Stick thin models.

[AB Asks]

The recent 'size zero' phenomenon has struck fear into many people. Mothers are worried their daughters will end up anorexic in the quest to be thin, women worry that being emaciated is now beautiful. With London Fashion Week approaching, we can expect to see plenty of models with their over-sized heads and protruding hip bones strutting down the catwalk who are apparently the epiphany of beauty.

What do you think about size zero models? Do they set a bad example to impressionable teenagers? Should they be banned from the catwalk? When did skinny become so enviable?

What do you think about size zero models?

They set a bad example to women
If agencies want size zero models that is their choice
There is not a problem with size zero models or them appearing in magazines, fashion weeks or on television.

[Pippa68]

I have a 16 (almost 17) year old daughter, and thankfully she isn't interested in models or weight issues.

She is a healthy weight, but of course some would say she is fat. Certainly if she went to a model agency she would be classed as such. I would hope that this is because she isn't an impressionable person ~ I have raised her to be her own person and to strive to be who she wants to be, not how society may want her to be.

This may be a combination of parenting and her own free will, but as I have 3 other children (2 more daughters and 1 son) I will have to wait and see if this is true.

[-Z-]

hate the stick thin look...like bosoms and womanly look

[mycats]

I have always been really thin, I used to be under 7 stone and it really annoys me that its ok for people to say "stick thin" scrawny etc and thats ok, if I was fat people would go mad if folk called me names!

[joshieboyo]

Women should look as they are meant to naturally look. If a lady is very slim and that is how she was made then that is fine, I don't agree that women should stive to become something they are not. Saying that though, I believe everyone should be entitled to look how they wish to look.

[libertie]

There is a huge difference between being naturally thin and starving yourself to be a size zero. These young women are simply storing up health problems for the future, and the fashion houses who are making vast sums of money from these girls need to be a bit more responsible!

[loobie]

I agree with Joshie. If someone is naturally thin then it is not fair to put them under the same category as those that starve themselves to be thin. But I think these agencies should not focus on every one of their models being a size zero. Mind you, do we really take any notice of these fasion shows anyway..most of the clothes they parade in are so awfully hideous that we won't be wanting to squeeze into them anyway!!

I would say (from a female point of view), if I had the figure of Kelly Brook, I would be a very very happy lady!!! I wouldn't even think of starving myself to look like Kate Moss, I value my health too much!!

[loobie]

Oh and I also like biscuits too much!!!!

[Champagne]

I think I may be anorexic. Every time I look in the mirror I see a fat woman!

Seriously though, many years ago I went down to a size 8 which was the thinnest I'd ever been. It was purely because I was eating far too healthily at the time so the weight just dropped off! I hated it. I had no shape, my clothes hung off me and I didn't feel like a woman. I sorted it out pronto!

When I see other women I have to say that I aspire to be like the ones who look comfortable in their skin, always look classy & elegant, and ooze confidence and humility. It's usually regardless of their size and shape.

Most women are not happy with the way they look and that's just not an admirable trait.

[beryllium]

I have always been a slim girl. I was a size 0 for many years but have always eaten well. Being brought up as a meat and 3 veg girl lol and always fruit in the fruit bowl.
I am now a size 4-6.
I have curves in the right places and I really couldn't give a flying blah as to what other people think of me.
My mother was the same size as was my grandmother so I suppose it's in our genes.
What do I think of size 0 models? and their effect on young girls turning anorexic? I dont think so!!! those type of girls are either that way predisposed (ie: mentally imbalanced as I understand anorexics are not in the right frame of mind) or their parents aren't giving them the love and attention they need and making evening meals a beautiful family time, from helping mum in the kitchen peeling the spuds and shelling the peas to making a scrummy desert.
Here's to women and all our beauty, whatever our shape!!!

[Hellion]

I'm 5'9" and when I was younger I was naturally a very skinny size 10, the point is I didn't have to diet to be that thin I just was. I've always eaten healthily and am now a curvy size 14 ( a large one at the moment as it's so cold and I'm eating all that lovely winter comfort food LOL!).
The trouble is some young girls are naturally skinny, as was Twiggy, but the fashion industry made that look fashionable and now for many girls the only way to achieve it is to starve themselves. What ever the industry says I feel it is time that more men started screaming from the rooftops that they prefer curvy women. You can blame magazines, but what are men like David Beckham doing apparently condoning his stick thin wife's unhealthy look?
Women rarely starve themselves for their own sake they do it because they believe that is how other people, particularly men, want them to look.
It would be so wonderful at London Fashion week to see beautiful clothes worn by shapely women....real women!

