Model Guidelines for Models

‘Only fat mothers don’t like skinny models,’ is just the most recent in a series of controversial outbursts from fashion designer extraordinaire Karl Lagerfeld. Understandably, statements like this have industry officials and women everywhere up in arms, and only serve to fuel the vilification of the fashion industry that often goes along with the issue of body image.

On Tuesday, model Sarah Murdoch and former Cosmopolitan magazine editor Mia Freedman presented a report to the government on the issue of body image, which recommended the implementation of a set of voluntary guidelines for the fashion industry, media and advertising. The ‘Industry Code of Conduct’ calls on magazines and advertisers to use ‘healthy weight’ models of different body shapes and ethnicities, and to disclose when images have been airbrushed or digitally altered. If the voluntary guidelines are largely ignored, they will be made mandatory (which throws into question whether they are, in fact, really voluntary at all).

It’s clear that body image is an important issue for young women, with it ranked as the number one concern in Mission Australia’s National Survey of Young Australians in 2007, and third in 2008. However I think the fashion industry is often used as a scapegoat for an issue that is much more complex. It is clear to most, I believe, that the runways are a realm of fantasy. It is true that the models are usually so tall and thin and beautiful that most of us could never look like them – but they’re also wearing clothes that most of us could never afford, and photographed in places and situations completely divorced from everyday life. I’ve read Vogue on and off since the age of twelve, and in the same way that I always understood I couldn’t afford a Vivienne Westwood bridal gown, I understood I couldn’t look like the model wearing it.

More problematic, I believe, are magazines, media and advertising – including celebrity culture – which present impossibly beautiful and thin women in ‘everyday’ situations, which are intended to be comparable to the lives of ordinary women. One such magazine is Cosmopolitan, which is why I find it incredibly ironic that it is former editor Mia Freedman who has put forward this report.

A question that arises regarding these guidelines is where to draw the line. If magazines are forced to disclose when the images have been airbrushed, shouldn’t they also disclose all the other unnatural processes the model or celebrity has gone through to look as beautiful as they do? A cover girl might not have been airbrushed, but she may have had botox, teeth whitening, breast enhancement, fake tanning, liposuction... the list goes on. Airbrushing is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here’s a novel idea: if we want women to feel good about themselves, why don’t we stop talking about their bodies? After all, it is a media-driven obsession with feminine beauty and sex appeal that got us into this mess in the first place. Dictating any kind of standards relating to the way women are presented in the media, even with the best of intentions, only adds another layer of expectation and pressure for women. Presenting ‘real women’ can set up a direct and damning comparison between the beautiful and the unfortunate, the slim and the voluptuous. And I don’t mean that it’s necessarily damning to the overweight and ugly – I have naturally slender friends who are abused and criticised by strangers, called ‘ano bitch’ and told to ‘eat something’. The fact that strangers feel they have the right to judge and comment on women’s bodies says a lot more about our society than fashion magazines do.

Human nature dictates that people will always give preference to things that they find beautiful or visually appealing. Whether or not women encounter beauty (and by modern standards this tends to encompass‘thinness’) in the media, they will inevitably encounter it in their everyday lives. There is always going to be someone prettier, taller, or slimmer, possibly with a smaller nose and bigger breasts. Instead of shielding young women from this reality, we need to equip them with strategies that enable them to value themselves regardless. Self esteem is such a complex issue – why don’t we look at things like bullying, parenting, role models, education, and community involvement?

Women need to realise that while Karl Lagerfeld might be a creative genius, we probably shouldn’t take dieting tips from a man who rumouredly survives solely on baby food. And even though Madonna is fantastically fit for her age, not all of us have the time or the inclination to exercise for six hours a day like she does! As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read fashion and beauty magazines for most of my life, and I think I’ve grown up with a fairly healthy sense of self esteem. I might not be able to afford that Vivienne Westwood wedding dress right now, but if I work hard at university and put a lot of time into my career (and use my brain), one day I might be able to. But even if I do get it, I’m never going to look like Kate Moss wearing it. And that’s ok by me.

“There is a moment when you have to accept that somebody else is younger and fresher and hotter. Life is not a beauty contest.”
- Karl Lagerfeld (he can be wise sometimes!)