How are the anorexic images of the fashion industry affecting

[pnwmom]

the self esteem and health of young girls today? Models weren't always this scarily thin, not even runway models. I remember when Twiggy was an aberration -- now she would be the norm. Why is this happening now? And what can parents do to combat this, as it spreads from the fashion industry to many of the stars on everyday TV shows?

http://www.femininebeauty.info/fashion-model-physique

[BlueJazz]

1. Most Men like Women with a more Robust figure....or maybe I'm just speaking..

,,for myself,
I do know that a LOT of the Paris models don't do a thing for me.

Having said that...it's certainly not a Women's "Job" to look any other way except the way She wants....

[MineralMan]

3. Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn

Sorry...I meant that as a reply to the OP...

[niyad]

12. apart from audrey's training as a ballerina, you do know why she was so thin?

By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch resistance. She later said, "The best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performances."<10> After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse, and Arnhem was subsequently devastated by Allied artillery fire that was part of Operation Market Garden. During the Dutch famine that followed, over the winter of 1944, the Germans blocked the resupply routes of Dutch people's already limited food and fuel supplies as retaliation for railway strikes that were held to hinder the German occupation. People starved and froze to death in the streets. Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits.<5><11>

. .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn

[pnwmom]

16. Interesting. I didn't know this. n/t

[WolverineDG]

70. Hepburn almost starved to death in WWII

hence her work with the UN to combat famine & child hunger. She sure as hell didn't starve herself to look better on camera.

dg

[Norrin Radd]

74. British teens -- males and females -- in the 60's were thin because of malnutrition

and low protein consumption (WWII food rationing ended there in '54).

[eShirl]

10. in Second Life, one giveaway that a female avatar was created & is played by a RL guy

is that she is plumper, with fuller wider hips, ass and thighs than a female avatar created & played by a RL female

a long, skinny female avatar with double D breasts and giant fat fish lips usually belongs to a RL female

[pnwmom]

19. Which reminds me. I heard of some research where they showed

silhouettes of female figures to women and to men. When asked what would a man's ideal woman would look like, women consistently thought it was thinner than it actually was. So all these teens and young women are starving themselves . . . I guess because Madison Avenue told them to?

[krispos42]

29. Short and curvy for the win!

5'4" and 150 is damn hot, IMO. Much better than 5'10" and 105.

I think there's a difference between beautiful and attractive. There are a lot of lean women out there that are very beautiful but not necessarily attractive. "Attractive" means that you want to get closer, that you are drawn closer, to that person. "Beautiful" is different... it's a visual standard. Eva Longoria is beautiful, Salma Hayak is attractive. Longoria's leaness gives her an edge in beauty department, and Hayak's lusher curves gives her the nod in attractiveness.

[MineralMan]

2. It's not really a new thing.

Fashion models have been waif-like for a long, long time. You may not remember Twiggy, from the 60s, but rail thin has been the haute couture look since forever.

It's a shame, but there it is. All you can do is help daughters accept themselves as they are and discourage constant fretting about weight. Happy kids don't worry about it. Neither do most girls who are involved in sports and other activities. Watch out for cheer, though. There's a tendency there toward skinny.

[pnwmom]

5. I remember Twiggy very well, and that was part of my point.

She stood out when she was popular because she was so extremely thin -- more so than most models. No she's closer to the norm.

[lunatica]

7. The way I remember it is that she wore the swimming suit called the mono suit

where her breasts were bare. Am I wrong in my memory?

[Occulus]

6. I blame Barbie directly, and I'm only half-joking.

Barbie, I think, has more to do with this than we care to admit.

[pnwmom]

14. That distorted Ralph Loren image looked a lot like a Barbie.

With the ridiculously narrow body and extra-long legs.

[Occulus]

26. Funny how that works, isn't it? n/t

[EFerrari]

18. It has been around a long time. I read that 60% of the 4rth grade girls

in San Francisco were on a DIET in 1984. When I was in 4rth grade, I only worried about how to get more calories, not how to burn them off.

[pnwmom]

20. In 1984??? If it was that high in 1984, imagine what it is now. Yikes! nt

[MineralMan]

4. Here's a comparison of some models from the 60s and today.

[Number23]

9. None of the women in your "today" shots are models

The first woman appears to be Victoria Beckham (what she does for a living besides starve herself and occasionally "sing" with the Spice Girls is anybody's guess) don't know who the second one is; third is Keira Knightley, an actress and even though she is skin and bones I LOVE her; last is Nicole Richie, another one that no one has any idea what she actually does for a living.

