Craig Hill
KC Hill
Paladin
Oracle of DelphiThe Skinny Model Ban
September 18th 2006 10:37
A Catwalk Model, from www.morguefile.com
On the 2nd of August 2006, at approximately 9pm, Luisel Ramos stepped off a runway in Montevideo. She was a 22-year-old Uruguayan beauty who was slowly making her mark on the South American modeling front. But this was the last time she would parade down the catwalk, ever.
At approximately 9.15pm that same day, Luisel died from heart failure. She had not eaten for almost two weeks.
Her death has forced the fashion world to confront a harsh reality. And quite frankly, this confrontation was long overdue.
The fact is that some models are just too skinny. They are willingly starving themselves because right now, thin is in. And like a domino effect, males and females of all ages who are being bombarded with images of skinniness are simply following in their footsteps – dieting and developing eating disorders all in the name of beauty.
But Luisel’s death was the final straw for the Spaniards. During Madrid Fashion Week, wafer-thin models were banned from the show after a rule was instituted permitting only those models with a Body Mass Index of 18 or above to participate in the parades. According to the World Health Organisation, a person with an Index less than 18.5 is underweight. So when the average female model is 5”9, this means she will need to weigh at least 57 kg to be allowed to participate - which is still on the thin side for most people’s liking, but at least they are making some progress, right?
Similarly, British Cabinet Minister Tessa Jowell has called for London Fashion Week to adopt the same measures. Not only would this ensure that the health of the models is maintained, but it would also have an effect on all the young men and women who try to emulate these slender figures.
Yet the British Fashion Council has announced that it would not impose a ban on “skinny” models because they do not want to interfere in the aesthetic of their designer’s shows.
And just how many more Luisel Ramos’ must there be before something is done about this?
Clearly, it would be impossible to implement a “law” in this regard, but should there be rules or guidelines banning overly-skinny models from the catwalk?
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Comment by Lucy Lucy
I think that there should be some "code of conduct" for models including things like not starving yourself and not doing drugs. Not sure if it would solve the problem butmaybe they need the encouragement.
Comment by Cibbuano
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Maybe drugs had something to do with it...
Comment by Legally Brunette
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Cibbo, I'm with you, i think a bit of curve is really beautiful.
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I'm surprised she had the energy to walk down the catwalk. It is one hell of a demonstration of mind over matter.
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Comment by Legally Brunette
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And you are definetly right about changing people's views Cajun. Where do we even start? On the catwalk?
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