Skinny Models Banned From Catwalk

Off Topic
1

Wow, I can’t believe this. Makes me proud to be from Madrid :slight_smile:

What do you guys think? Will this be the start of a new era in modelling?

SKINNY MODELS BANNED FROM CATWALK

POSTED: 10:57 a.m. EDT, September 13, 2006

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) – The world’s first ban on overly thin models at a top-level fashion show in Madrid has caused outrage among modeling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues.

Madrid’s fashion week has turned away underweight models after protests that girls and young women were trying to copy their rail-thin looks and developing eating disorders.

Organizers say they want to project an image of beauty and health, rather than a waif-like, or heroin chic look.

But Cathy Gould, of New York’s Elite modeling agency, said the fashion industry was being used as a scapegoat for illnesses like anorexia and bulimia.

“I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer,” said Gould, Elite’s North America director, adding that the move could harm careers of naturally “gazelle-like” models.

Madrid’s regional government, which sponsors the show and imposed restrictions, said it did not blame designers and models for anorexia. It said the fashion industry had a responsibility to portray healthy body images.

“Fashion is a mirror and many teenagers imitate what they see on the catwalk,” said regional official Concha Guerra.

The mayor of Milan, Italy, Letizia Moratti, told an Italian newspaper this week she would seek a similar ban for her city’s show unless it could find a solution to “sick” looking models.
Quality, not size

The Madrid show is using the body mass index or BMI – based on weight and height – to measure models. It has turned away 30 percent of women who took part in the previous event. Medics will be on hand at the September 18-22 show to check models.

“The restrictions could be quite a shock to the fashion world at the beginning, but I’m sure it’s important as far as health is concerned,” said Leonor Perez Pita, director of Madrid’s show, also known as the Pasarela Cibeles.

A spokeswoman for the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain, which represents those at Madrid fashion week, said the group supported restrictions and its concern was the quality of collections, not the size of models.

Eating disorder activists said many Spanish model agencies and designers oppose the ban and they had doubts whether the new rules would be followed.

“If they don’t go along with it the next step is to seek legislation, just like with tobacco,” said Carmen Gonzalez of Spain’s Association in Defense of Attention for Anorexia and Bulimia, which has campaigned for restrictions since the 1990s.

2

I saw this on TV the other day.

I think that they said the minimum weight for a 5 foot 11 inch model was 123 pounds.

Still too skinny, but a step in the right direction. I don’t understand what is fashionable about looking like a heroin addict.

3

LOL, I’m still trying to get my girlfriend to bulk to 135 and she is 5-6.

4

Thank God. I mean, what’s the point of watching a fashion show to see titties if they’re all emaciated?

5

[quote]christine wrote:
I don’t understand what is fashionable about looking like a heroin addict.[/quote]

Exactly! Don’t dresses and clothes look just as good on women with normal bodies?

6

[quote]Miserere wrote:
“If they don’t go along with it the next step is to seek legislation, just like with tobacco,” said Carmen Gonzalez of Spain’s Association in Defense of Attention for Anorexia and Bulimia, which has campaigned for restrictions since the 1990s.
[/quote]

Gee. Freedom goes right out the window as soon as some 12 year-old girl throws up her twinkies and ice-cream.

This is not a legitimate government interest.

7

Thank God.

I’d rather see a chick like Beyonce on a runway than those coked up Auschvitz survivors they call “models”.

Hopefully this signals something…

altough, following the theory of “overreaction vs. underreaction”, soon we’ll have fat chicks on stage all over to make the plus size girls not cry at night.

8

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
altough, following the theory of “overreaction vs. underreaction”, soon we’ll have fat chicks on stage all over to make the plus size girls not cry at night.[/quote]

Ha ha ha, I wouldn’t be surprised.

9

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Gee. Freedom goes right out the window as soon as some 12 year-old girl throws up her twinkies and ice-cream.

