Teddy Bears

Welsh Girl

Is Thin In?

More apparent in today's society than in the past, are ultra-skinny models who display various types of fashion on the runway, in which the designer's creations are highlighted. Skinny girls are more popular because they do not divert from the clothes and because the fabrics that they wear flow more freely on them, successfully expressing the designer's vision. However, these types of models create a negative effect on younger girls with access to televisions, magazines and newspapers. The abnormal messages they send are influential and greatly affect our culture, especially among younger girls. As a result, the widespread "scary skinny" epidemic continues to increase in popularity throughout many countries. Most leaders in society fail to recognize the intense pressure the fashion industry instills in individuals, contributing to the artificial ideology that one must be thin to be "in."

Every day women are regularly exposed to skinny figures featured on television, in magazines, at the mall, or even heard about on the radio. Television shows such as, America's Next Top Model and Project Runway contribute to the popularity of the emaciated obsession by associating skinny with success. Also, television and radio commercials alike reliably advertise diet pills, gym memberships, and plastic surgery as options to lose weight or remain slim. Magazines highlight articles on how to lose weight by completing so called "simple" exercise routines while providing countless dieting tips. Finally, women are even affected when shopping for clothes. High-end couture that is sold in department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Barney's, or Neiman Marcus, is only available in a small range of sizes. This makes it impossible and unrealistic for the average person to purchase and wear designer clothes.

Furthermore, this so-called "beautiful" image presented on the runways has influenced the media to portray similar looks. To view an individual in magazines, such as Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, or Seventeen, possessing anything other than a waif-like frame is virtually scarce. Not to mention most television networks like E!, MTV, and VH1, who continually illustrate these figures also. girls who were exposed to the most fashion magazines are more likely to suffer from poor body images after reviewing 21 studies that looked at the media's effect on more than 6,000 girls, ages 10 and up" (Hellmich,2006, pg. 2). "Most experts agree that the media's emphasis on thinness has a significant impact on how women perceive their bodies, Stern writes: "When those individuals who are already susceptible to eating problems are exposed to unrealistic cultural expectations about how their bodies should look, they are likely to develop a full-blown eating disorder" (Stern, 2004). To combat the media's persistent skinny obsession and the harmful effects it has on women, the fashion industry must take a stance and ban emaciated models from participating in any fashion show.

In 2006, a fashion show held in Madrid, Spain wavered from the norms of the fashion industry by banning ultra-skinny models; however, this does not suggest that all fashion shows will follow in its lead. Madrid was the first city to initiate such a campaign against underweight models with set guidelines that banned models under a body mass index of 18. These are the standards the fashion industry should consider when choosing models to walk the runways. The industry should instill strict standards for models and their weight. The models would have to follow a consistent weight management plan, where as they would be obligated to keep a healthy weight, which would set examples to teens in our society that, the image of being thin is not okay. The voluntary industry should also set up guidelines that include: healthy model standards, a public education campaign, and a financial penalty to pay for the education campaign, collected from designers and manufacturers who violate the standards.

Our media-saturated society repeatedly casts images that are impossible to achieve without some measure of self-destruction. Therefore, the fashion industry, as the number one contributor of creating and instilling individuals with the impossible idea that one must be thin to be "in", should be held accountable for the welfare of women who follow its trends. The U.S society needs to be educated and be aware of the dangers the media has on young women. Classes on nutrition and pamphlets should be made available to teach young girls especially in high schools on how to take care of their bodies. Designers and manufactures who go against the standards and still use ultra-skinny models will be the ones who pay for the education. The goal is to keep the young generation from looking up to these models and imitating their habits. The industry instituting this ban will help models have healthy lifestyles, and the public's perspective of an unrealistic body image will soon be a fad of the past.

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Puppy names for a girl welsh corgi?

Please don't give me links to puppy name websites...
Just names...

Awwww... Scarlet is sooo cute!!! How about Ashley, Kaila, Bella, Molly, Brittani, Riley, or Katie?

ADD: Lexi, Vicki, Lola, Roxy

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