Did any of you hear the news that Israel has banned the use of underweight models in ads? My initial reaction, when I read about this a few weeks ago, was approval. Models in Israel now have to provide proof that they are not malnourished by the World Health Organization's standards, which states that a person with a body mass index of below 18.5 is malnourished. I think it's wonderful that Israel cares enough about its citizens that it would try to do something to prevent the development of eating disorders in its girls and women. Plus, I think we’re all aware of how prevalent “thin worship” is in the media.
But when I started to think about it more, I decided I’m not totally on board with the idea. For starters, a woman who is a dedicated runner could have a BMI below 18.5 and still be considered healthy. Now, it’s not likely that a marathon runner is going to want to be a model, but you never know. If this law was passed to promote health in Israel’s models and citizens, then maybe more attention should be focused on the condition of the models’ bodies rather than their weight. A chain smoker could be overweight and extremely unhealthy, whereas an avid marathon runner who eats well could be underweight by this standard, but still healthy. Yet only the former would be allowed to model in Israel.
Also, there are women in the world who are naturally skinny, and try as they might cannot gain weight. So even if one of these women wanted to be a model in Israel, she would be turned down because her appearance could inspire anorexia in young girls, even if she doesn’t have anorexia herself. “Skinny” is just as valid a size as “overweight.” Some people try so hard to make larger people feel good about themselves that they resort to making skinny people feel bad about themselves.
In the article I linked to above, they give an example of a woman who is 5-foot-8 being considered underweight if she weighs less than 119 pounds. If you weighed 118 pounds at that height, you couldn’t be a model. If you weighed 119 pounds, you could. One pound is not much difference, and is almost certainly not an indication of increased health, and yet that’s all it would take to get a girl a modeling job that had been previously denied to her because of her weight. Since “thin worship” is still an issue, I don’t think these models are going to try to exceed the required weight. In fact, I think they’re going to try very hard to weigh as little as possible while still meeting the requirements, because “thin” is still what people want to see. Most models wouldn’t be willing to weigh 130 pounds, even if it would be healthier, if they could still get jobs at 119 pounds. Changing the law isn’t going to change the way people think, and if they think “thin” is what’s attractive, then that’s what models are going to strive to be.
I would really love to hear all of your thoughts on this issue! Do you think the law is a step in the right direction? Do you think it’s misguided? And how do you think people in your country would react if they tried to pass a similar law?
But when I started to think about it more, I decided I’m not totally on board with the idea. For starters, a woman who is a dedicated runner could have a BMI below 18.5 and still be considered healthy. Now, it’s not likely that a marathon runner is going to want to be a model, but you never know. If this law was passed to promote health in Israel’s models and citizens, then maybe more attention should be focused on the condition of the models’ bodies rather than their weight. A chain smoker could be overweight and extremely unhealthy, whereas an avid marathon runner who eats well could be underweight by this standard, but still healthy. Yet only the former would be allowed to model in Israel.
Also, there are women in the world who are naturally skinny, and try as they might cannot gain weight. So even if one of these women wanted to be a model in Israel, she would be turned down because her appearance could inspire anorexia in young girls, even if she doesn’t have anorexia herself. “Skinny” is just as valid a size as “overweight.” Some people try so hard to make larger people feel good about themselves that they resort to making skinny people feel bad about themselves.
In the article I linked to above, they give an example of a woman who is 5-foot-8 being considered underweight if she weighs less than 119 pounds. If you weighed 118 pounds at that height, you couldn’t be a model. If you weighed 119 pounds, you could. One pound is not much difference, and is almost certainly not an indication of increased health, and yet that’s all it would take to get a girl a modeling job that had been previously denied to her because of her weight. Since “thin worship” is still an issue, I don’t think these models are going to try to exceed the required weight. In fact, I think they’re going to try very hard to weigh as little as possible while still meeting the requirements, because “thin” is still what people want to see. Most models wouldn’t be willing to weigh 130 pounds, even if it would be healthier, if they could still get jobs at 119 pounds. Changing the law isn’t going to change the way people think, and if they think “thin” is what’s attractive, then that’s what models are going to strive to be.
I would really love to hear all of your thoughts on this issue! Do you think the law is a step in the right direction? Do you think it’s misguided? And how do you think people in your country would react if they tried to pass a similar law?