Here are a few models of today:

Naomi (no last name needed) -
Kate -
Agyness Deyn -
Liya Kebede (my absolute FAVORITE model right now. I love her so I'll show a few pics) -
Gisele Bundchen -
Jessica Stam -

(Sorry, I really love the fashion world even though I think it's worthless and stupid.) So you can see that there is a bit of mix of body types, even though there is no question - thin is what's in and always will be.

[girl gone mad]

22. I always loved what Kevyn Aucoin said about Kate Moss..

to paraphrase, he said she was one of the healthiest people he had ever met in his life and her weight was just right for her small frame.

Why is it always skinny models that are made out to be pariahs? Why not go after obese Sumo wrestlers, juiced-up baseball players, hulking linebackers, tiny jockeys?

Some women are naturally skinny. Designers think clothes look better on them. I don't understand why this is so upsetting to people. My son will never be tall enough to play in the NBA, but I'm not going to waste my time lobbying for shorter basketball players.

[SeattleGirl]

24. I agree with you that many women are naturally skinny. One of my

sisters is like that, and you can't believe the shit she gets from people, accusing her of being anorexic, etc. She's not anorexic; she just takes after our dad, who was a tall drink of water himself.

The problem with the image of the skinny model, unlike the image of the tall basketball player or Sumo wrestlers, or hulking linebackers is that men don't have the pressure on them to look like any of those other men that women have on them to look like models. I struggle with body image all the time. I am more accepting of the fact that I will never have the body type of Twiggy or Audrey Hepburn, but the constant barrage of crap women are subjected to on a daily basis is horrendous.

[pnwmom]

28. That "healthy" model wasn't healthy after all. She was a cocaine user.

Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon for one of these "naturally skinny" models to turn out to have an addiction to cocaine and/or other drugs that keep weight down. Shouldn't designers be making clothes that look good on normal, healthy people?

http://dir.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/09/23/moss/index.html

Sep 23, 2005 | As the 1980s melted into the 1990s, a new breed of supermodel started stalking the earth. Her emaciated frame made Twiggy's look chunky; she appeared permanently prepubescent; her sunken-eyed pallor made her look like a junkie. She was embodied by Kate Moss.

Moss and her band of wraiths not only drove insanely beautiful but fleshy models like Cindy Crawford and Kathy Ireland from magazine covers, they also slammed a heavy door on Nancy Reagan's 1980s-era "Just Say No" campaign against drug use. Their message was louder and prettier than the prudish abstinence-pushing project led by Reagan. It was accompanied by the melodies of the drug-fueled conflagration that was the Seattle music scene. They were waifs. They were heroin chic.

Now, 15 years later, in a set of circumstances that have exposed the hypocrisy and sanctimony of everyone involved, Moss and the fashion industry are becoming accidental and unwilling poster children for a new anti-drug message.

Two weeks ago, during New York City's Fashion Week, London's Daily Mirror newspaper splashed its cover with an image of Moss -- still a supermodel at 31, as well as mother to a 2-year-old daughter -- cutting lines of cocaine on a CD jewel box. "Cocaine Kate: Supermodel Kate Moss snorts line after line," blared the cover. An inset photo showed her leaning down to inhale the lines of white powder through a rolled up 5-pound note. Moss' career is now in sudden free fall.

SNIP

What this drama has done is lay bare the ugly skeleton that holds up a fashion industry that for some time has prized hollow cheeks and vacant eyes, stunted, prepubescent frames, and jutting collar bones from which fabric drapes beautifully. In other words, the body that is appealing to designers -- and thus to consumers -- is a body that looks like it has been ravaged by drugs. In order to stay employed, models must maintain this shape; to maintain the shape they must do something besides eat right and exercise regularly. Whether it's cocaine or speed or heroin or caffeine or cigarettes or anorexia or bulimia or some combination of the above, most adult women cannot get bodies that look like Moss' healthily, because hers is not a healthy body.

[JNelson6563]

33. Still threre actually are naturally thin people

I know, I'm one of them. And I'm healthy.

