something positive in the news...

[lagilman]

Models Flunk BMI, Get Spain Fashion Boot
By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 8, 3:28 PM

MADRID, Spain - Spain's top fashion show has turned away a slew of models on grounds they are too skinny _ an unprecedented swipe at body images blamed for encouraging eating disorders among young people.

Organizers of the pageant, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, used a mathematical formula to calculate the models' body mass index _ a measure of their weight in relation to their height _ and 30 percent of the women flunked, said the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain.

The association said Friday it wanted models at the show running from Sept. 18-22 to project "an image of beauty and health" and shun a gaunt, emaciated look.

The decision was made as part of a voluntary agreement with the Madrid regional government, said Jesus del Pozo, a designer who is part of the association, said Thursday.

Last year's show, also called Madrid Fashion Week, drew protests from medical associations and women's advocacy groups because some of the models were positively bone-thin.

This time the Madrid regional government decided to intervene and pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin and prone to starving themselves into sickness, said Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration.

Fashion shows, Guerra said, "are mirrors for many young women."

Del Pozo said this was the first time skinny models have been snubbed at a major international fashion show.

Ryan Brown, director of marketing and public relations in North America for the Elite modeling agency in New York City, agreed. "It is very unprecedented," said Brown, who has nothing to do with the Spanish show.

He welcomed the decision saying "I think it is great to promote health."

Madrid's show, which features mainly Spanish designers, is not as prestigious as catwalks in Paris or Milan but "it is not at the bottom of the pile," he said.

The impact of rejecting skinny women would have been greater at those other glitzier venues. Still, he said, "I am sure the industry is taking note."

The body mass index is a tool for doctors who study obesity. It is calculated by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared, and multiplying that total by 703.

If the resulting number is between 18.5 and 24.9, the person's weight is normal. Below 18.5 they are underweight. In the case of the Madrid show, organizers rejected women with indices under 18.

Brown of the Elite agency said fashion shows reflect the tastes of clothing designers, who for now prefer the Kate Moss look as opposed to the curvier dimensions of models such as Cindy Crawford in years past.

"They don't want voluptuous girls any more," he said. "It would be nice if fashion got back to that."

(suri notes: "anything over 18 BMI is 'voluptuous?' Gimme a break....")

Comments

[kriz1818.livejournal.com]

Whee! I'm voluptuous!

[chibiaingeal.livejournal.com]

This article warms my heart after another friend posted in her journal late last week about some Australian models who were booted froma fashion shoot for being to big even though they were the American equivalent of size 4-6.

[chibiaingeal.livejournal.com]

PS Would it be OK if I post this article in my journal?

[lagilman]

I shamelessly posted the entire thing because I couldn't find a URL to link to, so....

[deannahoak.livejournal.com]

Yeah, mine's 18.8. I have a decent body, but I don't think anyone would ever describe me as "voluptuous." :-)

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

Good for them! I was just reading in People about a model who was once anorexic and is now walking the catwalk--the major ones, like Jean-Paul Gaultier at a size 12 and looks healthy and gorgeous and yet in that same article, one of the agency heads refers to her as a "plus-size model." And did I mention that she's something like 5'11"? I mean, really-- a size 12 spread over that much real estate, height-wise looks absolutely fantastic.

And body shape and weight distribution has so much to do with how clothes fit. I'm 5'2", have a BMI of 24.5 and wear an American size 4.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed. At 110lbs which on my frame is nearly skeletal, I'm a size 10. I have broad shoulders, and my arms and legs are long for my height, and I have big wrists. And a bust. I could be a size 2, maybe, if I had my bones removed.

The fashion industry has some very sick views of "proper" size and proportions.

[debg.livejournal.com]

I need to go back and read the article again (not really awake yet), so this is probably tangential, but....

I have some major issues with the whole "mathematical formula to calculate what you should weigh via body mass index" deal, and I do mean major issues. As a concept, I think it's bogus and dangerous, except as a VERY broad generalisation. I like the idea these guys had, of presenting a "look, real women with real bodies carrying real weight and not underfed!" reality, but I don't like the whole body mass calculation, at all.

Example: According to my body mass index, my ideal weight is approximately 135.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Dude. My collarbones weigh about twenty pounds on their own. You've seen me; hell, we've shared a room. Right now, I'm a size 10, which is threatening to drop to a size 8 (my tens are getting loose, as I work out more). I'm a skosh over 5'9". My shoulders are as broad as Ronnie Lott's (I know that for a fact; we stood back to back at a Springsteen show and his eyes got wide). That whole size 10 thing? Right now, I weigh 170.

