Please Feed the Models!

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Resumen de la carrera profesional de Kate Moss

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sourced by Barbara McPherson

      Whether sported by a high fashion model or your everyday “plain Jane,” I am pretty sure that the graphic tee-shirts which read “Don’t Feed the Models” are intended to be a joke.  There is nothing funny about the abounding number of eating disorders amongst women who strive to look like today's models and celebrities.  There is nothing funny about women who stare at the mirror, poking and prodding at their flaws in disgust because they fall short of this so called “perfection” we see in the media.  With this being said, not feeding the models is an awful idea. In fact, not feeding the models has painted a distorted picture of what women should look like in the minds of our youth, women, and men all over the world.   

            As 6’2, 110 pound models strut down the catwalk I can’t help but notice the emaciated, tired look in their eyes.  I know models are supposed to look fierce when walking down the runway, but honestly they probably just want to eat a substantial meal or two.  Why do designers crave models that fit that “perfect size 2?”  What is so beautiful about a walking corpse?  The only message that is being sent by the runway is “thin is in.”  Young girls and women, aspiring models or not, see these girls and wonder why they are so damn fat compared to these models.  What we all need to know is that a 6’2 young woman should weigh at least 145 pounds.  Even if their body types are naturally tiny, there is no way, no how those models should be that skinny in reality.  I also like to point out the fact that majority of what is shown on the runway is not even worn by the public.  The avant-garde pieces and couture gowns rarely leave the runway.  So why put these models through torture?  If these high end designers have so much money, can’t they afford to use some extra fabric and make, say a size 4 or 6?  Maybe then their models could afford to gain a few pounds and not feel guilty!  After all, the average woman is a size 8.  Seeing different shapes and sizes on the runway could change the fashion world for the better.  What will it take for people to understand this?

            Celebrity Jessica Simpson dropped down to about 108 pounds in order to shoot the film Dukes of Hazard.  Later on in an interview, Simpson claimed that dropping those extra pounds was excruciating.  Her naturally curvy figure was forced to be something it wasn’t.  Unfortunately, not all celebs are like Jessica.  Celebrities would never admit that it is okay to have curves!  It is okay to not look like you are starving yourself and working out for 3 hours a day 7 days a week.  Today’s women see perfect bodies plastered all over billboards, commercials, and magazines and feel an intense pressure to match these body types.  Being a woman, I must say it is completely exhausting.  Women see their boyfriends gawking over these perfect bods as they jokingly say, “Why can’t you look like that, baby?”   Again, not so funny; joke or no joke, women take remarks like that to heart.  Call women “emotional” and call them “crazy” but women are constantly bombarded by images of these flawless looking women.  When expected to live up to these superfluous expectations by all of society, and sometimes even our loved ones, women wind up feeling like crap.  If only women could truly understand that, just like being 6’2, 110 pounds is unrealistic, these images, too, are anything but “real.”  For instance, Kelly Clarkson was on the cover of “SELF Magazine.”   She was toned and flawless- nothing short of perfection.  Not long after the photo shoot for “SELF Magazine” the pictures taken were compared to an actual recent photo of Clarkson.  Clarkson’s beautifully curvaceous body was altered to better fit the magazine cover (not to mention the fact that when women are actually praised in the media for their “curves” most of them are still underweight).  Isn’t it ironic that a magazine whose message is to love oneself is altering a woman’s body to make her look so to speak, sexier?

            Even though it is a known fact that supermodels do not represent your average, healthy looking woman and celebrities are airbrushed to perfection, we are still left with an empty feeling inside.  For some reason it is hard to grasp the fact that these images are nothing to compare a real human body to.  Instead, women are left asking “Why can’t I look like this?” While, on the other hand, men are left asking, “Why can’t more girls look like this?”  Take away the pounds of make-up, intense daily workouts, airbrushing, and lack of proper nutrition and what are we left with?  The message I am trying to send is that no one should look at themselves as a “plain Jane.”  Everyone, male or female, should walk with an air of confidence.  Be proud to be who you are; be comfortable in your skin!  And for goodness sake, please feed the models!