To gain weight when pregnant I had to make myself eat quite a lot. I wanted strong healthy babies. Putting on all that weight (about 40 pounds) was very hard on my small frame. It also made me appreciate for the first time the ease of movement I had always enjoyed. I really missed that. Since we were quite poor when babies were born there wasn't much of a challenge to lose the weight, by going back to simply eating when hungry and stopping when not hungry anymore my body returned to its usual shape.

Julie

[pnwmom]

40. Most "naturally thin people" aren't so thin they look like anorexics or drug users.

[JNelson6563]

63. I agree but some do not

And they tend to be people with weight issues.

Julie

[L0oniX]

8. With 2/3rds of Americans being over weight, anyone who is of normal weight would look anorexic.

[pnwmom]

15. Fashion models aren't normal weight by any standard,

except for "plus size" models, who generally are 10's and 12's.

Women of normal weight don't look anorexic.

[Missy Vixen]

21. Lizzi Miller is considered "plus sized"

She's a size 12.

[SeattleGirl]

25. And that right there is a problem.

I think she's beautiful, and I don't think that a size 12 is "plus-sized". It pisses me off to no end that this lovely woman is considered "big". If that's the normal standard, then at size 14, I guess I'm a cow. :grr:

[waiting for hope]

86. Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 ...

I don't believe anyone thought her to be a "plus" size either.

[Swamp Rat]

11. It has shown me how my tastes differ from the so-called fashion industry:

If 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and since I am often a beholder, then I think intelligent and creative overweight, middle aged women are BEAUTIFUL! :loveya:

Sorry Twiggy and all the other even thinner twigs. You need help and understanding, as well as a few dozen blocks Brie cheese per week, and anything else that will put meat on your bones.

[XemaSab]

82. What are you doing tomorrow night?

:D

[niyad]

13. you have to think about the huge industries this kind of image supports--the diet industry, for one

the cosmetics industry, and the whole mental health field, in addition to fashion. let's see--a size 10 is considered a "plus" size. seriously screwed up here. marilyn monroe wore a 14.

and think about this--keeping women's attention focused on the never-to-be-achieved "perfection" of the models keeps them too broke,too insecure, and too busy, to notice their general second-class status in society.

[Missy Vixen]

17. Again, I'd love to recommend a single post

>and think about this--keeping women's attention focused on the never-to-be-achieved "perfection" of the models keeps them too broke,too insecure, and too busy, to notice their general second-class status in society.<

Absolutely. If women concentrated as much on what's inside as they must the outside to live peacefully in this society, I wonder what humanity would achieve as a result.

As for the poster above who noted that "normal sized" women now look "anorexic" because of the rise in obesity, you must be joking. When normal-weight elementary school girls think they're "fat", the problem is much bigger than we could ever imagine.

[Gwendolyn]

31. Marilyn Monroe did not wear a size 14. She was tiny.

It's a common misconception these days for some reason.

[eShirl]

36. modern size 8-10 according to a quote on the Snopes page

from a fashion features editor who bought and tried on some of MM's clothes
http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/mmdress.asp


and her measurements were variously reported as 35-22-35 and 37-23-36
http://www.marilynmonroe.com/about/facts.html

[Gwendolyn]

39. Exactly.

Judging from my own numbers which are similar to hers although I'm heavier due to muscular weight, 14 would have floated on her. 8 sounds about right as a dress size, and I could see maybe 10 during the last days when she was bloated and self-destructive from the booze and pills.

Why is it so important for people to turn her into a 14 dress size just to validate their own weight and size? Who cares?

[pnwmom]

41. I can believe it was a 14, because she was NOT wearing modern dresses.

Back then sizes were very different than they are now.

For example, my daughter, who is a 6, was too big to fit into my old size 10 wedding gown. And my size 10 was bigger than a size 10 would have been in Marilyn's time.

[Gwendolyn]

53. I was speaking in terms of today's sizes. Actually, she was probably more likely a 6.

People are posting that bigger was accepted back in the fifties and point to Marilyn wearing a "14" as proof of that. It's fallacious reasoning, since sizes were much different than they are today, as you say. Her dressmaker claims her measurements were 35-22-35. Going by those, her size today would be a 6.

