Vogue Bans Underage Models From Its Pages

Um, OW. Every muscle in my bod pod hurts – in a good way, of course!

I was stoked to see that Zuzana posted ZWOW #16 yesterday evening. I watched the video, jotted down the moves, and couldn’t wait to tackle it at the gym this morning. Wow. This was the hardest ZWOW yet! I followed it up with some chest presses and chest flyes before calling it a day! FYI: Today is Happy Hour Friday for the Tone It Up team! That means we’re completing 30 reps of one exercise on the hour all day today. I chose squats. DOH.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be walking like I have a stick between my butt cheeks tomorrow. Sorry, ZELLA! It’s in the name of fitness though, right?

Daily Musings

Around 10:00 a.m., I texted my friend Kristen (she lives across the hall from me) and asked if she wanted to run a couple of errands with yours truly. She agreed and we went to Whole Foods to do productive grocery shopping kombucha squats in the aisles.

Totally normal. 

After said squat detour, we grabbed lunch to go and headed back to campus. Today is packing day – aka the-thing-I-loathe-most day. As you know, I try to see the positive in everything. I’ve yet to find one positive thing about packing. A Whole Foods lunch, however, did make it more bearable. 

Greens, steamed broccoli, beets, roasted mushrooms, grilled eggplant, and falafel! Please and thank you. Drizzled with sundried tomato vinaigrette and Bragg’s liquid aminos, it was a feast fit for a veggie queen! <— That’s me.

After a couple hours of packing, Matty arrived to FSU! He is an angel face and agreed to come help me unload all of my junk. We made a bunch of trips up and down the stairs, a second workout for sure. My dorm has no elevator and I live on the third floor, so we had to lug everything downstairs by ourselves. We made lots of jokes, though. Actually, it was mostly me teasing Matty about being a “dapper, strong young man,” complete with grunting. He loved it.

Vogue Bans Underage Models From Their Pages

According to this article on ABC.net.au, all 19 editions of Vogue will no longer feature models under the age of 16 on their glossy pages. In their six-point pact, which will appear in their June issue, Vogue editors promise to “not knowingly” work with models who are under the age of 16 or with those that “appear to have an eating disorder.” The editors will also require “modelling agencies not to send them underage models, require casting directors to check models’ ID prior to photo shoots and encourage ‘healthy backstage working conditions.’ “

According to the pact, the editors say, “We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.”

Kirstie Clements, editor of Vogue Australia, admits there are complications and contradictions to their six-point pact. “Who is naturally slim? Who is dieting sensibly or irresponsibly? Who is exercising or over-exercising? We’ve been known to retouch shots, especially from the runway, to put weight on the girls, which obviously begs the question, why are they so thin in the first place?” Clement said in the interview with ABC.net.

My all-time favorite Vogue cover

My Two Cents

The Good: First off, I am shocked (in a good way) that Vogue  is creating a public pact surrounding “healthy body image” in the fashion industry. Anna  Wintour, editor of the US edition of Vogue, is a driving force and mega-influencer in the fashion world, so having her of all people behind this pact is a big deal. I am happy to see Vogue making strides towards promoting “healthy body image.” I am also happy to hear that Vogue will not be accepting models under the age of 16. Personally, I believe the age limit should be upped to 18 – under that is just too young to really grasp what you’re doing in that high fashion world. You’re just so vulnerable to others’ opinions, hence the rampant cases of eating disorders. But that’s for a whole other post.

The Bad: There are multiple gaps in the pact. For example, what are their standards for those who “appear to have an eating disorder?” I would go so far as to say that 80% of models look very sick and malnourished but who’s to say that all 80% of those women have an eating disorder? Some are naturally thin. Most are not naturally thin. That being said, there needs to be a standard. I’m not so sure what that standard would be. That is a subject area that needs a lot of careful and well-thought out direction.

Clements’ quote saying, “Who is dieting sensible and irresponsibly” kind of erred me in the wrong direction. I mean, there really isn’t such a thing as dieting sensibly when you’re already at an acceptable weight for your body. If there is dieting at any rate going on, wouldn’t that go against promoting “healthy body image?” That contradiction is definitely present. I also think it would be a novel idea to define their definition of “healthy body image.” In my mind, Vogue would be representing a healthy body image if it displayed women of all body types in its magazine. Can you imagine what this one, small change would do? I guarantee you it would inspire women all over the world to own their bodies instead of shaming them.

Stay lovely,
Heather

Question of the Day: What do you think of the news? I can’t wait to read your responses!