Months ago, Madrid's regional government banned underweight models during fashion week (Hay). Some supported these measures, others complained, and we at demandit.org stroked our imaginary beards. Should America do the same, and how reliable is body mass index in determining models' health?

Body mass index is system that mathematically sorts weights into categories of underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and extremely obese. Because of its objectivity, BMI is ideal for scholars and doctors studying obesity. Healthy BMI numbers range from 18.5 to 24.9 (“Body Mass Index Chart”).

According to “So You Wanna be a Model?,” an article describing the steps toward a career in modeling, models are usually about 5’8” or taller, and weigh between 108-125 lbs. This means that most models are considered underweight with BMIs below 18.5.

Examples:

However, body mass index numbers fail to take into consideration differing body types. Some people, for example, may be highly muscular, and thus incorrectly placed into the "overweight" category. In the same way, some models may be underweight but still healthy. At Milan’s fashion week, model Shannan Click alleged that she and fellow models are naturally lean, and that though she eats whatever she wants, she is genetically prone to thinness (Hardach).

Additionally, the exclusion of underweight models encroaches on American ideals of freedom and liberty. Russian model Valentina Zelyaeva said at the aforementioned Milan fashion week, "I think it's discrimination. We are skinny; this is our work. There are lots of overweight people working in offices but I'm not going to say `This girl is fat, she can't work in an office’" (Hardach). Cathy Gould of New York’s Elite modeling agency had similar thoughts in Madrid, asserting that the fashion industry was being used as a scapegoat for eating disorders: “I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer?” (Hay).

How designers express themselves through emaciated bodies is beyond me. Nevertheless, the pressure to be thin causes models who aren’t “genetically underweight” to take drastic measures to survive in the business. Now “plus size” model, Crystal Renn, was anorexic in her early years. At 5’9” she weighed a frightening ninety-five pounds and wore a size zero. Renn worked out for three hours a day, sustaining herself on steamed vegetables, Fiber One cereal, and Diet Coke (Williams 128). She explained to People magazine, “I didn’t have my period for three years, my hair was falling out, [and] my skin was a wreck” (128). Renn was only 16 years old at the time.

It’s not uncommon for models to start so young. Many models are underweight because they are teenagers. Models are more likely to succeed if they begin their careers at a young age (“So you wanna be a Model?”). Valentina Zelyaeva admitted that “many girls at the shows were 14-year-olds who were that skinny because they had not reached puberty” (Hardach). As journalist Sophie Hardach so brilliantly put it, "designers dress up 14-year-olds to make them look like 19-year-olds who look great in clothes that will be sold to 40-year-olds.”

Renn then and Renn now. Images from People September 11, 2006.

So, should America start banning underweight models at fashion shows? Probably not.  Should Americans request a variety of runway models from designers? Absolutely! During Miami Funkshion Fashion Week in October, for instance, Heatherette’s only “curvy” model was Mya, a celebrity. Would Mya be considered if she weren't a celebrity? Come on designers, if you’re selling to women, why not represent them accordingly? Legally speaking, no WOMEN are fourteen years old, and realistically speaking, most women are above a size zero. Demand a range of models in our ads and on our runways; women should be free to look—and to be—healthy.  

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