This woman, model Isabelle Caro, died of anorexia last year.
An article on the possibility that the fashion industry is a contributing factor the growth of eating disorders also detailed the deaths of other models from anorexia:
“On Aug. 2, 2006, moments after stepping off a catwalk in Montevideo, Uruguay, 22-year-old fashion model Luisel Ramos collapsed and died from heart failure believed to have been triggered by self-imposed starvation. Ramos’ father reported that she had been subsisting on a diet of lettuce and Diet Coke in anticipation of the show. On Nov. 15, 2006, 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died in a São Paulo hospital from generalized infection. Her body had been rendered powerless to fight it by an extended battle with anorexia and bulimia. And on Feb. 13, 2007, Ramos’ sister, Eliana, also a model and only 18-years-old, was found dead at her grandparents’ home, apparently having suffered a heart attack linked to malnutrition.”
Notice that these women, who were almost certainly as thin as the above photos, were still working as models when they died? Yet no designer, no stylist, no make-up artist, no person whatsoever noticed they were basically skeletons with eyes and hair. Nobody intervened. Nobody helped. No sirree, what mattered was the fact the clothes looked great on them. Modern clothes are prettiest on the hanger … and women have become hangers to suit the modern fashion industry.
Hangers don’t live long. Nobody seems to give a shit. After all, they are merely women.
These women, some naturally hyper-slim because of a certain genetic phenotype, some skeletal because of a mental disease that is killing them, are used every damn day to represent the ideal beauty. They are photoshopped into “flawless perfection” in addition to their “gorgeously” emaciated bodies. Other women are then encouraged to aspire to look like they do in order to be “pretty” and thus “worthy”. Is this the sole cause of anorexia? No. Does it contribute to it? Hell, yes.
As a gender, we aspire to look like death.
Feminists, and other multitudinous groups, know this helping to drive young women into an early grave and assuring that no woman will ever feel she has a “thin enough” body. Moreover, we have exported this bullshit all over the world. Sometimes people fight back by encouraging girls to be aware they are being tricked by media. It appears to really help. So that’s what I’m doing. I am screaming from the rooftops that there are various forms of beauty, and that beauty is not the same thing as worth.
I’m going to go eat some cheese fondue. I melted the cheese over a pile of burning Vogue magazines. It tastes better that way.
Wow. That chick looks like she just came out of Auschwitz. I did a speech about anorexia/models and stuff my freshman year in high school. I remember cutting pictures out of magazines just like these.
What kills me, is that those fashion magazines all try to say they are ‘pro-women’, and that women should love themselves, etc etc, and then do nothing but show they don’t mean it.
Last year when I was on capital hill, we ran into some girls lobbying about eating disorders/overcoming them. They were all SOO skinny, that I don’t think they had actually overcome them. It was sad.
I have a friend who overcame anorexia … in that she doesn’t do it anymore. But she still hates her body with a passion. It makes me so sad.
Ack!
This shit makes me crazy.
I’ve done the anorexia dance myself. Hair fell out in chunks, ribs protruded through clothes. It is truly a mental distortion and mine was not about “thin” it was about imposing control on my chaotic home life. (Okay, no one said it was a GOOD coping strategy.)
And when freakishly thin actresses insist that they eat pizza and biscuits-and-gravy every day I want to set fires. Unrealistic and cruel to set those standards for young girls. Gaaah.
Diva smash.
I agree with those who theorize that it is the equation with thin = good that push people with the need to control some other horrible aspect in their lives into starvation. It’s mental, but is an extreme form of what all women are being told. Fokker Help Diva Smash.
Horrible. Burn all those magazines! Burn them! They make people feel terrible to sell us things. It works even when we’re aware of it. Argh!
Have you read Robin Brande’s young adult book Fat Cat? It’s about an overweight teenager who goes on this non-fascist version of a paleo diet and (not a shocker) loses a lot of weight and gets all kinds of attention from boys. But then she realizes she only didn’t before because she hated herself, not because she was fat. Like, the problem wasn’t fat, it was self-hatred. Self-hatred caused the fat. Now that she’s all slimmed down, she loves herself and so do the boys. ARGH.
Um, yeah, I don’t know. I have a lot of trouble with this book but it was also really good, until it made me want to scream and stab people. Just wondering if anyone else has read it. Or other fictional approaches to this.
I usually try not to burn books, but I don’t consider the cover-to-cover ad that is Vogue to be a written work. I’ve never reas Fat Cat … I wonder if there will be more YA books about this stuff?
There was a really good book actually called Fat Chance that was a YA book about 15 years ago (or so). The cover was like a playing card with a girl eating a cheeseburger on one side and a skeleton sticking her finger down her throat on the other.
It was really good. I know that, when I would tell myself “I’m not going to eat” in reaction to my mom, after 12 hours or so I’d realize I was getting close to being like one of the characters and go sneak some food.
I have a gorgeous little friend who is expecting her 3rd baby in 7 years- every one of them wanted and loved. She is NOT obese, even 8 months pregnant. She said something the other day about not remembering getting into a size 2 jean it’s been so long- but she was laughing because- she GETS it.
I told her “Yanno- I haven’t seen a size 2 since I was like 8 years old. I’m not unhealthily obese but I try to eat well and watch portion control along with being very active. My family loves me the way I am, which is all that matters. I figure which is the bigger accomplishment- fitting into Skinny Jeans or GROWING THREE HUMAN BEINGS INSIDE OF ME?”
Seems like a no-brainer *~*
My Goodness, are you implying it’s NORMAL for a woman to not have the perfect post-baby body for bikini season 3 weeks after the birth?? Shocking!
(Picture me prostrate, kissing the feet of Pope Fokker) I don’t like burning literature but those mags deserve it. I am so glad that you are vigilant and after these asshat idiots.
There are a couple of places where I would like to share the link to your blog and help spread the word. Would that be okay with you?
Ever your devotee, Judy,Judy,Judy
Of course you can Share, beloved Clever Cherry. You are being considered for canonization in the SCNa, since your wisdom in recognizing my brilliance is clearly divinely inspired! LOL!!
I don’t know how or if this fits into this conversation (probably not at all, but I’d like to vent) – this week’s People magazine has a story about people losing weight for their wedding – and one woman is now 157 and size 12 – ok, I’ve been there, it was tight, but I was there. One is down to 175 and is a size 10, one is down to 194 and is a size 14, and one is down to 148 and is a size 6. Where are these womn shopping, and can I go there too?
I’ll hold on to the back of your shirt (as a safety percaution) while you stand on the rooftops and scream this message. Then I’ll re-tweet it. If I could afford to rent billboards the world over, like the one above, with YOUR name and beautiful likeness on it, I would. We may be one small corner of the globe, but we are a freaking loud corner.
Julie
“still working as models when they died”
sick.
i never buy, read or suggest fashion magazines to anyone. i’d rather stare at ceilings in the doctor’s office than pick one up for two minutes.
this stuff makes me insanely furious.
also, let me know if you have any ideas about how i can get my friends to quit whining constantly about their weight. (we’re all in our late 30′s and up)