Radio Interview The fashion industry and body image Hello and welcome back to B105 I am Zoe Fabila your host for today taking your morning drive around ethical issues. Today we have Dianne Hodgson the lead promoter for the Butterfly Foundation coming in to talk about the fashion industry and how it affects body image. According to the butterfly foundation, their purpose is to represent all people affected by eating disorders and negative body image. Butterfly operates a national eating disorder (ED) HOPE service that includes support over the phone, via email and online. It also provides a wide range of programs and recovery groups. Promoter Dianne: Yes, Thank you Zoe for having me today, it is a great privilege. ZF: Explain the goals of the Butterfly foundation. PD: As a leading national voice for eating disorders and negative body image, in supporting their needs, Butterfly highlights the realities of seeking treatment for recovery, and advocates for improved services from both the government and independent sources. ZF: So tell me Dianne, what is your opinion of how the fashion industry is affecting girls’ self –esteem and body image? PD: What sizes / what type of models There are many factors that affect girl’s self –esteem and body image. The factors include their parent genes that they inherited which makes them feel different. The most controversial is the fashion industry and how they are portrayed in the media. Naturally the public is going to be affected. I was reading a divine Caroline blog about young girls affected by the media and this may seem normal but it is not normal; it is common. For young girls dealing with the process of losing their baby fat. They are then at this stage where they are slim like a mod... ... middle of paper ... ...government with the medical cost rate increasing due to the increasing numbers of anorexia, bulimia and eating disorders. Everyone has their own opinions on legislating models that are not healthy which I believe is a step up. Period. David Murray AO, Chair, for the butterfly foundation quoted “a productive Australia depends on the government making wise investments in the health of its community. The investing in need report offers this opportunity.” ZF: Speaking of the medical cost approximately how much would it be. PD: They are very expensive conditions there is no doubt about that. It is not easy and is not cheap to fix. According to Stuhldreher et al (2012) reported data from a systematic review of cost of illness (COI) stated it cost more than $100,000 to appropriately treat a person with Anorexia Nervosa. This is equivalent to $20 000 dollars per person.
Anorexia Nervosa may be described directly as an eating disease classified by a deficit in weight, not being able to maintain weight appropriate for one’s height. Anorexia means loss of appetite while Anorexia Nervosa means a lack of appetite from nervous causes. Before the 1970s, most people never heard of Anorexia Nervosa. It was identified and named in the 1870s, before then people lived with this mental illness, not knowing what it was, or that they were even sick. It is a mental disorder, which distorts an individual’s perception of how they look. Looking in the mirror, they may see someone overweight
Fashion is a constantly changing industry; what is trendy one day is outdated the next. The 21st century has been a catalyst for a large movement in fashion. Paris, New York, and London are some of the main contributors to the fashion industry (“Fashion Capitals”). Along with being the main influences in fashion, they have significantly connected the world on a global level. Even on a local level, students and young adults indulge in fashion as a way to express themselves. Some people may argue that fashion helps express one’s imagination; however, fashion has become one of the major influences that promotes an unrealistic image of women that is detrimental to their bodies. This unrealistic image can lead to health problems, a negative body image, and a society based on appearances which is disadvantageous to our culture as a whole.
In every magazine and on every page there is another source of depression, another reason to skip a meal or two or a reason to be self-conscious. In present society people are overly focused and determined on the perfect body that both the fashion and advertising industry portray and promote. Through diction, pictures and celebrities presented they are trying to convey a message to their viewers that is “suppose” to be used as a source of motivation and determination. The message they are truly conveying is self-conscious thoughts, depression, and the promotion of eating disorders. It is estimated that millions of people struggle with depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem; concentrated on dissatisfaction with their body image (Ballaro). The advertisement and fashion industry are conveying a message that creates an internal battle for their viewers, though they should be creating a fire in their viewers that provides motivation to be healthier, take better care of themselves and a source of inspiration for style.
All Eating Disorders lead to various health complications and may ultimately result in the death of the sufferer. For instance, Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders, as 5 to 9% of Anorexics will die from it (Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan. (2013). Abnormal psychology (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.). Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) in its restrictive/subtreshold Anorexia subtype may cause severe organ dysfunction due to extreme malnourishment. These problems include, but are not limited to, cardiac, hepatic, renal, and neurological failure.
Rather than feature and promote unnatural body weights, society can benefit from the promotion of a healthy physical appearance. This would increase self acceptance for young girls of their body. After all, women and girls come in all sizes and shapes. If society cares about the future of our young girls, steps should be taken to minimize eating disorders. With the knowledge that young girls can be very impressionable, society and the media have a responsibility to stop promoting unrealistic body images. The need to have clothing look better on the runway is not more important than the health concerns of young women.
These advertisers promote a body image that is completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b). It has been instilled in these advertisers’ minds that a thinner model will sell more (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Media has a direct and indirect influence on the developing body image of young girls.... ... middle of paper ...
