Canadian dept. store pulls catalog filled with super-skinny models
Filed under: Style in the News, News
(Have they learned? The catalog was pulled, but click the photo to see which models they're still using!)
Although exceedingly skinny -- and probably unhealthy -- models have proven to be an effective strategy for the advertisers, they're not so great for avoiding bad PR and controversy. As Canadian department store La Maison Simons found out last week, there's a growing movement of socially-conscious fashionistas out there ready to send in complaints whenever they see models that look like poster children for a campaign to fight hunger.
Simons released their 36-page fall catalog in stores as well as inserted into newspapers last week. Almost immediately, the Quebec-based retailer got over 200 customer complaints about the emaciated look of the models wearing their Simons TWIK brand. Not exactly the kind of response you want from a fall catalog. Before the public outrage could really boil over, company president Peter Simons made the decision to pull the catalogs, saying that the images are "destructive to a more vulnerable portion of the population which is exposed to anorexia."
Do you think these models are over-the-line?
[via Jezebel]
Joy 9-02-2008 @ 3:09PM
What the heck are the catalogs showing these 90 pound chicks when no one, I repeat, NO ONE, weighs that. Why don't you show models that weigh 120, 140, 160, 180, 200+ pounds? What's the matter, afraid people will think THAT'S disgusting? That's what people weigh, folks, a hell of alot more than 90 or 100 or whatever these things called models weigh. Get real, people. Everyone has to wear clothes, why not make it possible for people to see what they're going to look like? How am I supposed to know that that little number in the middle is going to fit me when the chick that's modeling is weighs half of what I do? Dumb a** people, I'm tellin' ya....
Reply
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Hannah 9-02-2008 @ 5:04PM
i found your post to be a little offensive. i am 14 and i weigh 90 pounds. i don't under eat, i don't starve myself. i am petite. and people like you are the ones that made me feel self-conscious about my body and overeat. i didn't gain any weight. i get so many comments about how unhealthy i look and how skinny i am. i do agree that the images of very skinny women have triggered anorexia and bulimia, but somehow Americans are still overweight. i have now accepted my body and i eat healthy again and still exercise a healthy amount. people come in all shapes and sizes, including skinny. magazines just need to put more variety, but don't exclude skinny people because they are skinny.
MBee 9-02-2008 @ 11:34PM
I am 19 and weigh about 95 pounds, I have struggled to gain weight like an overweight person struggles to lose weight. Comments like some of the ones I have read are what makes me uncomfortable with my weight and my thin frame. I've tried in the past to eat constantly at an attempt to put on some weight with no luck. Now I realize that it is pointless and unhealthy, I eat as healthy as I can and it comes with lots of criticism. The constant remarks about me avoiding unhealthy foods (i.e. high in fat, etc.) get on my nerves but you know what.. I'm healthy and that's all that matters.
BiotechResearcher 9-02-2008 @ 2:29PM
Current research is showing that severe caloric restrictions in mice lead to longer life spans. Research in epigenetics is showing that you can silence and activate genes by eating certain foods and that these patterns of gene activation (methylation) can be passed down through several generations. Understand this: what you are eating determines your weight, NOT your DNA. Maybe we should stop saying that it's ok to be fat and that it's ok to eat whatever the heck you want. These skinny models could actually be a good example for healthier lifestyles.
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Melissa 9-02-2008 @ 2:44PM
Are you kidding me??????? You must NOT have a daughter! I have 3 & let me tell you they are constantly bombarded with pictures of under weight woman & girls in the media. my girls are tall & thin but when seeing a 6 foot 90 lbs. girl they think they must be FAT because they don't look that way. The ONLY answer is to premote good health not skinny people. God made us in all different shapes & sizes for a reason. Good health dose not come with a size on it. I wish I could get the designers of todays clothing lines to sit down & rethink the message they are sending to our next generation! I for one am getting sick of undoing the damage the media & designers are doing to my girls! People like you don't make it any better either! P. S. NOBODY said it was ok to be FAT or eat whatever you want!
