.......hell no!

 

[MrPartickler]

Many models are far skinnier than average. They're also considerably taller than average, more highly-paid, more well-known, tend to get more attention from men, etc. IMO, it would seem absurd to try to regulate any of these latter attributes simply because young people have unrealistic goals of achieving those either. (And there are plently of self-destructive ways of trying to attain all of these goals for one's self as well.)

In general, I don't think the goverment regulate should try to anyone's weights unless they're prepared to attempt to regulate everyone's. That means applying both a lower and an upper bound--since both pose health risks, and that's the purported goal of the ban. However, I'm guessing not many people would be in favor of that level of government intrusion into their personal lives.

I'll add that if they're so concerned about kids, maybe they should be actually checking the BMI's and perhaps modifying what's acceptable for kids--not imposing restrictions on adults in hopes of somehow indirectly influencing them.

 

[TicklishLurker]

I dont have a problem with government suggesting it, but as far as making it a rule or law.......hell no!

Well, frankly I'm all for it. The US government is always reminding us about how unhealthy being fat is - I swear if I hear/see "Don't take obesity lightly" one more time I'm going to go stark raving mad - so let them regulate how thin a stupid super model can be.

 

[lk70]

If the government can tell people they need to make their kids eat fruits and veggies and excercise,

What government does that? I've seen them suggest it, but regulate it?

 

[TicklishLurker]

What government does that? I've seen them suggest it, but regulate it?

Where did I say "regulate"? I said "TELL". I did not say regulate.

I firmly beleive that no one would be protesting if the government was saying that no one who was fat could be in certain places. But when they tell people that are too thin they get all up in arms.

Look, the fact is the agencies aren't going to do squat - they want these women to be stick figures - the fashion designers sure as he** aren't going to say squat. It's up to the government to do what everyone else is too selfish/cowardly to do.

Up with banning thin models! Go governement! WOO!

 

[bellystrokes]

While I have hang ups about government intervention, especially into personal lives, I do want to point out that in my lifetime I have seen minorities and women break down some barriers and enter occupations that had been denied to them for so long and I give credit to Affirmative Action. And it was Bob Costas who commented at the summer Olympics where the American Women were kicking butt, that we were seeing the legacy of Title Nine (is that what it is called?). Sometimes a country is like a spoiled child and needs to be told to do the right thing.

Whether it works in Spain or not, the gods made us all different in size, color, etc etc. All beauty should be accepted and celebrated. Idealism? Yes? Possible? Still yes.

 

[storyteller]

...In general, I don't think the goverment regulate should try to anyone's weights unless they're prepared to attempt to regulate everyone's. That means applying both a lower and an upper bound--since both pose health risks, and that's the purported goal of the ban...

The U.S. government ALREADY addresses the upper bound and have for years. Much as TicklishLurker and others have pointed out. The government uses it's new food pyramid, it's exercise programs for school children, it's regulations on the food industries, as well as it's allowing, i.e., condoning, insurance companies' choice of refusing insurance to those people deemed obese. Being too fat and being too thin ARE severe health problems. Obesity currently gets far more attention here than the other extreme because (1) we have an entire generation of fast-food-fed couch potatoes who are far too big and further straining an already-strained health system and (2) our society continues to buy into the fashion-industry "ideal" that skeletons are required to look good in the garbage the designers "create." The entertainment industry includes those who are too thin but also includes those who can be considered average and above average. That's why they are not being attacked. The fashion industry demands extreme thinness at any cost and actively promotes their twisted view as the "ideal of beauty." The fashion industry has created a problem that they continually exacerbate rather than attempt to fix. Just like any other industry that refuses to take responsibility for the "bad stuff" they're putting out, the government needs to step in. The same way the government regulates car and factory emissions to limit air pollution. In this instance the government of Madrid, and possibly that of Milan, is regulating the "media-hype" pollution being put out by the fashion industry. Good for them! Unlike them, I absolutely hold the so-called designers equally, if not more, responsible for this twisted sense of what an adult woman should look like. If their designs are to be worn by real women, then they shouldn't need skeletons to model them.

 

[Redmage]

I would have less trouble with a government-funded advertising campaign to promote health body image than I have with a legal mandate. For example, billboards with attractive models of normal human dimensions could do a lot to change the way people see beauty. Their hearts are in the right place, but I can't support their methods.

 

[MrPartickler]

The U.S. government ALREADY addresses the upper bound and have for years.

There's a BIG difference between recomendation and regulation...between addressing and mandating. Redmage's post says it all for me.