Going by the eye, here's Marilyn in the famous naked pic. (Sorry for the graphicness). This body is not even close to a 14 today. It's a 6.

http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/Playboy/

(On edit: Holy Jesus, I tried to link the pic, but it actually posted!!! Ahhhh. To see it, scroll down to the thumbnails.)

Things haven't changed much at all, was the point. :shrug:

[pnwmom]

58. Marilyn's size varied over the years -- but, whatever size she wore, she was always CURVY.

She never resembled Twiggy.

Today, most fashion models do.

[Gwendolyn]

64. But you're comparing models with actresses.

Most "movie stars" today don't look like the walking ghouls on the runway either. Some are actually quite voluptuous.

The reason why people say Marilyn would be considered fat today is because she had no muscle tone at all. It wasn't really acceptable back then to work out. Today, an actress/ingenue with flabby arms would be sent to the gym pronto.

[XemaSab]

83. In the nekkid pic, she's got BIG thighs

Her thighs are even curvier than the supposed "plus-size" model above.

She was a curvy girl with a small waist.

[Gwendolyn]

84. No they weren't Xema. :-)

Not by a long shot.

[XemaSab]

87. BIG= bigger than I've ever seen on any model

She had a lovely figure, but nowadays she'd be blackballed for those curves. :(

[Gwendolyn]

88. But she wasn't a runway model. She was an actress. There are lots of voluptuous actresses out there.

Look at Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, Rosario Dawson, Monica Bellucci, Beyonce... that's just off the top of my head. All yummy ladies. :)

Actresses are supposed to be memorable and evoke emotion in people. Runway models are supposed to be tall and homogenous, devoid of personality... it's all about the clothes. That they are human is incidental. The ones that become supermodels are the exceptions but the rest, no one would know who they are if they passed by on the street.

[redqueen]

51. She looks bigger than that size 12 model upthread:

[pnwmom]

60. Her size varied over the years, but she was always lovely. n/t

[redqueen]

66. Definitely.

I just get tired of the constant effort to make it seem like she was 'tiny'... she was not always. She may have been at times... but like you said, she was not always tiny, but she was always beautiful. That's what we should remember.

What we should not put up with is this chorus of crap that gets hauled out every time her dress size is mentioned in an effort to defeat the 'only tiny women are beautiful' bullshit.

[Gwendolyn]

77. It's not about "only tiny women are beautiful" at all. It's about the disconnect...

between size perception and reality that seems to have started sometime in the early 90s that's killing women. Literally. That people actually think it's feasible for Marilyn to have been a 14 dress size based on a beach photo which shows a little ass and thigh fat is no different from some people judging a 5'10" 120 pound woman as "fat," and requiring photoshopping. We can't even judge sizes anymore. No wonder women are collectively becoming body dysmorphic.

Back in the 90s a 6 or an 8 would have been considered a tiny or small woman. Now you have to be a 0 to be tiny, a 6 to be average and a 10 is what, huge? There are very beautiful "real" size 14 women out there to choose as a role model for what women can look like. Nigella Lawson for one.

[Scout]

73. +10000 ... don't forget the gym and personal trainer industries n/t

[truedelphi]

89. I keep saying that Marilyn Monroe was a size fourteen

And keep being told by others she wasn't.

Oh please, if someone can show me a size ten dress her beautiful boobies could squeeze into, I will eat that dress!

[Gwendolyn]

90. A 5'5" inch tall woman would have to weigh about 180 to fit into a 14 dress.

She would not look like this or like any of the pics posted of her upthread. Her bust measured 36. That's not in dispute and such a bod fits into either an 8 or a 10.

Which is what those who knew her, and who've actually seen, sewed and tried on her clothes attest to. It's amazing how distorted peoples' perceptions are.

[omega minimo]

23. This is odd

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6776531&mesg_id=6776531

[Roland99]

27. Just look at online diary sites like OpenDiary, Xanga, LiveJournal, etc.

So many girls in their teens and early 20s who binge and purge or go on starvation diets (like no more than 500 calories/day) all in an effort to get down to, say, a size zero. It's sad.

A big "Go fuck yourself" to Ralph Lauren and all the "fashion" magazines that airbrush out any blemish or bulge on the models. Why not just start using CGI models? pathetic.