Different forms of treatment are available such as in patient treatments, cell phone apps and therapy to teach how to overcome an eating disorder. Each eating disorder, anorexia nervous, binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa may respond better to different forms of treatment and each patient is different in what will work best for them to overcome. Support from family and friends is necessary in working with treatment and being strong enough to face an eating disorder once treatment is done. Eating disorders are easy to gain, but with the right treatment can be defeated.
“My lips and fingers were blue because I was so thin that my heart was struggling to pump blood around my body”, said teen model fashion Georgina (Carroll 1). The new skinny has become excessively scrawny. Is it definitely not normal for today’s society models to walk around with blue fingers starving themselves until their organs start failing! As for the model agencies, they couldn’t care less of the pressure and dangerous practices they put the models through in order for them to stay thin for the runway. Even fashion Designers continue to produce the smallest couture sample sizes and scout for the slimiest bodies to wear the designs not aware of the consequences of the pressure they not only put on models, but on the society girls to look like these starving models. And when the models continue to get offers from the most important fashion industries like Prada, it motivates them to keep doing what they are doing to stay in the shape they are in (Carroll 1). But little did the outside world know what this pressure had on the models and what they were doing to their bodies to peruse their modeling careers.
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
Fashion models don’t need to be thin, they need to be diverse and healthy at whatever weight that is. Not everyone is supposed to be thin, some women are big boned and curvy, others are naturally slim and small boned, some are tall, others are short, some are light skinned and others are darker. So many diverse looks exist in the world today and the fashion industry need to change their perception of perfect. Body image in our society is out of control. We have young men and women comparing themselves to unrealistic models and images in the media and feeling bad about the way their own bodies look because they somehow don’t measure up. (Dunham, 2011) The struggle for models to be thin has led to models becoming anorexic or bulimic, untimely deaths, and inferiority complexes. Even worse is the fact that they influence a whole generation of young women who look up to these models and think “thin” is how they are supposed to be. They influence what we buy, how we eat and what we wear. Why has this specific group captured our attention so much? Why do we seem to be so fascinated in their lives, to the point where we try to look and act just like them? The media is largely to be blamed for this, many people believe the media has forced the notion that everything supermodels do is ideal. Others believe that the society is to be blamed because we have created a fascination with their lives. There are many opinions, and I agree with both of these specific opinions. We allow ourselves to be captivated by these people's lives, and the media portrayal of their lives seem to also enthrall us. (Customessaymeister, 2013) Despite the severe risks of forcing models to become too thin, designers, fashion editors, fashion brands and agencies still ...
Bennett, Jessica. "The Fashion Industry Promotes Eating Disorders." Eating Disorders. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Why Skinny Models Are Making Us Fat." Newsweek (8 Feb. 2007). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 May 2014.
As once can see for decades fashion has been used as a “social weapon.” Yes the fashion industry is in part accountable for eating disorders and bullying. Ultimately, we shouldn't allow fashion to play a major role in our society. Not when it impacts in a negative way what others think of each other, and encourages an unrealistic body of what a man or woman should look like. Or simply excludes
A tall, glamorous runway model is every girl’s dream. Long beautiful legs, lean body, and beautiful shiny hair is what an average young woman views as an ideal image for a female. If you don’t resemble the images of those stunning Victoria Secret models and Fashion Week models, you suddenly become ashamed of your own body. It is a great life to have with the high pay, fame, drinking champagne on a yacht with famous celebrities and even being on the Vogue cover page. Fashion Modeling Industry has been the most influential source in our young women’s lives. Young girls and young women are seen eating as little as they can, even starving themselves at times to resemble those models. What they don’t realize is that they are contributing to the 2.7 percentage of 13- 18 year olds suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Susan Albers, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic said exposure to thin models is a great trigger in maintaining an eating disorder. When watching America’s Next Top Model or flipping through a Fashion magazine, these young women don’t apprehend that those models are either naturally slim or they are suffering from an eating disorder themselves, in other words, hostages in the dark hell hid behind those runway curtains. The growing number of young anorexia and bulimia patients, and the number of websites such as thinspiration, where girls put up pictures of their thin bodies clearly suggest that the fashion modeling industry do not at all bear any responsibility in providing healthy, realistic physical role models for young women.
However, it is evident that the media usually presents and sexualizes women who are “young, fit and beautiful” hence probably creating self esteem issues more than confidence especially in younger women who are religious towards the media’s expectations. This stereotype of being a desired body shape only forces women to meet unattainable perfect physical standards (Gill 2015). The media bombards the youth with gender representations and the types of bodies that are deemed to be attractive. Many teenagers all around the world are desperate to lose weight to be “beautiful”.
It seems that the media’s portrayal of women has negatively affected the body image of The Wykeham Collegiate senior school girls. The media has a negative effect on the youth of today, primarily amongst the female population when it comes to how young girls and women regard their bodies.