I want to start by clearing something up. I'm not lashing out at someone who is naturally a size 0, like little asian girls or genetically superior freaks or women who are petite (like, 1.60m and a size 0). My problem is with the women who are naturally a size 8, and who look beautiful and healthy as a size 8, but they decide to starve themselves into skeletal oblivion.
WTF?!
On the other hand, I kind of get it. Some really powerful important person once decided that unhealthily skinny was now in fashion, and we haven't been able to drag ourselves out of it since. Way to go Calvin Klein. The worst part - a lot of times, I wish I were that skinny.
There's something about the female mind that is very resistant to logic. We're bombarded with images of "Beautiful, sexy women"who look like they'd be blown away by a gust of wind, and eventually, we start to believe it.
It doesn't matter how often our boyfriends/husbands tell us that we look beautiful at X weight - straight men have very little influence when it comes to fashion.
Thing is, most of us have some basic preservation instincts (or maybe just a lack of will-power?), and we eat. We don't always exercise, but we eat. Then we get frustrated that we can't attain this impossible ideal, and we start to hate our bodies and sometimes ourselves.
The poster-girl for skeleton-woman, Kate Moss, once said Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. How F***'d up is that?
The only thing that's harder to deal with is someone who WAS a size 0, but isn't any more. Like me. When I was a teenager, I could eat like a pig (ask some of my old friends, they'll tell you!) and I'd never gain an ounce. Unfortunately, everyone's metabolism slows down at some point, and mine did too, and now I'm somewhere between a 4 and a 6.
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| Me at 17 |
Now, by most standards, that's pretty slim. Yet I still have an irrational desire to get back to at least a size 2. But maybe it's not so irrational. All I know is that something's shifted in society's ideal version of what's beautiful, and something needs to change.
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Andrea
I really like your insight of the subject, and thanks for not bashing those like myself who are naturally a size 0. I get so many comments about "not being a real woman" just because I love to run and have a crazy metabolism.
ReplyDeleteI've been told once by someone who's in the industry that the reason why they choose skinny models is because they make the clothing look flat, as if it was on a hanger. I was too young at the time to fully comprehend whether or not he was joking, but that comment stayed with me ever since.
Do I think the models are to skinny? Hell yeah. A lot of them are not that size naturally and they go through great lengths to be that size. A lot of them die young because of that.
That being said, I don't think being a size 0 is unattractive, but then again, my opinion is bias because I have been a 0 and 00 since I finished puberty (until I was 16, I was a size 3/4) But I don't think that my size 0 body is better or worse than a size 10. We're just different.
I can't say I'm not jealous, but like I said before, it's all about being healthy. That's always hot, and I'd like to start seeing more of it on the runways!
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Andrea
I found a link to your blog btw ~ were (are) you a model? That's such a cool photo of you! At least you didn't have to suffer to stay so thin. While I can envy a stick-thin woman because I feel they can wear more clothes, pull off more looks and less flattering outfits greatly all the while being able to easily maneuver crowds, that's the only reason I would want to be so skinnier. I would take beyonce, scarlette johanssen, or shakira bodies anyday over kate moss when it comes to beauty. I always thought the lives of these stick thin icons were tortured ones. Why is suffering so glamorous?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Scarlette is WAY hotter than Kate Moss, and I'm so sad that Angelina got sucked into the whole skinny-bitch thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for your question, yes, when I was a teenager I did some modeling. Never turned into a career, but I had a good time and even made a little money!
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Andrea
You don't understand what an eating disorder is like, until you actually experience it. Writing endless blogs trying to make a point isn't going to make anorexics stop being anorexics. Unless you have battled with bulimia, anorexia, or EDNOS you have no right to say anything. I promise you I'm not trying to be rude, but there is a lot more to wanting to be skinny than a Calvin Klein ad.
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