[netibiza]

My daughter is now 20yrs and has always been slim - in fact when she was 13 - a scout for Vogue wanted her to try out for modelling - we said no - and I'm so glad we did. She does worry about her size (she hasn't one!) and wants a boob job - yes she is still influenced by thin models. I would rather see models with real figures. Over here there is an outsize modern shop, but guess what, the mannequins are perfectly proportioned although big, but where is that role of tummy that most of us have, so obviously the clothes look good on them but silly on us!!

[beryllium]

boy!!! I'm sure glad I never had any problems with men then. But then I don't go for fat beer guzzling types in men. Nor do I like beards or go for men under 6ft. mr B being 6ft4 yummy :-)

[suffragette]

I think size zero models set a bad example, not so much because they are skinny, but more their subserviance to a male definition of feminine perfection.

Gay fashion designers promulgate an image that might suit a slim hipped transsexual and fat, balding, pony tailed film producers, do likewise.

I'm tall and struggled for years to stay a size 12, but it just proved incompatible with my desire to eat. My small daughters prefer their 'lumpy mum' because she's not so ratty, apparently.

Size zero models should be confined to the waste bin of fashion along with mullet hair cuts, ra-ra skirts and tank tops.

[Robinia]

Well I've always been slim/skinny, whichever term you use, & at one point, when I was much younger, I became a bit depressed about it. Now I really don't care & happily accept any ribbing (!) from friends & people who know me. What I do object to is strangers who have assumed I have some eating disorder or are openly bitchy...it's the way I am! accept it! I also HATE the term real women....we are all real for heaven's sake. I vowed after M&S made that ridiculous ad for a 'real woman' running naked up a hill never to buy clothes there again, & I haven't. I do buy their food tho'... lol!

To answer the Q about size zero models - yes, it's ludicrous & no one should be making themselves that thin & inevitably ill. And I agree with beryllium, there's a lot more going on in these girls (& some boys) minds than just the way they look.
And I've never lacked male attention either....to generalise that men don't like skinny women just ain't so! :o)

[nicnic]

I don't think that size zero models are the only reason for the increase in eating disorders etc, but seeing such images could contribute to more impressionable people having a skewed image in their head of what a healthy shape is.

I think that what we do need, is more of a range of sizes seen on catwalks and magazines. I know that designers say that clothes look better on a slimmer frame, but I don't think this is a good enough excuse to me.

Part of the problem I see is a real contradiction in the way the media (especially womens' magazines deal with weight issues. You can have a new 'fad' diet alongside pictures of a famous woman, saying that she looks good now she is curvy. They use size zero models, but tell is we should be happy as we are.

I don't think we should ban them from the catwalk, although many of them do not look 'healthy'. I'm sure there are women of this size who are naturally that slim, but not many. Lots of these very thin models are so young and perhaps not yet aware of the damage they could do to their health and future fertility.

But then again, doesn't measuring a model to see if she is too thin, just as degrading and worrying as measuring her and saying she is too large? There are no easy answers.

[MrBen5]

Hmmm, skinny women are ok to show off. they look good with you when your round town or going to a do. So i totally understand why girls want to be skinny.
The younger sort of guy goes for the skinny woman though i think and the more mature guy goes for the woman with a bit more to hold on to...

[jake-the-peg]

I don't think being very thin has anything to do with being attractive to men at all.

Look at the sort of models you see in men's magazines, they are nothing like the sort of models you see in womens fashion magazines.

I'm convinced that the ultra-skinny look is subconcious competeive behaviour.

Most of us (men and women) would like to lose a few pounds, so it's easy to want to be like someone thinner - but somehow the idea creeps in that therefore if you're thinner than someone that you're better/more desirable/more popular.

Trouble is it doesn't work so obviously you're not thin enough yet!

It's a perverse logic that especially appeals to anyone who's insecure

So that's teenage girls and celebrities in particular.