"Anorexia as a "Fashion Statement"?

Is anorexia sexy?

Stupid question, I know.

So why is it that a new wave of fashion designers are using the malnutrition that results from anorexia as inspiration for their creations?

According to a  new post featured at encyclopedia Britannica on-line, some are taking "skinny-inspired-fashion" to a whole new level.   Referred to as the "Sexy Anna Rexia" dress, this new apparent "fashion statement" is quite disturbing, to say the least.

 

This, after the death of two models in 2006, Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos and Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, both of whom died from complications due to anorexia nervosa.

 

As many of you know, the media-at-large has supported an ever-increasing thin ideal over the past several decades. Twenty years ago the average female model weighed eight percent less than the average American woman; today the average model weighs 23% less than the average woman and is thinner than 98% of American women. 

 

America has noticed. In 2002, America Online (AOL) conducted a survey in which they asked participants, “What do you think is responsible for many women’s poor self-images?” Sixty-six percent selected the response “impossibly beautiful media images.” Studies at both Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found that 70% of college women say that they feel worse about their appearance after reading women’s magazines and 80% of those responding to a survey in People magazine stated that images of women on television and in film make them feel insecure about their appearance.

 

Is this our idea of beauty?

 

 

 

 

Sadly, fashion model Eliana Ramos (pictured here), just 18 years old, was the second daughter of Luis Ramos to succumb to anorexia nervosa. Her sister, was one of the two models mentioned above who died from the illness in 2006.

 

In order to bring positive change to the fashion industry at-large, the Academy of Eating Disorders, the National Eating Disorders Association, and the Eating Disorders Coalition have recently joined together to recommend new health guidelines for the fashion industry, including annual medical exams and discouragement of all non-healthy weight control behaviors. You can view the Academy of Eating Disorder sponsored Guidelines for the Fashion Industry on their website by clicking here.

 

Let's support a new idea of beauty. One that doesn't in any way lead to unhealthy behaviors, eating disorders, or having to say goodbye to a loved-one much too soon.

 

Source: Kilbourne, J. (1999) Can't Buy Me Love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel. Simon & Schuster.

Comments

[Sari Shepphird]

Thank you, I am glad that you found it to be helpful!

Best wishes,

Sari Shepphird

[Sari Shepphird]

It is my understanding that the black dress with the illusion of protruding bones is featured in a collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum, but this article is highlighting the NEWLY inspired fashion trend of "sexy anorexia", and is not implying that Dali was encouraging of anorexia. Thanks for reading!!

[Robert Mofford]

There was nothing wrong with the way these girls (Ana Carolina, Luisel, and Elianna) looked in the first place.

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Merci de partager cette David.
Je me suis intéressé à la façon dont les médias sociaux a été inclus dans l'enseignement supérieur. Ainsi, les exemples que vous fournissez sont très encourageants. Enseigner les médias sociaux serait un plaisir!

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