[elleng]

30. Its BEEN happening,

not really new, I think, but maybe the extent is new? Weren't there complaints about this in recent history? Didn't Europeans actually agree to change?

Parents can do little, imo, aside from being ourselves.

[Skidmore]

32. I think the world of high fashion is inhabited by people with serious issues.

Why insist on using women who are expected to look prepubescent or like boys to market to billions who do not look like these images? As a result, what is put out on the runway gets knocked off and put on the racks in stores. Nothing is wearable anymore unless you are a teenaged girl who starves herself.

Our culture is sick in so many ways.

[Mopar151]

34. Consider porn/nudie models, for instance

Fit 'n curvy is definitely the mainstream there! IMHO, there are a couple of things in play - if you are designing clothes to look good on a hangar, you need a model who looks like a wire hangar. and it is not so easy to design or fit clothes on a 3 dimensional, compound curved "booty", compared to a flat, linear skeleton.... and I think some of the fashonistas want the models to look like the boys they really lust for.

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. Perhaps it will help reduce obesity

[pnwmom]

43. I think it does the opposite. Bulimics are often overweight. n/t

[Freddie Stubbs]

44. They're obviously not doing it right

[pnwmom]

47. There is no "right" way to be a bulimic. It is an extremely dangerous practice. n/t

[BOG PERSON]

78. LOL n/t

[seabeyond]

37. wasnt 38 24 38 suppose to be the ideal. i heard it all the time growing up. dont

here it now. but am i remembering correctly?

38 24 38

really is not small....

what was that all about

[eShirl]

42. I remember 36- 24- 36 (from somewhere)

[Lilith Velkor]

54. Just ring 362436, I lead a life of crime!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvP0uwl3Q6A

:headbang:

[redqueen]

55. Sir Mix A Lot too: "36 24 36? Only if she's 5 foot 3." (nt)

[Arugula Latte]

68. "Brick House" by the Commodors

She knows she got everything
a woman needs to get a man, yeah.
How can she lose, the things she use
36-24-36, what a winning hand!

[redqueen]

71. Yes... and gah...

that song brings back horrible memories for me.

[seabeyond]

62. lol lol.... oh that. lol. nt

[a la izquierda]

38. Weight has always been an issue for me

and I'm small (5'1 115, 17% body fat). When I was in high school, I was a distance runner. I was never fat, but I was a lot more muscular than most runners. Someone told me I was too fat to be an elite runner, and from there it went downhill. I obsessed over everything I ate. Bowl of plain oatmeal in the morning, pint of skim milk and a plain bagel for lunch. Plain pasta for dinner. This mealplan worked best, because I would still have a little energy to run.
When I got to college, it got worse. By the time I was a senior in college, I weighed about 80 pounds. I had fine hair growing all over the place (warming mechanism) and was so depressed I rarely did anything. My mom and best friend got me to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with a sort of obsessive-compulsive eating disorder (i wouldn't eat much for weeks, then i'd binge). i dated guys who liked super skinny girls.
finally, i met a guy who, after about 2 days of knowing me, flushed all my diet pills and laxatives down the toilet. i married him a few years later he told me i'd be beautiful if i weighed 300 pounds. i believe him.

i battle with image issues every day. i still sort of obsess over what i eat. when i went to mexico and got an intestinal parasite, i was thrilled at the weight it helped me lose (how sick is that??). but it gets a little easier, i don't hate myself if i don't get to the gym. i watch what i eat, but eat what i want, and only occasionally feel guilty about it.

i was a teen in the 90s. i can't imagine what teens go through today.

[pnwmom]

45. I'm glad your husband was so helpful to you in this. It sounds like you were

battling anorexia and bulimia. (You can have both, as you may know.)

I know two young women who are dealing with this right now. Stay well!

[a la izquierda]

59. I married a great guy.

Thanks for the wishes, I'm keenly aware of my mental state nowadays. The minute I feel depressed, I'm in my counselor's office.:hug:

[Ocracoker16]

65. Sounds like a good approach

As you know, many people receive treatment for eating disorders when they are young, but they continue to have body image issues and disordered eating throughout the rest of their lives. It sounds like you understand the importance of self-monitoring so you can avoid going back to having a full-blown eating disorder.

[AngryAmish]

46. Do you think having high self esteem is a helpful thing?

Obviously having rock bottom self esteem is bad but having high self esteem is bad also - for example criminals and bullies have very high self esteem.

