The modeling industry has faced more pressure this year to ban skinny models from walking the catwalk than any other year in modeling history. Media sources and concerned citizens feel as though ultra-skinny models are sending a negative image to young teens. While some districts have disregarded the issues of banning models under a certain weight, others are starting to agree with the media and are changing the image of the models they use.
The model size debate has been going on for years. Earlier this year representatives from London Fashion Week refused to change the look of their models while Milan has always been a supporter of the change. Yesterday, the city of Milan and it's highly influential fashion industry has permanently banned models with a body mass index of less than 18.5 from walking the runway in any of their shows.
Milan isn't alone in their support to ban skinny models. Spain and Brazil are also supporters of banning skinny models due to the deaths of 3 anorexic models this year.
Whether or not the entire modeling industry is about to completely change the image of 21st century models is still unknown. While some support the new and healthier image, others feel as though there is nothing wrong with using small models on the runway. I guess the real question is where do we draw the line? How small is too small and who are we to judge whether or not someone is healthy.
Will this attempt to change the image of models affect young teens? Will it really reduce the incidences of anorexia-related deaths? Maybe, maybe not. But to ban someone from doing their job primarily based on their weight is unfair. The media views discrimination against overweight models from the industry as unfair so aren’t we just adding another problem to the mix.
Will smaller models now feel the pressure to be bigger? Will this not result in eating disorders as well? And will the pressure to be bigger (eating fast food, binge eating etc) not create an unhealthy image for teens as well?
Putting too much focus on someone’s weight (big or small) is the problem with the modeling industry. Without that focus we would simply be looking at the clothing, not the people wearing the clothing – and isn’t the clothing what the modeling industry is about in the first place?