 

[storyteller]

There's a BIG difference between recomendation and regulation...between addressing and mandating. Redmage's post says it all for me.

Yes, you're both right. And in this country, it would be nice if our government would put their considerable weight behind such recommendations concerning the too-thin-pollution of the fashion industry. But, we're not in Spain. Seems to me that such a regulation could not have come off if they didn't have an extreme problem or weren't already used to such intrusive government. While recommendations are always preferred when it comes to personal issues, if the fashion industry continues to fail to police itself by changing it's starvation requirements, then I don't have a problem with government stepping in to do so, just as I don't have a problem with government limiting air emissions from cars and factories.

 

[BellaRisa]

I would have less trouble with a government-funded advertising campaign to promote health body image than I have with a legal mandate. For example, billboards with attractive models of normal human dimensions could do a lot to change the way people see beauty. Their hearts are in the right place, but I can't support their methods.

I support their methods wholeheartedly. From what I'm gathering via the article and other sources, the government is only banning the ultra-thin models from government sponsored fashion shows. That basically creates a gov't funded ad campaign through this very show, which I applaud. Meanwhile, models of all types are free to work for privately funded shows and such, just not those that the gov't pays for. That makes sense, why should those funds go for something deemed unhealthy and a detriment to their society? Having models adhere to the BMI charts excludes the plus sized models as well, and I have no issue with that either, the gov't kinda shouldn't be supporting the unhealthy extremes on either side. Apparently they want models to be symbols of maintaining and demonstrating optimum health and beauty, which is what I always thought a 'model' was supposed to be. Good for them.

(and that part about discrimination against the naturally gazelle-like models made my head hurt. Somehow I think they'll survive 🙄 )

Bella

 

[Redmage]

I support their methods wholeheartedly. From what I'm gathering via the article and other sources, the government is only banning the ultra-thin models from government sponsored fashion shows. That basically creates a gov't funded ad campaign through this very show, which I applaud.

I wouldn't say "whole-heartedly," but fair enough. The good people of Madrid elect their government to decide how to spend their money. If the people don't like it, hopefully the government will hear about it.

 

[toneus79]

In the UK there is a big debate about banning skinny models, because they are setting an impossible aspiration for young girls. There is also a debate about banning all junk food in schools to the extent that teachers can now search lunch boxes for crisps, all in order to prevent childhood obesity.

Talk about mixed messages 😡

 

[Goodieluver]

I've posted the news article on this subject below.

While I actually dislike big government, I do think it's the leaders' responsibility to do what it feels is necessary to promote health and well-being amongst its citizens. That should include keeping the glorification of unhealthy practices to a minimum whenever possible. Furthermore, I suspect that if every government waited until the majority of its people wanted something very little would get done, simply because folks don't like change. Heck, the south would still be segregated and women wouldn't be able to vote if the vocal majority was what always got things accomplished.

Bella



MADRID (Reuters) - The world's first ban on overly thin models at a top-level fashion show in Madrid has caused outrage among modeling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues.

ADVERTISEMENT

Madrid's fashion week has turned away underweight models after protests that girls and young women were trying to copy their rail-thin looks and developing eating disorders.

Organizers say they want to project an image of beauty and health, rather than a waif-like, or heroin chic look.

But Cathy Gould, of New York's Elite modeling agency, said the fashion industry was being used as a scapegoat for illnesses like anorexia and bulimia.

"I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer," said Gould, Elite's North America director, adding that the move could harm careers of naturally "gazelle-like" models.

Madrid's regional government, which sponsors the show and imposed restrictions, said it did not blame designers and models for anorexia. It said 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.

The mayor of Milan, Italy, Letizia Moratti, told an Italian newspaper this week she would seek a similar ban for her city's show unless it could find a solution to "sick" looking models.

QUALITY, NOT SIZE

The Madrid show is using the body mass index or BMI -- based on weight and height -- to measure models. It has turned away 30 percent of women who took part in the previous event. Medics will be on hand at the September 18-22 show to check models.

"The restrictions could be quite a shock to the fashion world at the beginning, but I'm sure it's important as far as health is concerned," said Leonor Perez Pita, director of Madrid's show, also known as the Pasarela Cibeles.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain, which represents those at Madrid fashion week, said the group supported restrictions and its concern was the quality of collections, not the size of models.

Eating disorder activists said many Spanish model agencies and designers oppose the ban and they had doubts whether the new rules would be followed.

"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.

If precedent is set on this, what is to prevent the govt in mandating how heavy one person can be? As i stated in this thread, several companies do fine or let go employees because of their weight.