Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Female Celebs are not to blame, but they do make it look trendy and glamorous to be 85 pounds wearing all the latest threads. They are human too so we can't always put them on that pedistool. But in my opinion, If a girl think's she's fat and want to thow up after every meal, she will do it regardless. Then once she's done she will be comforted in the fact that Lohan or Nicole Richie are doing it too...
In my opinon the ones to blame are these Arrogant European Designers who Market the womens physique to the Mass markets. Blame Them!
I've run across this statement many times in various forums, articles, etc: "The media and anorexic models are responsible for eating disorders amongst women/teenage girls."
I don't agree with this at all. The way I see it, an individual has a choice. If a woman opens up a fashion magazine, and says to herself "I want to be skinny like her", then that woman has made a conscious choice to look like the model in question. If that woman then proceeds to take action to look like said model, that is also a personal choice.
I just don't understand why people blame the media or fashion models for eating disorders. If an individual bases part of their self esteem on comparing themselves to a model...then that's the fault of the individual. The model and/or fashion publication didn't force the person in question to do that.
Interested in hearing other opinions on the matter.
I am overweight because in the past I have eaten too much of the wrong foods, exercised too little and ate when I was not hungry but worried, depressed, stressed or bored. I would like to blame the media and skinny models but I just can't, dagnabbit!
Today I eat more healthfully, still not as well as I should, and definitely get more exercise. The only thing about winter I like is the snow I get to shovel. More snow=burn more calories. Of course, for my husband's well-being this is a chore I don't mind sharing now and then.
For my birthday I got an early gift. We bought a new stationary bike and we both ride. I don't ride until I'm overcome with exhaustion but I ride a decent amount every day. I certainly don't want to give myself a heart attack as I'm of the age where it could happen.
My point is, I am responsible for my own actions. I would imagine that for some, the media, etc. may have an effect on their lives but since I don't give a rat's patoot what they have to say about me and my self image, etc., it matters not. I am responsible for me. No one else is. Me.
The problem with most of the responses on this thread is that authors pretty much project their own thoughts/mentality on the issue. Yes, you maybe a person who has long time forgotten what if is to be a teenager and yes, probably you may not care all that much what you look like. But the point here is whether the recent trends using skinnier and skinnier models have any influence on eating disorders among the larger set of population and especially most vulnerable set - young women. You, as as poster on this forum may not care or even give yourself another look in the mirror or ever pick up a fashion magazine or even be aware what is in fashion nowadays, so you may not understand just what fashion means and had always meant for young women. You maybe wise and not give in to pressures of society and/or you might just underestimate the importance of looks.
Consider following points:
1. young women in their majority (there are of course exceptions) DO care what they look like and what image they project.
2. Media does influence our choices - it sells certain lifestyle, a recipe for success. Of course we can choose to ignore it, but it is a bit harder for vulnerable youth to do this than for a seasoned adult.
3. Fashion models are not what they used to be before -walking mannequins to display clothes. They are now celebrities - supermodels, they are important in and of themselves, not just the clothes or designers they work for. The incessant glamorization of model lifestyle, the emergence of TV shows and contests make modeling a real career probably one of the most sought out by young girls and a stepping stone to other glamorous careers or at least a lucrative marriage.
4. High end fashion designers look at their work as art, they don't necessarily pay much attention to the person wearing the clothing or designing for a specific audience. It is not surprising that having a certain less obtrusive and more skeleton like and androgynous body type is beneficial for a model to be employed - to showcase the clothing as art as opposed to showcase how attractive her body is. This also makes high fashion more portable to be able to fit any model and not lose that concept the designer envisions.
Adding last two points together we get the picture:
Designers find it convenient to employ very thin models + modeling is a great career = being super skinny pays.
Adding first two points to the equation explains why young women want to be very skinny and would want to get there by any means possible and why they may have issues with self-esteem if they don't fit a certain mold.
In fact the influence of fashion and glamorization of modeling career is so high that even Hollywood actresses are completely taken by it as of recent years. Even those actresses we used to consider very attractive and voluptuous in the beginning of the decade have now resorted to looking like skeletons as of late. The message that Hollywood actresses send is even more powerful, because it makes the women more and more convinced that being skinny does pay and pays a lot.
I think the problem is twofold. There are two competing influences over how women want to look.
