Posted on 03/25/2012 11:16:13 AM PDT by nickcarraway
From super-skinny celebrities to models with low BMI, people are speaking out about women they perceive to be too thin. But some experts worry this behaviour makes things worse.
This week, Israel passed a law banning models from advertisements or fashion shows if they measure less than 18.5 on the body mass index (BMI). It's part of an effort to promote health for women of all sizes, and to stop glorifying the ultra-thin.
"Beautiful is not underweight," says Rachel Adato, one of the creators of the bill.
In recent years, much attention has been paid to how women are portrayed in the media, whether it's an overly airbrushed magazine model with an impossibly slim waist, or a TV starlet with protruding collar bones.
In an era when pro-anorexia communities congregate on social media sites like Pinterest, it's no wonder that lawmakers are concerned with women's body image.
For sure, reducing the number of images that portray women as very thin is beneficial, says Claire Mysko, director of Proud2BeMe, a website created with the National Eating Disorders Association (Neda) to promote healthy body image.
"There is a danger in being constantly exposed to one image of beauty," she says. "There is a serious lack of body diversity in the media. People are not seeing themselves and their bodies reflected."
Israel's law may be the catalyst needed to help make change. But others say it could make things worse.
'Arbitrary' system Many magazine editors, modelling agents and casting directors say they want to use more diverse models, but can't because of industry expectations - with each blaming the other group for setting the tone.
"They all feel trapped into producing what nobody individually espouses," says Amanda Mears, author of Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model. "Everyone felt individually powerless."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I wuz going to try to work that in. LOL
Did I just say that? Oops.
I’m in California...
I’m good with that. Real women have curves.
LOL! And much has been written on this topic, indeed. That gay male designers would advance as their sexual prototype a woman who is, in reality, a boy is no secret. It’s pretty disgusting. Men have been metrosexualized to death and the standard of beauty for women has been to make them look more and more angular...ala men.
bfl
As a petite woman myself, I can understand what you mean, but the way you said it is really, really creepy.
If you say so.
Gotta agree with you there mate! Raquel is so perfect that she should be in The National Bureau of Standards for calibration purposes.
Ever notice how Angie Harmon and Raquel Welch have similar looks?
Hm...Angie Harmon is a bit less endowed....this does warrant further investigation.....
I have told my GF many times that. If she loses her curves and tried to be a skinny wafe I leave immediately.
Looks good to me. Skinny chicks are gross!
You can never be too rich or too thin!!!
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