SHOCKING news hit the fashion world in early September when organizers of the Madrid Fashion Week, the most prestigious fashion show in Spain, announced that they would ban models considered too skinny for the runway. According to CNN, organizers declined their entry because of concerns that they could send a negative message to young girls. The full effects of this welcome and positive decision are still not clear, but the actions of the organizers are symbolic of the need to promote health over false ideals of beauty predominant both at the University and in our nation at large. While it goes without saying that health and body image are important, they hold an undeserved place in current social thought.
Last year's Madrid show drew protests from medical associations and women's groups because some models were virtually bone-thin. This year, the Chicago Tribune reported that organizer Cuca Solana did not want "walking skeletons." Very astutely, the organizers of the pageant, known as Pasarela Cibeles, decided to project "an image of beauty and health." A mathematical formula designed to measure if the body mass index was appropriate failed 30 percent of the models who took part in the previous event. This unprecedented decision has been echoed in other corners of the world, with a British cabinet minister and an Italian mayor calling for similar bans to the shows in London and Milan. Naturally, modeling agencies were displeased. Cathy Gould of New York's Elite modeling agency decried what she saw as "discrimination against the model" and alleged that the Madrid judgment curtailed "the freedom of the designer" in a statement to CNN.
The fundamental message conveyed by this policy, however, should be taken to heart in a nation still obsessed with the latest health diets and gimmicks. The same can be said for the University, where abnormal weight consciousness is the norm. To be sure, one should be mindful of characteristics such as weight and general appearance, and certainly one must be conscious of essential health matters. For example, if the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends nine servings of bread and whole grains and four servings of vegetables for pregnant women of normal weight, it is probably a good idea to pay attention.
In a recent women's health study released by the University Health System, 4.7 percent of the women in the study had 17 to 20 health index points and were at much lower risk of stroke overall, and of ischemic stroke, compared with women with zero to four health index points. The higher the index points the better; these values were calculated based on factors like alcohol consumption, regular exercise and the little demon that disqualified our pretty models, the BMI. General reminders like these from governmental or University institutions are always a great idea and give the public enough information about critical health issues to permit rational decision-making.
We need to do a better job, however, of reconciling exercise and health issues as a part of our lives rather than making them the basis of our lives.
The University has done much to instill these values, even though the zeitgeist of the student body is firmly entrenched towards obsessive exercise and dietary routines. As nutritionist Paula Caravati explains about UVACARES, a committee of students and faculty dedicated to the education and prevention of eating disorders, it "has been re-energized in the last3 years and has fairly wide representation from the university." She goes on to say that "in addition to poor dietary habits [caloric deprivation] many factors can come into play and make for unhealthy living, like lack of sleep and alcohol intake." The main problem is that despite our best efforts, students are inculcated daily with images, posters, and signs that bring up the same old and quaint idea of what it means to be healthy. Overcoming this ideological drift will take long-term persistence and dedication from both University officials and the student body.
It is a difficult fight but not a hopeless one. Ultimately, however, the solution is more of an individual, personal realization, and with time the hope is that we will acknowledge, like they did in Madrid, that the fittest or most beautiful among us are not necessarily the best. At the very least, coming to terms with this idea will save you a date on the runway.
Erald Kolasi is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint writer.
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