In "Style"

Kate Moss

Nicole Richie

Marilyn Monroe

Thank goodness for magazines! What would people do if they did not have something to tell them who was doing what, what's in style, or the latest and greatest diet tricks? Everyday, people across the world raid magaines stands to get the latest "Hollywood gossip," fashion tips, or newest styles for the upcoming season. Teenagers -- and maybe even adults -- who buy these magazines look to these models and movie stars with envy and jealousy of how they look, dress, or live their daily lives. Because the super thin models and Hollywood icons are labeled as beautiful and glamorous, we change our diet, spend a few extra minutes in the gym, or even change how we dress in order to mirror the people on the pages of magazines. But who says changing diets or working out longer is a negative thing? Cutting soft drinks out or an extra five minutes on the treadmill is great, but when people become so obsessed with looking like a model or movie star, they may develop a life-threatening eating disorder. The fashion magazines are constantly placing über skinny models in clothing ads and photo shoots and ultimately defining beautiful as tall and thin with collar bones jutting out of shoulders and chests; yet in the same magazine, the writers will include an article about being "healthy" rather than "skinny" because the writers realized, believe it or not, that people are built with different body types.

The "Fashion Industry" and clothing designers claim that long and lean girls better show of their clothes; however, many may safely assume that over half of the people buying the designer clothes are not 5'10 with a size 25 waist. Magazines, such as Teen Vogue or InStyle, have published a multitude of articles addressing super skinny models and what is actually a healthy weight. Nonetheless, with the flip of a page, we see a super thin model posing in a bathing suit, and suddenly, we don't really care what the article on being healthy just said-- we want to look like that skinny model (perhaps, not even realizing the contradiction that the magazine just made). Obviously, we would be much more inclined to buy that bathing suit if a young, thin model was wearing it rather than a middle aged woman with a "pooch" and "love handles." The fashion magazines' motives are completely understandable and ethical: put up pictures of people who will sell their products. However, their motives and strategies for raising profits are increasing people's desires to look like the super skinny, almost anorexic models.

Several years ago, people associated modeling with beauty, grace, and poise. Marilyn Monroe, for example, is a modern day icon because of her timeless and classic beauty, but she was no toothpick. In fact, according to her biography, she wore a size 8 in pants! Today, when people hear the word model, they think of height and weight (or lack thereof). These fashion magazines and tall, thin models give people a distorted view of what "beautiful" really is. Girls who do not have the long, thin, and sleek body build consider themselves to be ugly, fat, or even out of style. Most girls would much rather be considered as having "model-like" beauty instead of a healthy weight for their body type. If a person --who is not naturally thin -- wants to be super skinny, she may develop an eating disorder, such as anorexia, bulimia, or maybe even a little of both, in order to achieve her desired wieght. Consequences of seeing these models on every page can lead to things other than eating disorders. Being constantly bombarded with tall, über thin models in magazines may lead to physical discontent with a person's body which can further develop into psychological unhappiness and insecurity.

Although the magazines seem to present a serious concern for girls suffering from eating disorders, they continue to place über thin models on the covers and on every other page inside magazines in attempt to sell their products. Because the magazines print more pictures of skinny models instead of articles proclaiming that being healthy is more attractive than being thin, readers disregard the articles and strive to be thin rather than healthy. The definition of the word pretty has slowly transformed from "pleasing to the eye" to something along the lines of "long, lean, and a very low percentage of body fat." In September of 2006, CNN.com reported that a Madrid fashion show placed the a ban on "overly thin" models in attempt to "project an image of beauty and health." After realizing that the number of eating disorders was on the rise in women trying to obtain the "model-like" look, the Madrid fashion week turned away several models who did not meet the body mass index requirements. Fashion magazines should follow in the steps of the Madrid fashion show by showing that women of all shapes and sizes can be beautiful. If the fashion industry was really concerned with the health of its readers, it would include pictures of average sized models rather than girls with unnaturally pencil-thin figures. However, as long as the fashion industry continues on the same path, people will forever be surrounded with super thin models and women with eating disorders, hoping to achieve magazines' definition of "style" and "beauty."