Spain bans skinny models from fashion show

[gauchogolfer]

BBC link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5341202.stm)

I saw this a few days ago, and just thought I'd see what people think of the Spanish government stepping in to regulate who can appear in a fashion show like this. I think that the intention is good, to promote a healthier image for young women, to help curb anorexia/bulimia, but I'm not sure about the implementation. Do you agree with the tack that they are taking here?

[MacBoobsPro]

Isnt it a fashion show not a health show?

If you ban skinnies you gotta ban fatties! :D

[scem0]

I had to live with a guy who was obsessed with models with eating disorders (when I went to Parsons which is primarily a fashion school, actually). He'd sit in our room and drool over pictures of skinny arms and legs. Well, he wasn't that creepy. But he loved what he referred to as "coked out models". We had many an argument that these models were one of the sources of the rampant anorexia in young women. He thought that it wasn't a model's responsibility to keep young women from being anorexic, which I partially agree with.

So, I'm not 100% in support of this legislation, but I am 75%+ in support of it. I think setting an unreal expectation of what a model should look like, of what 'pretty' is, has been causing a majority of the eating disorders you see today. If we can change that to make 'pretty' a more achievable goal, then I say go for it.

Just a funny side note: Lee and I were at Buca Di Beppo's with two friends once, and Bucca's serves huge portions of really hearty food. Lee said, "guys, look behind us, they are all going to throw up after this." Behind us was a table of about 8 or 10 skinny girls feasting on tons of food. Sadly, I think he may have been (at least partially) correct. :(

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[Lau]

I think if anyone should be doing this it should be the fashion industry, not the government. It shouldn't really have come to this, and the industry changing the way they use models and show clothes would have been a far more effective way of making very skinny models less fashionable than a government ban.

[Thomas Veil]

I almost posted this story myself, but more from the health aspect than the governmental one. I don't know what I think from the latter aspect. You can argue that government shouldn't be involved in stuff like this, but then a lot of these models develop eating disorders from the weird demands of this profession, so there are two sides to it.

From the health standpoint, I think this is a great thing. I swear, sometimes I think the people who run these shows hate women and that's why they try to make 'em look like concentration camp survivors.

[devilot]

It's not going to change how the models think. They'll (or their managers) will just get craftier...

One of the oldest tricks in the wrestling/crew book-- drink tons of water. Helps you to gain weight quickly, weight that you can then shed quickly.

*shrug*

I still maintain that men and women will still have unhealthy body images until the impossible day that everyone can be seen as beautiful regardless of size, shape, color, etc. Because some people tend to be thinner, others not so, but if everyone truly is told and believes that he/she is beautiful as is, then we'll see a shift. A positive shift.

[skunk]

I think if anyone should be doing this it should be the fashion industry, not the government. It shouldn't really have come to this, and the industry changing the way they use models and show clothes would have been a far more effective way of making very skinny models less fashionable than a government ban.It'll only go underground, mark my words, just like with Prohibition...

"Pssst! Want some skinny model pictures?"

[Lau]

I still maintain that men and women will still have unhealthy body images until the impossible day that everyone can be seen as beautiful regardless of size, shape, color, etc. Because some people tend to be thinner, others not so, but if everyone truly is told and believes that he/she is beautiful as is, then we'll see a shift. A positive shift.

Good point, and I feel sorry for the models who are naturally skinny and get caught up in this — there are people who really struggle to put on any weight, and being accused of being anorexic/a coke addict/whatever can't be very pleasant for them.

It'll only go underground, mark my words, just like with Prohibition...

"Pssst! Want some skinny model pictures?"

Funnily enough, I almost posted something remarkably similar. :p

[mkrishnan]

It's not going to change how the models think. They'll (or their managers) will just get craftier...

I was thinking for a moment that mandatory psych evals would be better than a BMI cutoff... But I think the core problem really has to do more with the "fashion industry" as consumers of this and with real consumers as consumers of this. It's a draw down system. If the "eww those girls are sticks" image really held sway with enough fashion-conscious people, then I don't think this would be an issue. But the person that scem mentioned isn't the only person out there who holds to the beauty ideals that drive models to being so thin in the first place and drive women and men outside of modelling into dangerous behavior....

[KingYaba]

is banning underweight models on the basis of their body mass index
That's completely retarded.

[wordmunger]

BMI is also a poor measure -- for example, Michael Jordan comes out obese. It works very badly for tall people, tending to rate them as overweight when they are not. This may work to very tall models' advantage in Spain's system.

[Thomas Veil]

Looks like this is spreading to Britain. (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep16/0,4670,BritainSkinnyModels,00.html)

LONDON — A British Cabinet minister on Saturday called for London Fashion Week to follow its Madrid counterpart and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.

Fashion Week organizers rejected the call _ but said they were canceling the event's opening photo call to avoid giving the issue more publicity.

Last week Madrid's Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced it was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height to weight ratio, below 18.

Organizers of the Spanish event said they wanted models to project"an image of beauty and health"and shun a gaunt, emaciated look.

"I applaud the decision taken by Madrid to ban super-thin models, and urge the organizers of London Fashion Week to do the same,"British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

BTW, mark this: this may be the only time you see me quote a story from Fox News. :p

[KingYaba]

I don't see how the government of Spain gets the right to start regulating the fasion industry there...

[Ugg]

I still maintain that men and women will still have unhealthy body images until the impossible day that everyone can be seen as beautiful regardless of size, shape, color, etc. Because some people tend to be thinner, others not so, but if everyone truly is told and believes that he/she is beautiful as is, then we'll see a shift. A positive shift.

Why should everyone be viewed as equally beautiful? The truth is, some are more physically beautiful than others and others who might be considered somewhat homely have an inner beauty that transcends their phsyical appearance.

I see no point in viewing everyone equally. We all have our gifts and that is what should be emphasized, not some utopian idea of universal beauty.

[zap2]

I think they want to be good, but it won't work out that way.


I think people who being "paper thin is sexy" need to check again. I don't think being thin to the point that you are staving yourself is "sexy" Not to say I don't like people who have a nice figure.

And sometime I check if they have a good personaltiy;)

[KingYaba]

I don't think being thin to the point that you are staving yourself is "sexy" )
But should the government be determining that?

[zap2]

But should the government be determining that?


I don't think any government can force people to change what people think "sexy" is. Government do sometime force people not to say what they think sexy is, but still people think it


As for if the government stepping in, no its not right, just like tell people you can't marry because you love this gender over this gender, or you can do this to you body(IE Woman's right to a choice)

Also I think people should wise up, and know this is not health, and not help if they have this problem, as its a mental disease.

[MACDRIVE]

Before:

http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~swaid/Nicole%20Richie.jpg

[MACDRIVE]

After:

http://www.vh1.com/sitewide/flipbooks/img/shows/maxim_hot_100_2005/38_nicole_richie.jpg

[xsedrinam]

I haven't agreed with much that's come out of Spain since her invasion of the Americas, so I see no need to start now. :p

[beatsme]

After:

yea...that's a shame, too. She went from cute to scary in a real hurry...

[MACDRIVE]

yea...that's a shame, too. She went from cute to scary in a real hurry...

Oh man ... she used to be soooo ... fine. If I was ever within talking distance of her, I'd let her know too. ;)

[KingYaba]

Does she have a tapeworm in her stomach or something? Wow she's lost a ton of weight! :eek:

[xsedrinam]

Brazilian fashion model, Ana Carolina Reston (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/11/16/model.anorexia.reut/index.html) dies from anorexia complications at age of 21.

[XNine]

I got an email at my old place of employment with a dozen pictures of anorexic chicks in the fashion industry. Nasty man. Nasty. It makes my stomach churn just looking at them.