The Thin Ideal
Modeling
The top modeling and fashion industries often embrace the ultra-thin appearance. A majority of elite models are approximately 20% underweight, exceeding the anorexia nervosa indicator of 15% underweight. Fashion models and modeling agencies are often blamed for the societal pressures that cause young women to develop eating disorders. Others argue that modeling agencies and fashion cannot be blamed for the disordered eating behavior of easily influenced adolescents. However, after several incidents in which models died from anorexia nervosa, such as the case of Ana Carolina Reston, several major fashion modeling events have adopted new policies to encourage healthy body weights. For example, Madrid Fashion Week officials banned models with a body mass index lower than eighteen. Comparable guidelines have been adopted in similar fashion events in other countries, such as Brazil and Argentina.
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