Full Disclosure: I am not a woman or a teenage girl. But I do pay attention to media messages and while I have been known to abstractly discuss issues regarding body issues among friends, I can rarely point to specific instances because they all tend to blur. On my Facebook page, I railed against Giuliana Rancic for comments she made to Kathy Griffin who essentially said she looked good because she was starving herself to which Giuliana replied that it didn't matter as long as she looked good. I vented about it and then I got over it. Well my dander was raised again last night upon watching Project Runway. On one hand, we know that runway models are tinier than most women and that when fashion designers choose to use what they call "normal" sized models (whatever the hell that is) a controversy ensues. But it somehow rubbed me the wrong way to have designers on a reality TV show bitching about having to work with "real women." The first slap down is, "Hello! You're on a reality show known for challenges designed to stress you out!" and then secondly, do you plan to make ANY money as a designer? If the answer is yes, then you're going to have to make things in a larger size than a 2.
What it boils down to is that it says that if you are a woman and can't fit into a sample size (usually a 2 or 4) that somehow fashion is not for you. To watch many of the designers struggle to make a dress that flattered a woman who isn't shaped like a prepubescent boy was truly infuriating. And when Tyra Banks allows "plus sized" models on America's Next Top Model (although no winner has ever really reached the "top") it reinforces the problem. Tyra Banks will often say she is trying to change the industry, but what she ends up doing when these women like Whitney (the eventual winner of Cycle 10) or Tocarra (from Cycle 3) are in the competition is reinforce the idea that they shouldn't be in high fashion because the designers with whom they are working often don't have any clothes (or unflattering ones) that will fit them.
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I missed last night's PR episode, but they have done this before -- brought in "real size" people and the designers just LOSE THEIR MINDS. And the disparaging things the designers say about regular sized women (not obese or grossly disproportionate, these are average healthy people!) are just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteOne more reason why I love Crystal Renn's success and her story. She used to starve herself to be thin as a "regular" model and now is much more successful as a plus model. She's amazingly gorgeous. I wrote about her on my blog: http://redinthecity-chicagored.blogspot.com/2009/09/celebrating-curves.html
I loved your Facebook post re: Rancic's comments on Kathy Griffin's admission that she's cranky and hungry all the time, but thin. SICK thinking.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Al!