Posted in Food & Weight on October 5th, 2009 by Morgan Elizabeth
Director Kiki Allgeier briefly profiles Isabelle Caro, the subject of photographer Olivieri Toscani’s “No-Anorexia” campaign.Caro’s 65-pound frame broadcasts the health crisis caused by her eating disorder, while her interview reveals the numb and dejected attitude of someone longing for escape.
Seen below is one of the billboards posted in Milan in 2007. Soon after the campaign launched, Caro appeared on CBS’ Early Show to discuss her eating disorder.Watch the CBS interview here.
Caro continues to be branded as the poster-child for destructive eating. In 2008, she appeared on the British reality show “Supersize vs. Superskinny,” discussing weight and food issues.[1] She then wrote a book entitled La Petite Fille Qui Ne Voulait Pas Grossir (The Little Girl Who Did Not Grow), “a story of isolation and hope, love and death.” [2]
While she continues to keep the weight off, Caro is steadily gaining Facebook fans. They all extend praise and support, even if they don’t struggle with eating disorders themselves.
This brand of activism, while inspirational for many, has effectively rewarded the eating disorder. Caro’s fame and financial success are based on self-destruction, which isn’t exactly a deterrent for people who often abuse food to get attention, consciously or unconsciously. And for those still riddled with disease, an image of a 65-pound woman may just trigger the desire to be thinner. This is evidenced by the Medusa blog, accompanying Caro’s photos with a warning that “This page may be Triggering!! Please, read with care!”[4]
Dr. Ira M. Sacker, author of Regaining Yourself and Dying to Be Thin, addresses how a person’s identity can be consumed by the eating disorder. “In a culture such as ours where image and identity seem to be interchangeable, the eating disorder identity may, unfortunately, even regard the disorder as an accomplishment,” he says.[5]
Caro’s name and image are now intertwined with her sickness. Even if she did recover, she would then be The Girl Who Recovered From Anorexia. It’s a label that doesn’t wash off easily. So, in the midst of her attempt to do some good in the world, she was unwittingly victimized again – this time, by the media fanfare.
We can only hope that things will soon quiet down, so Isabelle Caro can turn her attention from how bad the sickness is, to how good recovery can be.
Posted in Food & Weight on August 17th, 2009 by Morgan Elizabeth
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are generally known for their racy advertising. (See “PETA: Humanizing Animals, Animalizing Humans”) And now, they’ve launched a new campaign considered by many to be “fat-shaming.”
The new “Save the Whales” campaign made it’s debut a few weeks ago in Jacksonville, Florida.
A woman named Victoria was headed to the beach with her family, when they all caught a glimpse of the ad. “It really had made me so embarrassed, so self conscious and so ashamed about my weight,” she said, “that I dropped off my family at the oceanfront and left to go home, making the excuse that I wasn’t feeling well.”[1]
Despite many people like Victoria speaking up in protest, PETA remains unapologetic:
“[This billboard] reminds people who are struggling to lose weight — and who want to have enough energy to chase a beach ball — that going vegetarian can be an effective way to shed those extra pounds that keep them from looking good in a bikini. [....] Anyone wishing to achieve a hot ‘beach bod’ is reminded that studies show that vegetarians are, on average, about 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters. [...] ” – PETA Press Release[2]
Tracy Reiman, Executive Vice President of the activist group, supports the billboard. “Trying to hide your thunder thighs and balloon belly is no day at the beach,” she says. “PETA has a free ‘Vegetarian Starter Kit’ for people who want to lose pounds while eating as much as they like.”
This isn’t the first time PETA has offended heavy-set people. Back in 2002, they launched an Internet ad aimed at travelers, shown above. After outrage from the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA), the ad was discontinued. The ISAA expressed anger and disgust over seeing the latest billboard, and are hoping to petition the removal of it, as well. [3]
When asked to respond to the campaign’s critics, Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner for PETA stated, “Our goal is help overweight Jacksonville residents – the best way to do that is to go vegetarian. We’re not trying to insult anyone. [....] Vegetarians look and feel better than meat eaters. This is a life-saving message.”[2]
Posted in Food & Weight on August 7th, 2009 by Morgan Elizabeth
Emaciation is nothing new.This ever-present disease plaguing the fashion industry is a direct result of mentally ill people obtaining positions of power. Their disturbed views of beauty and weight have become unwritten law, an abusive approach to business that turns human beings into lifeless commodities.