#1 Women in the fashion industry. They aren't anorexic. They are healthy. They are successful because they are healthy. Yes there are some anorexic models. But most are just naturally thin. Obviously they watch what they eat but they do eat well and they also work out. What we do have is the people who BLAME the fashion industry, and falsely accuse the models of anorexia or bulemia. This creates a scapegoat and it gives the impressionable girls someone to blame other than themselves.
I don't think so. Perhaps before models were healthier, but in the recent decade the trend has been thinner is better to the point that some look downright skeletal. I work in Manhattan, area with lots of modeling agencies, and I see models all the time, some are healthier looking and appear to be naturally thin, and some look like they are genuinely anorexic. I also witnessed a few fashion shoots and most of them had models that were unusually thin, not healthy thin. When you see someone and the first thing on your mind are the movies about famines of war and concentration camps, chances are, they are not healthy and most likely starving. If someone looks like you can study human skeleton anatomy on them, they are not naturally thin. BTW, this applies to men as well. I've seen anorexic looking male models in person and in print.
I am wondering if you are talking about fitness models here. Fashion models of this decade definitely do not project the images of health. Fitness models with their fat free muscular bodies are not just eating healthy and exercising moderately. They spend 8 hours each day in the gym since this is their full time job to look certain way to cell fitness products to gullible public who think they can get such bodies with just 20 min a day exercise.
I've run across this statement many times in various forums, articles, etc: "The media and anorexic models are responsible for eating disorders amongst women/teenage girls."
I don't agree with this at all. The way I see it, an individual has a choice. If a woman opens up a fashion magazine, and says to herself "I want to be skinny like her", then that woman has made a conscious choice to look like the model in question. If that woman then proceeds to take action to look like said model, that is also a personal choice.
I just don't understand why people blame the media or fashion models for eating disorders. If an individual bases part of their self esteem on comparing themselves to a model...then that's the fault of the individual. The model and/or fashion publication didn't force the person in question to do that.
Interested in hearing other opinions on the matter.
I believe there is a difference between assigning responsibility and something being a factor.
No, I do not think the industry is responsible for eating disorders. However, I do believe it can be a factor in influencing people. People as much as do not want to accept it are very suceptible to influences. Just look around and you can see how many women may dress as the first lady, may fix their hair as some actress, men may dress as some sports figure. When Dorothy Hemil won the gold skating gold medal hordes of women started to get the Hemil hair style.
Commercial experts get paid thousands of dollars to influence people to buy products, vote for someone, etc. Do you think people would waste all that money if they new no one would follow their suggestions? Do you think Victoria Secret would waste money for a few seconds commercial during the Super Bowl if they did not think the commercial would produce enough money to pay for the commercial plus profits?
At most I would encourage 'responsible' advertising, responsible political rhetoric, etc. but I would not hold people or groups of any type responsilbe. The bottom line if teenagers fall for all that influence, the parents may not be parenting enough to negate the negative influences from those models, take care.
I believe there is a difference between assigning responsibility and something being a factor.
No, I do not think the industry is responsible for eating disorders. However, I do believe it can be a factor in influencing people. People as much as do not want to accept it are very suceptible to influences. Just look around and you can see how many women may dress as the first lady, may fix their hair as some actress, men may dress as some sports figure. When Dorothy Hemil won the gold skating gold medal hordes of women started to get the Hemil hair style.
Commercial experts get paid thousands of dollars to influence people to buy products, vote for someone, etc. Do you think people would waste all that money if they new no one would follow their suggestions? Do you think Victoria Secret would waste money for a few seconds commercial during the Super Bowl if they did not think the commercial would produce enough money to pay for the commercial plus profits?
At most I would encourage 'responsible' advertising, responsible political rhetoric, etc. but I would not hold people or groups of any type responsilbe. The bottom line if teenagers fall for all that influence, the parents may not be parenting enough to negate the negative influences from those models, take care.
I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut! What a mistake that was.
Anorexia is more about control and behavior than following fashion/desire. Stress, abuse, etc certainly can cause it and once someone becomes anorexic, they discover it actually feels good; the brain changes, the world is different. True we have a choice as to what we want to do with our body as it is ours and some people like being very thin, near anorexic. The problem comes when it is difficult to come back.
I think a lot of eating disorders are probably because there seem to be a lot of people out there who think eating is a shameful thing to do. I have seen lots of people who seem to think that eating is such a bad thing to do. They count calories excessively and cannot eat without commenting on the nutritional content of food. Little things like this around impressionable youth can go a long ways.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
