Thin ban adds weight to body-image debate

By LaMont Jones Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A decision in Spain to ban too-thin models from the runways at the recent Madrid Fashion Week has again prompted discussion far and wide on what standards – if any – models should uphold.

Spain, better known for the flamenco than fashion, sent shock waves through the industry when five bone-baring waifs were deemed too skinny.
Too skinny? Isn’t the fashion industry notorious for excluding models considered too fat?
Despite recent gains by so-called real-size and plus-size models – just look at the recent Dove and Jockey advertisements featuring the antithesis of Twiggy – the short answer remains a definitive “yes.” The idealized standard, begun in the West and Europe and now generally accepted globally, remains super-thin.

Yet the controversial actions sanctioned by the Spanish government should not have surprised those familiar with the changing public attitude toward the fashion industry. The anti-skinny backlash is tangled up in the thorny issue of women’s perceptions of body image and a silent struggle over how to rewrite the definition of an unrealistic beauty standard.

Organizers of New York’s Olympus Fashion Week so far have declined to discuss whether they would explore similar steps with too-skinny models in upcoming shows, but everyone from women activists to modeling agencies has weighed in.
Elite modeling agency’s North American director and others criticized the new policy, saying it amounted to discrimination against thin models and infringed on fashion designers’ freedom to choose models who suit their preferences.
But Vicky Megarry, fashion director for Women’s Health, called the Spanish policy “a bold step” and the BMI test “a good idea.”

“At our magazine, we’re cheering,” she said. “We struggle constantly, every casting, to find models who aren’t too thin. We have to throw most of them out because they’re too thin, and we don’t perceive that as healthy here.”
Outside of the major fashion centers, however, there’s less pressure on models to be skinny than there is in New York or Europe.

“We look more for real people,” said Vicki Vernet, print agent for the 25-year-old Docherty Modeling and Talent Agency in Pittsburgh. “We look for the young moms and real people of all ages. Retail clients want plus-size models. They want anywhere from a size 4 to a size 16 and up.”
She called Spain’s crackdown “a great thing,” adding: “Every culture is different. Unfortunately, in our culture, there is a growing pressure for girls to be thin.”
There are valid reasons many designers prefer their runway models tall and pencil-thin. Fashion is partly about fantasy and transporting spectators away from the ordinary. Models who are taller and more physically striking serve as coat hangers that allow the garments on them to be the focal point. Beyond that, photos and film visually add weight to a person.

There is, however, a growing dissatisfaction among women who once accepted super-thin as the ideal but rarely questioned it publicly. Most American women wear size 12 or higher, and large doesn’t necessarily mean fat.
Spain’s crackdown may have stemmed from women’s advocacy groups and medical associations in Spain that protested last year that too many models looked skeletal. The 68 models who auditioned for Madrid Fashion Week this time had been told that they would be examined by several specialists.
The five who flunked the physical were taller than 5 feet, 7 inches, weighed less than 121.25 pounds and had a body mass index under 18 – below the BMI minimums set by the endocrinology society and the World Health Organization.
Megarry at Women’s Health magazine is encouraged by all the discussion that’s been generated by the Madrid action.

The public “is aware now of low-weight issues with models,” she said. “It used to be whispered about; now it’s being talked about.”

About Editor-in-Chief, Madeline Jones

Always an activist and looking to bring plus size women into a fashion forward mentality, in 2006 she combined forces with friend and online magazine publisher, Valery Amador, to create PLUS Model Magazine, where they could respond to plus women's demand for fashionable clothing displayed prominently on appropriately sized models. Since then, Ms. Jones has quickly become the, 'Anna Wintour' of the plus size industry where she is frequently called upon for her expertise and insight; Appearances and interviews include ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, Entertainment Tonight, Coco Perez, Fox News, HuffingtonPost.com and 200+ other media sources.