The Huffington Post, Hilary Moss, First Posted 04/21/11:
A new study out of the University of Bologna suggests that using plus-size models on the catwalk and in advertisements could make women fat.
In their paper "Thinness and Obesity: A Model of Food Consumption, Health Concerns, and Social Pressure," Dr. Davide Dragone and Dr. Luca Savorelli cite the relationships between Italy, Germany and Spain and their respective fashion communities to produce more plus-sized clothes and uphold a minimum size for models. They write:
When reading the content of the agreements, it is clear that both the government and the fashion industry agree that fashion is a powerful trend-setter. It not only influences what clothes, styles and colors are trendy, but also determines how a person should appear to be desirable.
Okay, so fashion is apparently super-influential. Dragone and Savorelli add:
If people are underweight and stay on a diet, increasing the ideal body weight allows both aggregate welfare and health to be improved. If people are overweight and on a diet, however, increasing the ideal body weight can improve overall utility, but it worsens health because it induces people to become even more overweight.
And, "Given that in the US and in Europe people are on average overweight, we conclude that these policies, even when are welfare improving, may foster the obesity epidemic."
The pair also said, according to the Daily Mail, in plain language, "To promote chubby fashion models when obesity is one of the major problems of industrialised countries seems to be a paradox. Everyone has to trade off in life a number of things like the pleasure of eating and going to the gym or something as a cost. So if you just fix the average healthy weight then maybe you will throw up some incentives to be thin."
Um, so far, seeing plus-size models hasn't made us any bigger. And watching size zero models lurch down the catwalk hasn't made us any skinnier, either -- if anything it's made us simultaneously revolted and ravenous.
What do you think?
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No, but I don't think playing Hitman makes you an assassin or playing a racing game teaches you how to drive...and I sometimes feel lonely holding to that opinion.
Anyway, as far as I remember, the idea was to use "plus size" models to show "real women" instead of too thin models, aside from very special fashion shows I haven't heard of any "obese" models", but perhaps tha line of thought mirrors these thoughts.
Oh yes.
We're being overrun by portly models.
Right.
In my opinion, the scientific evidence in this study is ironclad and can't be refuted.
Due to the obesity epidemic, I agree that there needs to be a minimum and maximum weight for models. The governments of the world need to step in and regulate modeling. It would apply to both men and women models.
Agreed!
Congress should stop trying to fix the economy and deal with this immediately. What good does it do to lower the cost of food if everyone's just going to be fat anyway?
AM I RITE?
Congress should stop trying to fix the economy and deal with this immediately.
Oh, is that what they're doing? I could have sworn they were playing some kind of high-stakes version of "chicken" where the payoff was staying in power over the next election cycle. Glad to know someone is actually working on the economy thing.
LOLZ
I'm not so good at the tongue in cheek thing it seems ;)
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Congress should stop trying to fix the economy and deal with this immediately.Oh, is that what they're doing? I could have sworn they were playing some kind of high-stakes version of "chicken" where the payoff was staying in power over the next election cycle. Glad to know someone is actually working on the economy thing.
Be careful. Or the MIBs will wipe your memory before the latest sequel comes out....
Be careful. Or the MIBs will wipe your memory before the latest sequel comes out....
Wait what?
Who are you people?
Oh, is that what they're doing? I could have sworn they were playing some kind of high-stakes version of "chicken" where the payoff was staying in power over the next election cycle. Glad to know someone is actually working on the economy thing.
Sadly, this is exactly what they are doing, and will continue to do as long as the system provides powerful incentives.
For a politician, the high road leads to the unemployment office.
No, but I don't think playing Hitman makes you an assassin or playing a racing game teaches you how to drive...and I sometimes feel lonely holding to that opinion.
Anyway, as far as I remember, the idea was to use "plus size" models to show "real women" instead of too thin models, aside from very special fashion shows I haven't heard of any "obese" models", but perhaps tha line of thought mirrors these thoughts.
A billion dollar advertizing industry argues against the idea as well. None of this is to say that everyone who plays Hitman suddenly becomes an assassin or anything like that but the very fact that there are national cultures and that populations of nations and regions have likes and dislikes, beliefs and values that differ would seem to indicate that we are picking this stuff up from somewhere.
The majority of real women are either overweight or obese. Seeing models that look like them isn't what they need. They need to see models who are at an ideal weight, so they have something to shoot for. Also, models need to be more attractive than average women, because that is their role in life.
