Preview

Should Models Have a Minimum Weight

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1274 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Should Models Have a Minimum Weight
Should Models Have a Minimum Weight? :
What The Size of Models Really Promotes Models over the past decades have become noticeably thinner and thinner creating an ongoing debate: Are models becoming too thin? For a recent example, Bethaney Wallace, a teenage model, dies at the age of 19 from starving herself to death, all for the sole purpose of selling clothes. Model deaths are one of the many reasons that have caused the fashion industry to discuss implementation of a minimum model weight standard. This issue has been in debate for a long time now, but standards have never been enacted. Most people would do anything for a job they loved, including purging, starving, and excessive exercising. But when there’s no line drawn, how does someone know when enough is enough? Not only is the idea of ‘thin is beautiful’ hurting models, but it is also damaging the frail body images of most young girls. We unfortunately live in a world where fashion is promoting an unhealthy image for young women to aspire to, but with a set of standards this could create progress for a change. Because the majority of models in today’s society are unreasonably thin, and because media images are a major factor in girls’ images of themselves, a weight standard should be set for models to promote better body image for themselves and other girls.

BACKGROUND The evolution of fashion models is vast if comparing the size of the models. Surprisingly, the fashion industry wasn’t always obsessed with caloric intake and the size of models that stomped the catwalk. “Addressing her fellow beauties on the matter of their ample cabooses, newly elected president of the Model’s Mutual Aid Society, Lucy “Lucky” Janishevski, admonished her sisters to lay down their baguettes and wage a war on calories to keep their figures svelte and their jobs secure. After all, the slender Brits and Americans were rapidly invading French fashion territory. In a news report issued by the North American Newspaper

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Bardot Reort

    • 22342 Words
    • 90 Pages

    Byrnes, H, 2004, Are women getting bigger or is fashion fooling us all?, Sydney Morning Herald Online, viewed 17 May, 2011,…

    • 22342 Words
    • 90 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Female models are becoming thinner at a time when women are becoming heavier, and the gap between the ideal body shape and reality is wider than ever," said the report. "There is a need for a more realistic body shape to be shown on television and in fashion magazines."…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The media plays a crucial role in shaping the idea’s and values our society holds. As we are constantly bombarded with images of ‘idealistically’ thin celebrities, it becomes evident that those who do not fit this normality are excluded from social acceptance and pressured into losing weight and fitting in. A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald stated that; “while there was sympathy for underweight models because of possible eating disorders, those with overweight body shapes were blamed for not doing something to lose weight” (Gray, 2010). It is evident here that although there is some negativity surrounded with being ‘underweight’, super-thin models and celebrities continue to be represented as acceptable throughout the media, whereas those classified as ‘obese’ are rejected from mainstream society and blamed for not taking the initiative to lose weight. As we concentrate more on what is considered to be ‘physically attractive’, we lose sight of the various biological, genetic, and…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first thing Jill says in this article is attacking the media for what they are doing. She is fed up with emaciated models pushing the readers to be thin, sexy and silent; However now the girls a fighting back. With the use of the visual of the founder of the new trend and there cover girl it shows that you don’t need the perfect thin body and hot clothes to make you beautiful. This shows that these magazines are ‘glossy’ with only information about how to get ‘thin and sexy’. But with Jill praising the new publication trend which shows realistic images of young women is targeting women to think that they don’t need to only look at super models in the media, but of people who they can relate to. This persuades the reader that media now is only thinking of super models is how they will sell it, but another ‘real’ women magazine is going fine. Also you don’t need to think you need to be thin to be beautiful, all you need to be is a real girl.…

    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the mid-1960s there was the emergence of Lesley Lawson, better known by her nickname, Twiggy. Twiggy got her start when a fashion designer decided that he wanted a model that would essentially be a human hanger. He was not pleased how the curvier models bodies made the clothing look while walking down the runway. With Twiggy’s naturally slim figure, the clothes were able to flow and be shown better than they would have on a curvier model (Jantz 100). Her stick thin figure put her on the map as one of the first super-models and the poster-child of the “mod” scene in London (Biography.com Editors). Since then, extremely thin models have become the norm.…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis

    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In her article “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder; Body Image; Skinny on a Weighty Issue”, Meredith Baker points out that almost ten million Americans, mostly teenage and college-aged girls, are currently dealing with anorexia or bulimia. She blames the fashion and entertainment industries for contributing to the problem by showcasing celebrities and models that are unusually skinny. Baker then goes on to share her own experience with an eating disorder and how she overcame it. She believes the United States should follow France’s example and ban stick-thin models from all advertisements. She cites the fact that cultures that value full-figured women have fewer eating disorders and hopes that media outlets in the United States will also begin to provide more realistic role models in advertising. In Walter Vandereyckens article, “Media Influences and Body Dissatisfaction in Young Women”, he states that, “the influence of society and culture is putting young female adolescents at risk for developing an eating disorder”(Vandereycken 5). He discusses the cause-effect relationship between the idolization of celebrities with slim figures and low self-esteem and poor body images in teens. He emphasizes that with such unhealthy behavior, it is inevitable that adolescents would take necessary steps to achieve slim figures. Vandereycken argues that the mass media affects young adults differently based on sociocultural backgrounds and predisposed…