This is not a legitimate government interest.[/quote]

I agree on this one. While part of me truly longs for a day when the models actually look like something besides a heroin poster child, the idea of government making these restrictions is just not the way to do it. In this one case it does not seem overly problematic to me, however, since that same government was putting on the show.

I love the indignation of the women from Elite, like somehow the world will crumble without fashion designers enjoying their “freedoms”. Give it a rest.

10

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Gee. Freedom goes right out the window as soon as some 12 year-old girl throws up her twinkies and ice-cream.

This is not a legitimate government interest.[/quote]

Agree 100%

11

[quote]christine wrote:
I saw this on TV the other day.

I think that they said the minimum weight for a 5 foot 11 inch model was 123 pounds.

Still too skinny, but a step in the right direction. I don’t understand what is fashionable about looking like a heroin addict.[/quote]

It does have its base in practical reasons. Designers make dress for shows to a standard size. This is a size 10 UK. This makes sense as shows would never happen if one model needed a 12, one needed a 16 or whatthefuckever.

Secondly, who is the dress going to look good on? a 6ft tall size 10 or a 5ft 1 size 10? Clearly the taller bird. Some supermodels are ‘fuller’ than others and i do not adhere to the ‘eughh model’ attitude at all. Thank god for tall women.

12

If the government can set an abitrary low BMI limit what if the government goes the other way and bans anyone with a BMI over 25 from something (employment, government paid health care, buffet restaurants, dounut shops, public transportation…)?

The US military already uses high BMI as a measure of fitness, not taking into account LBM in any way, since LBM is just too hard to measure.

13

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Miserere wrote:
“If they don’t go along with it the next step is to seek legislation, just like with tobacco,” said Carmen Gonzalez of Spain’s Association in Defense of Attention for Anorexia and Bulimia, which has campaigned for restrictions since the 1990s.

Gee. Freedom goes right out the window as soon as some 12 year-old girl throws up her twinkies and ice-cream.

This is not a legitimate government interest.[/quote]

Goddamit Neph, if the government can’t tell us what women should or shouldn’t look it, who will? The TV?

14

It sounds like Fat Acceptance frogmen have slipped into the spanish government headquarters at night and are cuasing the government to slowly move towards a pro-fat political agenda.

15

Nothing ever gets solved by banning a commonly occuring fenomena. Spain is the most uneducated and lagging West-European country anyway.

16

[quote]Majin wrote:
Nothing ever gets solved by banning a commonly occuring fenomena. Spain is the most uneducated and lagging West-European country anyway.[/quote]

This isn’t the politics forum, so I won’t respond to your comment; but I wonder what you’ve based your opinion on. I have visited/lived in (or am otherwise quite familiar with) quite a few European countries, and would definitely not rank Spain as the most lagging.

17

[quote]Miserere wrote:
Majin wrote:
Nothing ever gets solved by banning a commonly occuring fenomena. Spain is the most uneducated and lagging West-European country anyway.

This isn’t the politics forum, so I won’t respond to your comment; but I wonder what you’ve based your opinion on. I have visited/lived in (or am otherwise quite familiar with) quite a few European countries, and would definitely not rank Spain as the most lagging.[/quote]

For what it’s worth, Spain is my favorite european county that I have visited. Madrid is neither lagging nor backwards.

18

It’s a public health issue. Emaciation is disasterous to the body. If a government can ban smoking in bars, then they can ban this too. In fact, if they want to be fair, then I can smoke marijuana or be emaciated in private. Just so long as I don’t smoke marijuana on the catwalk, it’s all good.

19

[quote]Majin wrote:
Nothing ever gets solved by banning a commonly occuring fenomena. Spain is the most uneducated and lagging West-European country anyway.[/quote]

If you’re going to make fun of a country for being uneducated, you might want to spell phenomena right.

20

[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:

Goddamit Neph, if the government can’t tell us what women should or shouldn’t look it, who will? The TV?[/quote]

Well, they’ve been trying to tell us what we can and cannot do with our bodies for centuries…