My ideal weight is nowhere near what the doctors all read off their BMI charts. My idea weight is right around 150, with a high of about 155, and maybe 158 if I'm in full 7-day-a-week workout, endorphins for breakfast mode.

At 135, I not only can't find clothes that fit (women at my height and with size nine gloves are not supposed to be a size 0), I look like I spent the weekend at Auschwitz. Horribly underfed, gaunt, ill.

So I love what these guys were trying to do, but I wish they'd found another way to do it. I honestly think the only way to is take each individual model and see what works on each of them. Otherwise, aren't they simply generalising down another path?

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

I know where my fat is--just where my daughter wanted it when she still (more or less) fit in my lap. I might (or might not) lose that last five pounds I feel I'd like to lose while walking her dog at noon on school days. If not, it'll just be, maybe more muscle and less fat.

But I can walk the dog around the four acres of our yard that we use without getting out of breath. So what if I don't look good in the latest thing from Milan or Paris? Laura Anne's seen what I usually wear--let a supermodel look good in that!

So that's me, currently 160 lbs on 5'2". Broad shoulders, which is good, 'cause it makes my hips less noticeable (maybe). ;-) For clothes, a size 14-16, petite length in the pants, but my shoulders can make things difficult for some styles.

My health issues, so far, have nothing to do with my weight. (I have a checkup with my excellent GP later this week, so I might have to eat those words.)

Generalization can be hazardous at many points: BMI, carbohydrates are bad for you, carbs are good for you, fat's bad, fat's good, protein, likewise, exercise is great (just don't have a heart attack while you're doing it), drink plenty of water (but don't overhydrate). Even "moderation in all things" as a generalization can work against you. If you're allergic to shellfish, a moderate amount of shellfish will kill you.

So, yeah, generalizing down another path isn't so hot.

But it's cool that they're easing up on the stick figure look.

Am I long-winded or what?

[debg.livejournal.com]

Not long-winded in my book, yo....

Bottom line is, if the only factors they're using a gauge are height and weight in order to reach an average, they're eliminating the extremes that gave them the middle in the first place.

Let's talk body type. Or bone size and density. Ethnic somatypes. Body fat versus muscle (when my multiple sclerosis cooperates and lets me work out, I actually gain weight but lose bulk). Metabolic rate - one of my oldest friends is just under 5'7" in height, has a medium bone structure, and has a constant battle to keep her weight above 100 pounds. She's a 32A bra size. She isn't anorexic or bulemic: she just burns through food at warp 11. So, she's a bad example to young girls? Howsabout to the young girls who have her metabolism and alrady think they're freaks?

So yep - definitely glad they're backing away from underfed. But I wish they'd used a different road.

[miladyinsanity.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, debg.

Especially since I'm like your friend. Not fun being accused of being a bulimic when you're not just because you have a metabolism that allows you to eat cake (literally) every day without gaining an ounce.

[debg.livejournal.com]

My daughter's father - a very sweet Londoner - has one of those metabolisms, as well. He could eat a pint of ice cream, take a 9-hour nap, and his trousers waistband was 27".

I got very tired of hearing "Doesn't she feed you...?" And I've been with Dee - the friend I mentioned - when strangers have gently hinted that she ought to see a therapist for her eating disorder which, as it happens, doesn't exist.

I don't want to make light of it, or have anyone think promoting looking like a medieval torture victim is a good idea. I raised a daughter, and that was one of my biggest issues: making sure she didn't fall into that trap.

But the "we're using THIS scale, and you flunked, so you're fired"? No.

[merlinpole.livejournal.com]

My daughter's father - a very sweet Londoner - has one of those metabolisms, as well. He could eat a pint of ice cream, take a 9-hour nap, and his trousers waistband was 27".

My sister used to have that sort of metabolism, and my father's metabolism was like that until quite a ways into the second half of his (long)life. My metabolism isn't, and my mother's didn't used to be (dialysis three times a week knocks someone's weight down -fast-).

[debg.livejournal.com]

(dialysis three times a week knocks someone's weight down -fast-)

Trust me, I know. My first great love had one kidney and that one was barely functional. He was always thin, always frail. It broke my heart; there was nothing I could do to fix it. I offered a kidney, but we didn't match.