Lately, the number of model-hopefuls hungry to live in front of the lens has either wildly multiplied, or just wildly multiplied within mainstream media coverage. Most people have seen the stampede of hundreds of screaming girlsat last season’s America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) casting, a prime example of how many people are longing to be a part of this illusive industry.
Recent reality TV shows like ANTMand Make Me a Supermodelhave spiked popular interest in the fashion industry as of late, particularly the role that models play. These shows glamorize the runway lifestyle, but say nothing of the health repercussions and emotional instability that comes with turning a person into a piece of property.
TOO FAT TO MODEL?
As an exercise in the absurdity that is the industry standard, we highlight a few models who have been chastised for their weight recently, dubbed “too fat” for fashion.
American model David Sciola (left) was rejected from Parisian runways, while models like Boki Milinkovic (right) were getting work.
“In Milan, I trimmed down to about 76kg [167 lb] so I would fit the clothes,” says Sciola. ” I am 6′2″, so for me I would say that’s underweight. Paris tends to be even skinnier than Milan. You’ve got designers like Dior who always go for anaemic, 17-year-old bodies… I don’t even go to Prada castings because I know I’m not going to get the work.”
Milinkovic, however, stands 6′3″ and 66kg [145lb]. His comparative success goes to show that, at least in the fashion world, “scrawn is the new brawn.”
Jen Hunter (left) was criticized for her weight on Britain’s Make Me a Supermodel, while competitor Marianne Berglund (right) was praised for having a “sensational” body.
One judge on the show called Hunter “fat, lazy, and greedy.” Meanwhile, Berglund was congratulated for her figure, despite having a BMI of 16.1 – well below the CDC’s categorizationof being underweight (defined as a BMI of 18.5 or lower).
Former Wonderbra model Katie Green quit her job after being repeatedly told she was too fat. To poke fun at her former employers, she went on to work with Sony in the Bravia ZX1 flat screen ad campaign, asking “is this thin enough for you?” Kudos to Green for laughing at her critics and refusing to comply.
Karolina Kurkova, a Victoria Secret supermodel, came under fire at Sao Paulo fashion week (left), where critics said she had ”love handles and cellulite.” We frankly can’t see a difference between this runway show and her Victoria Secret show (right) in 2008. Either way, this mother-to-be remains one of the Top 15 Highest Paid Models,according to Forbes, so critics be damned.
Eva Mendes was recently put in the position of defending her weight, after these new Calvin Klein ads emerged. Critics said she was too big to model, especially for Calvin Klein – a company notorious for using waifs like Kate Moss. “I don’t have a starving body, I have a healthy, toned body,” Mendes says. “I don’t think people should criticize my advert. I prepped for it a lot, and I think it’s great.”
Calvin Klein was less than supportive in this argument, however. CK President and CEO Tom Murry explained that the new campaign was “a departure from more slender body types that have been used in Calvin Klein Underwear ads. [It's] not so much about a trend of being more curvaceous. This product is made for a curvaceous woman.”
So, does this imply that Eva Mendes is (a) not slender, and (b) would only be hired in specific and rare instances, for fuller-figured products? Something is very wrong with this picture, indeed.
Famed Victoria Secret model-turned-media-mogul Heidi Klum was recently criticized by Wolfgang Joop for being “too fat” for the catwalk. Joop, a fashion designer and judge on Germany’s Next Top Model, told German GQ in February 2009 that Klum “is simply too heavy and has too big a bust. And she always grins so stupidly.”
Klum’s husband, Seal, fired back, saying that Joop’s remarks were “an insignificant statement coming from an even more insignificant source,” that he’s merely an unknown designer “looking for a little publicity.”
If anyone is in agreement with these critics that the models in question need to lose weight, we strongly suggest seeking professional help.
We can’t negotiate with disturbed fashion directors who demand their clothes be worn by corpses, much less the millions of minions who blindly follow suit. But we can come to terms with the fact that, as consumers, we always hold the upper hand. If we don’t like how they’re selling, what they’re saying, or who they’re starving in the name of fashion – then we won’t buy it. Money is a massive motivational tool, and it’s the most powerful picket sign we have. So let’s keep the protest pushing forward, in the name of health, human decency, and pure common sense.
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