So you have the burden of proving at least two things. 1. Images of very thin models reduce the self esteem of girls. 2. That having reduced self esteem causes problems.

Check your assumptions.

[pnwmom]

48. I was talking about healthy self-esteem, not the kind of false and/or

exaggerated self-esteem of narcissists.

People with healthy self-esteem don't abuse themselves.

[AngryAmish]

49. HOw can you measure one from the other?

[pnwmom]

50. How can you tell apart shades of gray? It is a judgment call. And we need to

make those judgment calls in our lives every day.

But here is one key to identifying a true narcissist, with exaggerated or false self-esteem: they usually will demonstrate an almost complete lack of empathy. That is what would allow the criminal or bullying behavior.

[AngryAmish]

56. It is not a judgment call - it is a measurable thing psychometrically

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem#Self-esteem.2C_grades_and_relationships> yeah I know it is wikipedia, but it sums the subject up well.

For example, some people have high self esteem and do well at school. Does that mean high self esteem causes good grades? No, no, no - as everyone knows correlation is not causation. Maybe they have high self esteem from doing well at school or other factors.

Bottom line: One cannot tease out in a valid scientific way one type of self esteem from another. What we should do is try to cut down on certain behaviors (like extreme dieting or other bad things) while not relying on ascientific woo like the self-esteem movement. Dig?

[pnwmom]

57. I am not in favor of falsely inflating self esteem

but I do believe there is such a thing as healthy self-esteem grounded on a sense of true self-worth -- apart from any self-esteem "movement." Would you be happier with the term self-respect?

[AngryAmish]

75. Self-respect is a very good term.

So is there a way to prove that very skinny models cause self destructive behavior?

[pnwmom]

76. According to many reports, there is a high amount of drug abuse

in the modeling culture, and it is connected with the need to stay skinny. But no, I personally don't have "proof."

[redqueen]

52. Women have to stop obsessing over their looks.

We are getting played and it's up to us to say "fuck you" to society or madison ave or wherever the idiotic crap is coming from.

Also watch what you say around your kids. Don't talk about trying to lose weight... talk about trying to live a healthy lifestyle... making healthier eating choices.

When we make it about appearance and size... we shoot ourselves in the foot. Over and over and over.

[pnwmom]

61. Yes -- I agree.

I never discussed dieting around my children. The emphasis was always on eating healthy foods and getting enough (fun) exercise. The rest should follow.

[niyad]

67. and just watch the screaming hysteria when a celeb finally says "f*** you" to this mess--do you

remember the screaming fits the media had when liz taylor was married to john warner and stopped doing the whole hollywood glam thing? you would have thought she was a serial killer from the way they went after her.


if enought women did this, do you think congress would offer mad. ave a bailout, too?

[redqueen]

69. Well Tyra did it and she got a TV show.

More women should stop buying into the bullshit. Stop blaming others and instead set the example for other women.

[Gwendolyn]

72. Some actresses have already started. Models too.

But again, people are confusing the salivating media/papparazzi stalkers with Madison Avenue. Mad Ave sells stuff and they will sell it in whatever way it takes to encourage people to buy it. That's where plunking down your dollars at the cash registers of the companies that treat women like humans changes things. The media will always follow stars around no matter what they look like. That won't ever change.

[BOG PERSON]

79. At least 66% of the US is overweight.

I think we're coping alright.

[Shell Beau]

80. I remember reading something about designers like their models

to be more like a hanger for their clothes. But most real women obviously don't look like the models, and the clothes would look nothing like that on your average gal. Not sure why the thin is so in for models. Some are naturally thin, and many do whatever it takes to get thinner. I do hope this changes about the fashion industry. I love fashion. I always have and probably always will. I think of fashion as a way of self expression and art. But, something has to change.

[EndersDame]

81. I have a model friend who was teased for being too skinny and no curves when she was growing up

She never appreciated her tiny body (97 lbs , training bra pre baby 107 a/b cup post baby) until she moved to "the big city" and did some modeling. She said she would have been jealous of my boobs and hips a few years ago but has accepted and loves her body now. That put alot of things into perspective for me

[Zoeisright]

85. It's not good.

Those women are not healthy, and the images are damaging to young girls.