Comments on: Too Skinny in Berlin?

By: daisychaindream

daisychaindream — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:07:08 +0000

So many people nowadays get penalised for being too skinny. Everyone seems to promote being bigger but they forget that being overweight is just as unhealthy as being overweight. I understand that skinny models don’t help others body image but who actually aspires to look like that. I certainly don’t know anyone and the fashion industry is, currently, so inaccessable that many people think of it as another world, something unobtainable and almost fairytale like. Truth be told, the clothes that are designed within the fashon industry look decidedly better on thin models and why should they sacrifice a small part of their art?

By: guest

guest — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:35:08 +0000

You can be a healthy size 0, but not at a model’s height. Models aren’t petite and to have the measurements of 32 25 35 and smaller when your 5’10″ is ridiculous. Commenter 5, I’m a 4-6 and I’m not fat. That makes me believe a size 2 isn’t fat either. Please speak for yourself I’d rather see how clothes hang on real people, such as myself, who are going to buy them than mythical creatures.

By: guest

guest — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:45:25 +0000

I hate to see models starving themselves. I do. I think there needs to be labour legislation in place regulating treatment of models under the age of 18…
but if this is Germany’s attempt to promote healthy body image among regular girls, they’re WAY off. Anorexia and Bulimia are complicated problems, and are a result of an interaction of psychological problems ( perfectionism, obsessiveness, need for control), and yes, social forces, but mainly from primary social groups (friends, family). I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think the modeling industry plays a huge part.
Many girls are praised from a young age for being fit and skinny. Being obese opens you up to ridicule and shame, amongst classmates, but also from adults.
So when a child develops a social understanding that thin is good, fat is bad, and when, in that context, there exists a child who is extremely obsessive and needs to be good all the time, they end up taking it to an extreme and sometimes that means starving themselves.
I became a very restrictive eater when I was 11 or 12. For me, it had a lot to do with control. I liked being hungry, I felt good when my stomach growled. To me, it was a sign of my discipline. I also took a certain degree of satisfaction in being thinner than the other girls, something I had been praise for previously.
Kate Moss and the heroin-chic look of the early-mid 90s didn’t register on my radar until after I had developed anomalous eating habits.
I can’t say that’s true of everyone, but the behaviours of everyone I knew who had eating issues seemed to have been most influenced by the people in their immediate social circle, and their personal proclivities.
Want to improve body image? target that. Not the modeling industry. they’re wasting their time.

By: guest

guest — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:31:34 +0000

It’s so typical that politicians wanna have a piece of the cake too and so they try to make some points by being credited for sharing a majority’s opinion.
Nevertheless: how are designers supposed to sell their collections with fat models!?
Even H&M models are skinnier!

By: alegra

alegra — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:22:25 +0000

it’s actually been part of a campgane which would translate to “life is weighty” (leben hat gewicht), which is our health minister’s slogan for this year, focusing on fighting anorexia.

By: guest

guest — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:06:08 +0000

i agree with the first two. it is important to fairly handle this situation. i would like to see a variety of healthy sizes, which could verily include a size zero. im glad the press touched on the issue though…

By: guest

guest — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:06:19 +0000

I thought they prohibited models with a BMI of 18 or below?
Saying you can’t walk if your below a size 2 isn’t entirely fair because many models are just naturally petite.

By: guest

guest — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:33:01 +0000

hmm. i don’t think saying you have to be bigger than a size 2 is really fair either though, is it? you can be a 0 and be healthy.
good purpose, bad execution.