Wait, so playing Mario Kart does not improve my driving skills? Why do I play this game then?
The "scientific research" of this article is bogus because they did not have a control measure.
I prefer fat girls
I prefer fat girls
Yeah, I don't know if they make some woman fat, but they make guys like me happy!
I did not order the bag of antlers.
I did not order the bag of antlers.
More 'normal' ladies on the catwalk please, not these anorexic, constantly fasting, botox-injecting silicone-enhanced barbie dolls, please.
And while we're on the subject, same goes for the male models? (although not to the same extent, as these twits seem to think a healthy male is just that, healthy, while a healthy woman is a few weeks away from starving to death. What the hell is wrong with a woman having some meat on her and boobs that are, well, boobs?)
Due to the obesity epidemic, I agree that there needs to be a minimum and maximum weight for models. The governments of the world need to step in and regulate modeling. It would apply to both men and women models.
Such regulations are far too close to prior restraint on speech for my taste.
The only exception might be minimum/maximum weight for child models, but then that should already be covered under existing child endangerment and child labor laws.
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A billion dollar advertizing industry argues against the idea as well. None of this is to say that everyone who plays Hitman suddenly becomes an assassin or anything like that but the very fact that there are national cultures and that populations of nations and regions have likes and dislikes, beliefs and values that differ would seem to indicate that we are picking this stuff up from somewhere.No, but I don't think playing Hitman makes you an assassin or playing a racing game teaches you how to drive...and I sometimes feel lonely holding to that opinion.
Anyway, as far as I remember, the idea was to use "plus size" models to show "real women" instead of too thin models, aside from very special fashion shows I haven't heard of any "obese" models", but perhaps tha line of thought mirrors these thoughts.
Sure we do, I only argue against a simple conclusion like:
size-plus-models->more obese women.That is ideed as valid as:
playing hitman->training to be an assassin.
Also, the number of overweight women increased since the 1970s (when the "aneurexic" (hopefully exaggerated for effect) trend in fashion industry started. There are no statistics done since the first magazines decided not to feature underweight models anymore. That alone makes me doubt the validity of the quoted study.
I am very interested in social psychology (a side effect from being a student of educational science, maybee) but I like to see some evidence (as in significant data) befor I jump to conclusions.
(Fun Fact about advertizing industry: There is no statistical evidence of ads influencing our purchasing behavior beyond pointing out products to us, we hadn't known before)
She's got'em!
I thought we were talking > Gravity Whores < here. Not phat bottom girls.
check this out: "Astronaut Jones"
Oh, is that what they're doing? I could have sworn they were playing some kind of high-stakes version of "chicken" where the payoff was staying in power over the next election cycle. Glad to know someone is actually working on the economy thing.Sadly, this is exactly what they are doing, and will continue to do as long as the system provides powerful incentives.
For a politician, the high road leads to the unemployment office.
I think the concept of a "career politician" needs to disappear. I'm not sure of how to best accomplish that, but we need to find a way to remove money as an incentive in politics.
The best way is to enforce transparency, and be very clear that every kind of check made on citizens also applies to the politicians. ALL the politicians. It's some weird concept called rule of law, I think...
The fashion industry will die, um, liquidate I guess, before allowing obese people positive media exposure from any of their resources. The driving force behind their every dollar of income is "You look terrible. With our stuff you might look a tiny bit closer to acceptable. Buy our stuff." The more people who do not feel they look acceptable, no matter their actual weight, the more people buy their stuff.
Thus, allowing fat models on the runways will spell utter doom for them. If this was enforced by law, they would cancel the catwalk shows, instead going for TV shows and the like. If that was then regulated, they would focus more on product placement or something. And so on, and so forth. They only know that the moment a fat woman is portrayed as beautiful before a big enough audience, every insecure woman weighing as much as or more than that woman will feel less need to buy fashion stuff.
The best way is to enforce transparency, and be very clear that every kind of check made on citizens also applies to the politicians. ALL the politicians. It's some weird concept called rule of law, I think...
The fashion industry will die, um, liquidate I guess, before allowing obese people positive media exposure from any of their resources. The driving force behind their every dollar of income is "You look terrible. With our stuff you might look a tiny bit closer to acceptable. Buy our stuff." The more people who do not feel they look acceptable, no matter their actual weight, the more people buy their stuff.