    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    this source gives up proof that women in the modeling industry these days are put under a lot of pressure to be unnaturally skinny. It says that up to 40% of models these days suffer from sort sort of eating disorder. This proves to us that the media is portraying a false body image as the women who are pictured in magazines are not healthy and fit, which they are made out to be, which causes young girls and teenagers to aspire to be…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Over the years models have become thinner each year. Models have a weight limit set to ninety pounds between the ages of eighteen and twenty one. Are models becoming too thin in today's society? Yes, models have become too thin over the years, the average weight limit for a eighteen year old female is one hundred and twenty-three pounds and the average weight limit for a twenty one year old is one hundred and forty pounds. Models that are at the age of eighteen are thirty-three pounds underweight; models that are at the age of twenty one are fifty pounds under the average weight limit. Twelve hours before each show the models are required to withhold from drinking or eating anything to prevent bloating. Bloating is considered a physical flaw and looks unprofessional in the modeling world. Today's models have influenced young teenage girls to believe…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A big issue that has risen over the last few years have included the images of “skinny” models. These images, in many cases, show models that appear to be skeleton thin with bones protruding in their faces and on their bodies. Magazine covers often show celebrities and models who are size 0 or 2 and leave behind an impression that in order to be a model, celebrity, or even beautiful that you have to be the size of the models in the advertisements. Over the years there has been stories published about what a model had to do in order to be the size that the designers wanted them to be and sometimes this led to anorexia, bulimia, and drug use in order to stay the size that they…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When you think of a supermodel you automatically assume that the model is tall and ridiculously skinny in comparison to an average woman of the same height. A normal woman within the height range of 5’10 to 5’11 should weigh between 142-150 pounds. A model of this height would however weigh between 120-124 pounds.No wonder thin models are constantly blamed for encouraging eating disorders. Becoming successful in the fashion industry is very unlikely. With a 98% rejection rate thousands of potential models are each year are turned down, not because of the model’s looks but their ability to grasp an audience. When agencies scout for models they look for a tall girl with a minimum height of 5’8. Secondly, they should effectively have a BMI of 18-19. The potential model must have a simple face which is not to glamourous as the designers do not want the audience’s attention to be on the models face but on the designer’s clothes. The models must have the ability to draw attention and bring across a quirky attitude while posing for the camera. The hips of a model should also measure between 86.5-89cm…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes Of Model Thin

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “If you’re thin you are in ” is a recurring motto for many teenage girls. Being thin means they are beautiful, strong and can do whatever they want, or at least that's what the media is trying to say. The beautifully photoshopped models young girls look up see in fashion magazines, videos, articles, runway shows or social networks are skinny and if they don’t have skinny legs, skinny arms, a flat stomach and a collar bone that sticks out sharper than a neon sign saying “I’m thin ”, they are immediately turned down by the media. These portrayals of scrawny models are lowering and razing the self esteem of teenage girls across America and making it difficult for them to like themselves.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Claiming that all young women that become paid models suffer from eating disorders is a stereotype that society develops a common misconception of. Paid models can be seen on the runways, on television, and even walking the streets. When designers dress these models in minimal clothing, their body structure becomes exposed for all to look at and judge. As a young woman walks down the runway with her small frame and bone structures sticking out, viewers are often quick to form a conclusion that an eating disorder explains their body structure. Although a number of models appear extremely skinny, another part of the model population includes healthy women with normal body types. Viewers and the media focus on the models that appear emaciated and malnourished, because the fashion industry becomes an easy target to blame.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These findings were replicated in a recent update of the Garner et al. (1980) research. Using the same procedures employed in the Garner study, Wiseman et al. (1992) found that during the period from 1979 to 1988, Miss America contestants continued to decrease in body size and Playboy models maintained their already low body sizes. As did previous researchers, Wiseman et al. (1992) found that curvaceousness (i.e., hip measurements) continued to decline among Miss America…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    So it is clear that although women should strive to stay away from obesity, women shouldn't be criticized on their body image for two main reasons. First, they shouldn't starve. But most importantly, everyone has their own way of looking. Following the anorexia-related death of Uruguayan fashion model Luisel Ramos, the regional government of Madrid, Spain, places minimum weight restrictions on models taking part in the city’s fashion week.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In our society, image is everything. We strive for what is considered to be the “ideal appearance”. For the modern generation, fashion is uppermost. For some girls their ambition is to become “size zero”. We want or need to show we are following the latest fashion trends. However, recent news reports indicate that size zero models are so obsessed with their size that they become anorexic. Being fascinated by the fashion industry myself, it is important to explore the question: “Why should or should not size zero models be allowed to walk on the catwalk?”…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays