America's new top model ...or top skeleton

[RolliePollie]

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I actually watch that show...and I 100% agree that these girls are WAY too skinny! And really, most of them come across as very...well, how can I put this...how 'bout not very intelligent, foul mouthed, and ummmm, kinda skanky. I'm a 30-something and I don't know why I watch it and my 50-something co-workers can't figure out why they watch it either...clearly it's targeted at the teen and young adult audience. Which makes it even scarier because there is no way they could be that skinny without being anorexic. Oh, and it seems like many of them smoke too. Another healthy lifestyle promotion. Now that I'm thinking about this, I am taking a vow right now to NOT watch it next season.

I'll take my flabby belly, well-padded hips, and almost muscular legs any day.

[Jolt]

Definitely unhealthy and a bad example! Yuck. And then we wonder why so many girls struggle with eating disorders.

[Melstar]

It seems like the High Fashion side of modelling is always getting negative publicity. What irks me is that there are people out there who are using this as an avenue to justify their unhealthy living. They are happy to sit back with their Big Mac and complain about stick thin models on runways with a size 0.

Its fine if the model is obviously anorexic, but those who have a healthy BMI but are slimmer than your average get lumped together with them as well - all because of their insecurity.

I am,of course, referring here to people who choose not to exercise but instead opt to justify their unhealthy eating habits, lifestyle and existence.

Oh, and it seems like many of them smoke too. Another healthy lifestyle promotion.

Yea, there's sort of a smoking culture going on among models unfortunately due to the inherent nature of the job.

The whole industry is really inefficient and slow and most of the time you're just rushing to wait in order to wait to rush.

So there's literally heaps of free time to kill. And if you consider the fact that there are heaps of 16-17 year old girls coming in young and impressionable, its quite easy to get sucked in to the whole drugs/smoking/partying thing.
And did I mention that smoking kills appetite when you haven't had breakfast and its near dinner time?

I'm not condoning why most of them smoke, nor am I giving an excuse for it. Its just the way it is. But its not all as bad as what people make it out to be.

[lph]

I dunno - personally I wouldn't want to look like this, but I don't really think she looks awful, but definitely very very skinny. I have a friend who is very slender and struggles to put on weight - in periods of stress her ribs poke out and she feels she looks like she's straight out of a concentration camp. My dh is very skinny too, "built like a bird." Both of them "could use" some more weight, but that's just the way they are. And they're both healthy, and beautiful in their own way (Oh, and they eat loads.) The problem with models this skinny is that for most people, *trying* to look like that would indeed bring on health problems.

I just wish that the ideal of beauty was a bit more varied - rounder women, muscular women, small women - instead of this onetrack idea of tall, thin women with no curves at all. Acceptance of a wider range would be nice, especially if there could be more focus on health rather than dress size.

And happiness - what's with the "I'm so pissed off I can hardly speak"-stare?