Thus, allowing fat models on the runways will spell utter doom for them. If this was enforced by law, they would cancel the catwalk shows, instead going for TV shows and the like. If that was then regulated, they would focus more on product placement or something. And so on, and so forth. They only know that the moment a fat woman is portrayed as beautiful before a big enough audience, every insecure woman weighing as much as or more than that woman will feel less need to buy fashion stuff.
While not exactly a "fat woman" there is ...
Christina Hendricks
I'll be in my bunk.
The best way is to enforce transparency, and be very clear that every kind of check made on citizens also applies to the politicians. ALL the politicians. It's some weird concept called rule of law, I think...
The fashion industry will die, um, liquidate I guess, before allowing obese people positive media exposure from any of their resources. The driving force behind their every dollar of income is "You look terrible. With our stuff you might look a tiny bit closer to acceptable. Buy our stuff." The more people who do not feel they look acceptable, no matter their actual weight, the more people buy their stuff.
Thus, allowing fat models on the runways will spell utter doom for them. If this was enforced by law, they would cancel the catwalk shows, instead going for TV shows and the like. If that was then regulated, they would focus more on product placement or something. And so on, and so forth. They only know that the moment a fat woman is portrayed as beautiful before a big enough audience, every insecure woman weighing as much as or more than that woman will feel less need to buy fashion stuff.
While not exactly a "fat woman" there is ...
Christina Hendricks
hendricks 4LIFE, yo!
Please god, have her play seoni in the golarion movie.
Please god, have her play seoni in the golarion movie.
As a redhead, she might be an even better choice for Shelyn.
I look at male models, with overdeveloped pecs and no other muscular development; long eyelashes and fancy hair; full, pouty lips; weak chins; totally hairless bodies... OBVIOUSLY modeling will automatically force all men in the world to immediately get sex change operations. It's inevitable, right? Because it's obviously impossible for anyone to resist the mind-overriding compulsions of our Fashion overlords (save none, SR no).
Please god, have her play seoni in the golarion movie.As a redhead, she might be an even better choice for Shelyn.
I don't have a source for this, (Help?) but I've read that Hendricks is a natural blonde, and she dyes her hair.
Plus sized models make women fat, but only if women eat them.
This oh so valid and time worthy study (somehow hinging "scientifically" on the word "may") has a devious agenda to fraudently prove its thesis only after first changing the effect by observing it. Follow...
They said more people would want to gain weight if they witnessed the oh so glamorous plus sized model, but that was never actually true. Who gives a fig about plus sized models?
But by telling us that these gals are secretly killing us they just made them dangerous! I'm hearing Bad to the Bone playing! I'm seeing leather jackets. Oooo, I WANNA BE A COOL PLUS SIZED BADASS TOO!
This so-called study was clearly a clinic in mind control.
Dude hendricks is a skinny chick. Big boobs on a skinny girl does not make her plus sized.
Dude hendricks is a skinny chick. Big boobs on a skinny girl does not make her plus sized.
Dude hendricks is a skinny chick. Big boobs on a skinny girl does not make her plus sized.No problem.
I thought it was 100% crap when this ad caught a lot of flack for being too revealing but they say nothing about the typical Victoria Secrets ad.
C'mon.
Dude hendricks is a skinny chick. Big boobs on a skinny girl does not make her plus sized.No problem.
You do realize that "plus sized" models are rarely fat.
On another note, Imrijka looks to be a fine piece of thickness, and in my favourite flavour too! All hail Paizo for not creating an endless selection of generic fanatasy shapes for their 'flagship' heroes.
And again, must stress I believe we'd all be more interested in fashion if normal people wore the outfits. Ask the nearest woman if she can afford to spend twenty hours a week exercising, giving up all 'luxury' foods and spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on plastic surgery and get back to us. Me, I'll be hiding in a bunker while you do this.
*dances around to sir Mixalot* looooooooooove that song!
Plus sized models make women fat, but only if women eat them.
Once again, The Jade FTW.
I swear you stay up at night thinking of this stuff...
Plus sized models make women fat, but only if women eat them.
Once again, The Jade FTW.
I swear you stay up at night thinking of this stuff...
Very kind, CH. Thanks! :)
I'll twitter that line (A good place to store your one-liners if you're a one liner sort of person).
I'd rather date a woman who looks like she could survive a famine than one who looks like she did survive a famine.
Good one.