Dangerous "Beauty" Standards
So this weeks rant started when I saw the advertisement for Ralph Lauren featuring model Filippa Hamilton portrayed as a photoshopped skeleton. Apparently this ad was only in one store in Japan, however it's enough for me to never want to buy anything that will financially support Ralph Lauren, especially since Ms. Hamilton was apparently fired for being too large to fit into the company's size 0 sample clothes despite her weight not fluctuating during the 8 year period she had worked for Ralph Lauren. She's 5' 10" and weighs 120 lbs.
The standards of beauty that the magazines and advertisers are imposing on the models are not only unhealthy for the models themselves, but also for the women who look at them. The message that today's super-skinny-models send is that anorexia and malnutrition are okay and normal, and that the only way that people will see you as beautiful is if you try to look like the models and starve yourself. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. It's dangerous and sometimes even the models don't survive. I would like to share some rather disturbing, angering and sad images that I found while researching this topic through google.com (i will include links to the webpages I found them on in case you would like to read more).
from http://www.misstropolis.com/index.php/style/article/the-ethics-of-fashion/
She was 22 when she died from a heart attack during a fashion show.
Eliana Ramos, 18 at time of death
from http://english.pravda.ru/society/showbiz/15-02-2007/87440-anorexia_model-0
This article goes more in depth into the deaths of the Ramos sisters.
The late Eliana Ramos before a fashion show
from http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/models_anorexia-1460/1/
From an advertisement against anorexia by Olivero Toscani featuring French model, Isabelle Caro.
from http://www.lipglossandlaptops.com/podcast/?p=125
Also from the same advertisement by Toscani
from http://www.theipinionsjournal.com/index.php/2007/09/fashion-model-fired-for-being-too-skinny-hallelujah/
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/karolina-kurkova-labeled_n_108759.html
Picture of Karolina Kurkova from fashion show where she was criticized as "fat." If this is fat, then I'm a whale. The part that really aggravated me though was in the comments at the bottom of the page where a user reminded everyone that Marylin Monroe wore size 14 and another user stated "Dead, before my time. Maybe black and white images don't do her Justice. I was born in 63. In my life she was a footnote. A size 14 sounds huge. maybe i would feel different if I were born in 53." Frankly, Marylin was a beautiful and curvy icon and I find this 46 year old commentator (who, ofcourse, held the opinion that Ms. Kurkova was "heavy") to be highly disrespectful of a legend. I wish that today's fashion tried to make models look more like her. Of course, I must be "huge" as well since I wear size 12-13. But don't let me influence you. What do you think? Was Marylin fat?
Frankly, I'd kill to look like Marylin Monroe.
1)
2)
Photo 1 is of the late model Ana Carolina Reston after Anorexia Nervosa, while photo 2 shows her before.
Here is a pretty good article that shows a models point of view on size 0.
http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/09/14/the-fashion-industry-finally-realises-the-dangers-of-the-size-0/
All in all, the modeling world makes me sick and I think I'm going to start researching how the models for certain companies are being treated before I buy anything from them. An image of a healthy model is a good thing, especially since it alleviates the pressure on women to live up to an unattainable ideal.
The standards of beauty that the magazines and advertisers are imposing on the models are not only unhealthy for the models themselves, but also for the women who look at them. The message that today's super-skinny-models send is that anorexia and malnutrition are okay and normal, and that the only way that people will see you as beautiful is if you try to look like the models and starve yourself. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. It's dangerous and sometimes even the models don't survive. I would like to share some rather disturbing, angering and sad images that I found while researching this topic through google.com (i will include links to the webpages I found them on in case you would like to read more).
from http://www.misstropolis.com/index.php/style/article/the-ethics-of-fashion/
She was 22 when she died from a heart attack during a fashion show.
Eliana Ramos, 18 at time of death
from http://english.pravda.ru/society/showbiz/15-02-2007/87440-anorexia_model-0
This article goes more in depth into the deaths of the Ramos sisters.
The late Eliana Ramos before a fashion show
from http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/models_anorexia-1460/1/
From an advertisement against anorexia by Olivero Toscani featuring French model, Isabelle Caro.
from http://www.lipglossandlaptops.com/podcast/?p=125
Also from the same advertisement by Toscani
from http://www.theipinionsjournal.com/index.php/2007/09/fashion-model-fired-for-being-too-skinny-hallelujah/
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/25/karolina-kurkova-labeled_n_108759.html
Picture of Karolina Kurkova from fashion show where she was criticized as "fat." If this is fat, then I'm a whale. The part that really aggravated me though was in the comments at the bottom of the page where a user reminded everyone that Marylin Monroe wore size 14 and another user stated "Dead, before my time. Maybe black and white images don't do her Justice. I was born in 63. In my life she was a footnote. A size 14 sounds huge. maybe i would feel different if I were born in 53." Frankly, Marylin was a beautiful and curvy icon and I find this 46 year old commentator (who, ofcourse, held the opinion that Ms. Kurkova was "heavy") to be highly disrespectful of a legend. I wish that today's fashion tried to make models look more like her. Of course, I must be "huge" as well since I wear size 12-13. But don't let me influence you. What do you think? Was Marylin fat?
Frankly, I'd kill to look like Marylin Monroe.
1)
2)
Photo 1 is of the late model Ana Carolina Reston after Anorexia Nervosa, while photo 2 shows her before.
Here is a pretty good article that shows a models point of view on size 0.
http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/09/14/the-fashion-industry-finally-realises-the-dangers-of-the-size-0/
All in all, the modeling world makes me sick and I think I'm going to start researching how the models for certain companies are being treated before I buy anything from them. An image of a healthy model is a good thing, especially since it alleviates the pressure on women to live up to an unattainable ideal.