‘Dying to be fashionable’

Starving in the name of beauty

TOPE ORIOLA STAFF

The Madrid fashion show Pasarela Cibeles recently clamped down on what many of us had previously feared — the starving to death of “models” in the name of beauty — ridiculed as “dying to be fashionable” on the front page of the Manitoban on Sept. 20. The Associated Press (AP) reports the ingenuous Body Mass Index used to disqualify 30 per cent of the models in order to promote “an image of beauty, elegance and health.” The body mass index was calculated by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared, and the result was multiplied by 703 according to AP. A range of 18.5 - 24.5 was set as benchmark. The Madrid show disqualified those whose BMI value was less than 18 as underweight arguing that “we don’t want walking skeletons.” This brave effort is good riddance to bad rubbish for several reasons.

Very few “normal” human beings actually have the body type and size of those ladies who are supposed to be models. Many of them are perpetually on hunger strike, or awkward and strange diets in order to look the way they do. They have thus become a terrible influence on young girls who see them as “mirrors” as the Madrid regional government pointed out. The fashion show committee’s decision to not hire such models for being too “skinny” and “thin” should make everyday, genuine women elated.

Most discerning and mature women have learnt to view the designer apparels on display without coveting the hunger-induced looks of the models. Such women have accepted the fact that they would never look like that. How can a human being survive on two apples a day in the name of being trendy and fashionable? Besides, many such ladies are known to have gone under the surgeon’s knife for equally flimsy reasons aimed at remaking themselves. Genuine beauty should be natural, unforced, with little or no cosmetic trimmings.

It is intriguing to read the 2005 interview granted Newsweek by Carre Otis, a world-class model and actress. Aptly titled “We’re a nation under a spell,” Otis revealed how she starved herself for almost 17 years and had to have heart surgery among other treatments as the result of her eating disorder. Like others before her, she said “I was afraid of getting fat and being out of control. I was afraid I would lose myself, my sense of self and identity, and the feeling of being socially acceptable.” She now tries to make young girls aware of the danger of eating disorders. Otis’ tone suggested that she had realized all the pain she (like numerous other girls) put herself through was not worth the gain. She argued that “The love my friends and family had nothing to do with what size jeans I wore.”

Otis’ example should be enough warning for those who wish to rule the world of fashion at all cost. Her case made the headlines because of her popularity. How about hundreds of others who must have died unsung, as wannabes?

I hope that organizers of other major fashion shows in New York, Paris, London and other major cities in the world will take a cue from Pasarela Cibeles. Conversely, organizations in charge of beauty pageants should follow suit by allowing only healthy and totally natural ladies to contest. There should be no room for people who have, for instance, enlarged or reduced their breasts and those who have had one transplant or another. Plastic surgeries should be treated as examination cheats.

Many of the supposed beauty queens of various countries, past and present. will woefully fail a naturalness test. The best way to know a woman who is truly beautiful amongst a bevy of ladies is to make them compete first thing in the morning without makeups and

sundry cosmetic trimmings. Many of our highly celebrated beauty queens will be seen to lack the very essence of beauty — many of them are only parading parts of the body that are probably expired.

There is a wider and more grievous implication of the need to be thin by women. It is an instance of male domination, a source of consternation for women’s rights activists. How many men go to such extremes to please women? Why should women care about being judged beautiful or ugly by men? If women wish to be taken seriously by men, which I believe is necessary, they need not focus excessively on how they look. Personally, I would accord more respect to an intelligent lady than one who is all beauty and no brains. And, being African, my idea of beauty is not those hungry-looking walking sticks.

Women should appreciate their own selves for what they are and not thither and dither after everything in vogue for the relaxation of unappreciative men. At the heart of this unnecessary pressure to be trendy is vanity. Magazines like Vanity Fair are exploiting this vain culture, which knows no geographical bounds. Likewise, the idea of selling and displaying pictures of the infants of so-called celebrities is indicative of a very vain culture. Why would anyone buy a copy of Vanity Fair — a very didactic name for a magazine — in order to see pictures of a helpless toddler even if the father was Tom Cruise? What intrinsic benefit might one get from that?

If you must live by having a model, the likes of Rachael Ray might do you some good. She is a professional cook who cannot be described as fat — it is not a crime to be fat anyway — and looks superb without dying of starvation. She makes a living from cooking and relishes good food.

To all the budding models, please note that Tommy Hilfiger is already an old man. He would probably not be around to mourn the loss of any girl who starves herself in order to wear his designer clothes. Should you decide to continue on this journey that people like Carre Otis treaded and found nearly fatal, we wish you the best of luck. At least good food can go round to the rest of us, who are determined to stay healthy. To others like myself, bon appetit!

Tope Oriola is the Manitoban's Comment Editor. He is pursuing a master's degree in sociology.