Since modelling has become such a big industry many people have started asking why the size of the models is always portrayed as ‘skinny', or what effect this has on the young girls in today's society? Size zero has just become very famous, but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of young women celebrating their bodies they are constantly surrounded by images of stick thin women, that are portray d as ‘the perfect body size'. I am going to investigate the effects of size zero on young women today and the major health consequences these women face.
Fashion houses today have mixed opinions on size zero, but many are saying they are going to ban size zero models from doing the catwalks, I feel this is because the media is putting pressure on the designers. A famous national modelling company Models 1 has asked Miss Carter, one of their models, to put on weight before she can start working again. Miss Carter has said ‘it helped me to realise that I was too thin. I was impressed that an agency was actually addressing my well being.' She had suffered from an eating disorder before and now hopefully she can be appreciated for who she really is instead of the clothes hanger the modelling industry has made her.
Unfortunately there are still agencies that pressure their young models to be size zero. A top model from Uruguayan was told she could make it big if she lost a significant amount of weight. So for three months she dieted, she ate nothing but salads and greens and drank diet coke so she could reach that size zero. She managed to make it but minutes after stepping off the catwalk, after complaining she felt unwell, she died from heart failure. This is the sad truth of the size zero culture that is being formed today.
The media plays a massive part in how the size zero ‘trend' is seen. Gossip magazines are guaranteed to have at least one size zero story a week. They always say it is a bad thing and they hope the celebrities will get well soon, but this could be the cause of more celebrities wanting to reach the famous size zero. The celebrity world is one of competition and bitching that most young girls seem to take an interest in. One celebrity is size zero and then their rival is suddenly size zero, is this about who can get the most reports written on them? I certainly hope not for the sake of the young girls in our society. These people shouldn't be our role models but people we detest, so they will realise what they are doing to themselves and all of their fans. This would then hopefully make the media realise we shouldn't have to be reading about other people's suffering and basing our lives on it.
The young girls influenced by these images are suffering immensely. There is a large percentage of the population that have taken this size zero ‘trend' seriously and are damaging their health by starving themselves. It is a sad fact to learn that there are websites, easily accessible to young people, which tell you how to be a ‘good' anorexic. They tell people of the tricks to fool people, how to starve themselves ‘properly' and even cheat their weightings. ‘Now create a list of suitable punishments either for thinking of food or for craving in an eating food itself. A good one is to try and keep a rubber band on your hand and flick your skin whenever you feel like eating. Eventually you will have a swollen hand, and a shrunken body.' This is from a pro anorexia site and all of the contents are as vile as this. Anorexia is a serious condition and telling someone how to put themselves in this mental state of self hatred is one of the most awful things I have ever come across. Websites like this should be banned from the start so there is no access on how to make yourself dangerously underweight. These websites are supporting the size zero ‘trend' and are trying to make anorexia fashion.
The websites are run by people suffering from anorexia and they know most of the physical and mental problems that come with the size zero body. Some of these problems include an irregular heartbeat which can lead to heart failure and death. Kidney stones may form which can lead to kidney failure, especially as most girls suffering from anorexia will not go to hospital in case they are found out. Size zero models may find these things happening to them but are too scared to say anything as modelling is their life. They may also form very thin but quite long hair all over their bodies, including their face, their body produces this to keep them warm as they have no fat to do the job.
Size zero is an addiction which will probably affect the people for the rest of their lives. If this addiction does turn into anorexia the body starts feeding itself from itself. It starts with fat then muscle then organs and finally the brain. You can not think for yourself and eventually you will die. The real effects of this fashion ‘trend' need to be explained to young girls so they know all the issues that come with the size zero body. Everyone knows it's bad for your heath but they need to know how your body shuts down to death and how painful it can be before then.
In conclusion the size zero ‘trend' will not stop destroying peoples lives until designers refuse to use super skinny models and use ones which are at a healthy weight for their age or height. Size zero will not stop until the media decides they'd rather write about real issues and report real stories on celebrities instead of showing us their illnesses. Finally size zero will not stop until all pro anorexia sites are demolished as these are the base grounds of normal girls deciding to make themselves really ill.
