Did you hear the news? France passed a law officially banning too skinny models! See article appended below for more details. I personally think it’s a positive law and encourages wellness culture but I also think there is a bigger problem lurking behind this issue. I believe it is the glorification of ‘one beauty type’ and how different cultures create fetish like obsessions over ‘body type and ideal beauty’. When World Wise Beauty debuted, I explored how culture is ‘fickle’ and how ideal beauty changes with each decade and in different countries. You can see in the photo strip above how the ideal body type was very different in just three decades. It went from very voluptuous to straight boyish skinny shapes. The fact is like nature itself we women come in all different sizes and sometimes depending on the ‘culture’ there is a more common desirable body type. I thought Miss Piggy had to included in the beauty romp because she is most definitely ‘comfortable in her own skin.’! lol
What went wrong with the American culture and the fashion world at large is we became obsessed with the ‘skinny’ type as if it was the only ideal. We also elevated celebrity and fashion models as ‘ideal beauty’ through our growing media consumption. Ironically this occurred just when American society started to face that we as a people were becoming increasingly ‘overweight’ and sick to boot! In some sense there was ‘perfect storm’ brewing and let’s just say it wasn’t ‘pretty’. Our narcissistic society now focused on one very limited ideal beauty and body type and directly contributed to young girls and woman developing anorexia disorder. The picture just got uglier because as we saw young girls with tendencies for this horrible and deadly disorder, we also started to see young girls getting fatter and obese. What a strange juxtapostion of fantasy and reality. We can all agree that neither skinny anorexic or obesity is ‘ideal’ when it comes to health and wellness. But let’s not forget that some women are just naturally thin and or naturally plump and happen to be perfectly healthy. What determines this is their state of fitness and health.
It is a very complicated issue when we elevate an ideal beauty type, because the reality is there is no real ‘ideal’. Culture is a fickle thing and in today’s world it is mainly a bunch of fashionistas who are deciding what is ideal. Let us not forget they also take their cues from ‘the people’. The big booty phenomenon seemed odd at first, but is no surprise when you look at the demographics of many countries who have increasing ethnic populations and who also just happen to have ‘bigger booties’. Hooray! Finally after twenty years of the anorexic look we now are seeing shapely curvy women. But here we go again, because the fact is not everyone has a ‘big booty’. Plastic surgeons can fix that but does that really make sense?! Will we women ever be ‘perfect’ and comfortable in their own skin? Not if they can help it! Beware of advertising messages…
When I was growing up I pretty much had a figure like Cameron Russell ( above in black bikini) and I never dieted! It was just a number of factors that made me naturally thin. Genes, active lifestyle, and metabolism were all a part of it. I received such mixed messages about my body. My Italian girlfriends envied me but many Italian men in my region would say “why don’t you put some meat on you!”. I always envied my girlfriends with all the curves, while they were busy hating me for my long slender legs. What’s wrong with this picture? Within my regional area in NYC I wasn’t quite the ideal but that changed very quickly and even landed me in a model agency. The plot thickens because as I entered the modeling world, the ‘all american’ beauty ideal was changing. Models like Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Isabella Rossellini were skyrocketing. And along came Iman! Beauty became more ‘global’ and our ideas about classic beauty was changing. The world continues to spin and ‘beauty ideals’ will change with the wind. But who gets decide if you are beautiful or not? Here is the buried wisdom that most beauty magazines never want you to know. YOU DO! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and most definitely is exuded in the woman who is ‘comfortable in her own skin’. 😉
If you were more curvy, became skinnier or had longer legs would you then be more comfortable in your own skin? Think about it and listen to an articulate, wise and honest model talk about the power of image and perception. Open your mind instead of your eyes and hear what top model Cameron Russell has to say at TEDX talks. Click on this link Looks Aren’t Everything! and check out what she is wearing and not wearing–you will be surprised! Don’t forget to read the piece below on France’s new law, and tell me if you think we could ever adopt this law here in America! I love Miranda Kerr’s quote and as you know World Wise Beauty has been promoting flowers and inner beauty since it’s inception. There was a very good reason for it because real beauty in nature is found in its diversity. It’s a beautiful world because there is so much diversity and you my World Wise Beauty are part of a beautiful mosaic. Your ‘day’ is sure to come or maybe it past but if you keep following World Wise Beauty you won’t care not one bit, because you will be too busy living your happy life ‘comfortable in your own skin’.
Truly Herself, Lauroly
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FRANCE OFFICIALLY BANS TOO-THIN MODELS
Will other countries follow suit? Apr 3, 2015 @ 10:27 AM, Elle
This measure is part of a larger crackdown on the promotion of anorexia by President Francoise Holland: The second part of this law specifically targets pro-anorexia websites or any other sites that promote “excessive thinness by encouraging eating restrictions for a prolonged period of time, resulting in risk of mortality or damage to health,” incriminating those responsible with fines and jail time as well.