Plus Model Magazine and Fashion’s Obsession with Unrealistic Body Image

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The weight, dress size and health of models have always been hot-button topics, both in and out of the fashion industry. While runways are slowly shying away from the ultra-thin, heroin chic craze that dominated the late-90s and resurfaced in the mid-00s with all those pale, starving girls from Eastern Europe, and the CFDA has enacted initiatives to ensure the health and safety of models, there is still a large disparity between the average woman and what she sees when opens up the pages of Vogue. And with fashion, the trend simply trickles down to the rest of society. Just take a look at the skeletons on this Sunday’s Golden Globes red carpet. Bombarded with these images on a daily basis, how can impressionable young girls and women in general have a healthy body image? Plus Model Magazine decided to address this issue head-on with an editorial featuring Katya Zharkova and a handful of disturbing factoids.

While one could argue that the statement — “Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23% less.” — doesn’t take into account the fact that women 20 years ago probably weighed less than they do now — two decades of fast food will do that to you — one only has to consider who the average fashion model was 20 years ago. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Fucking Evangelista…these women were Amazons and Glamazons; healthy, gorgeous and glowing with the energy of life and $10,000 a day paychecks. Then Kate Moss came shuffling in and changed the game. Despite the veracity of the facts, if anything the spread stimulates a debate. And more importantly, it offers images of a beautiful woman who is not only clearly proud of her voluptuous body, but also pretty damned flexible to boot. [Buzzfeed]