Sarah, 13 9-02-2008 @ 3:53PM
oh please, ur just someone how probably likes skinny girls cause ur shallow and don't care about personality! WTF is wrong with everyone! everyone thinks that because ur fat u must eat a ton of food!, i eat 300 calories per meal/ 3 meals a day and wiegh 140 lbs, im 5 4. Yeah im over wieght and i care that i am, im not making excuses, but u have no right to say that everyone who wieghs a little more than the should is eating to much! Ur just a jerk and u dont deserve the right to post ur coment on this!!!
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Anna 9-02-2008 @ 5:18PM
The assumption is that skinnier is healthier,... the saddiest disease is starvation...
so go figure why we would want to encourage anyone to starve theirselves.
.so lets not confuse heathy with these preceptions that are brought out in this ad. Encouraging anyone to starve theirselves is just sick.. no matter how you look at it...
Tiffany 9-02-2008 @ 5:31PM
Are you kidding? I used to be anorexic and only consume about 400 to 600 calories a day. Until my hair fell out, I stopped menstrating and I got heart palpatations from my heart not having enough fat or calories to operate. Severe calorie restriction is not healthy and does not make you live longer. Taking as many calories as you burn will make you live longer. Stupid people like you are probably the same people that say cigarettes and second hand smoking are not bad for you either. Anorexica is not healthy, it can kill you, I should know it almost did. Calorie restriction is not something you recommend to people unless you are overweight.
old enough to remember 9-03-2008 @ 12:04AM
Very few models have healthy lifestyles. Many starve themselves so that they can fit into the small sample sizes that designers. make. And apparently you are not up to date on current research - there have been studies recently released that state that there are some overweight people that are actually healthier than skinny people!
Jerry 9-03-2008 @ 3:51PM
You sure did candy-coat the whole idea of anorexic models pal, let me tell you that! What about the fact that so many of these models are bulemic? Anorexic? How about the pressure to maintain a near skeletal body frame? These girls are starving, they are hungry and cannot eat when their bodies tell them to. You call this 'healthy'? Let's not confuse obesity with moderation.. Being one of these skeletal models is an extreme just like obesity is. Don't tell me these girls are healthy when they're collapsing left and right in this business.
Eat when you're hungry and exorcise regularly and that will lead to a healthy person. Often times models are so young and docile that they just live like little children and the money hungry slime who hire these girls act as their parents... Only the love these slimeballs have is for money, not the models. These models will know this later on in their lives. Too bad, they waste their youth on narcissism and greed for fame.
THE ASSHOLE 9-03-2008 @ 2:37AM
WOW, so people are actually that worried about too skinny
tell you what how many people have been to a outdoor water park recently or mabey a local public school, PARENTS LET THEIR KIDS DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITHOUT PUNISHMENT AND WITHOUT GIVING THEM ANY REASON WHY, In 5 min. i saw more "Morbidly Obese" Kids under 13 than you could believe. there is no exceuse for a 12 year old to way more than 200lbs inless they are 6'5 and thats even a strech, To hell with old school parenting? being politically correct with your kids?? no no IF you are a parent and are one of those people who treat there kids like adults YOU ARE MENTAL!!! They are children so parents Take some responisbility and hold your kids responsible for their actions and MAKE THE EAT HEALTHY APPLE CHUNKS LAST I CHECKED WERE A HELL OF A LOT MORE NUTRITIOUS THAN McDonals, KFC, Taco Bell, or any of that stuff Try a good home cooked meal and family time shit people. AND ALL THE MORE POWER TO THOSE MODELS THEY MIGHT BE wayyyyy to skinny to be attractive but atleast they wont have a Heart attack by 16. And you FAT COWS OUT THERE MEN INCLUDED GET SOME SELF RESPECT STOP STUFFING DOWN THE PRINGLES AND WALK A BIT HELL GO SWIMMING GET OFF THE COUCH AND EXERCISE! LAZY PEOPLE ARE WHAT GIVE THIS COUNTRY A BAD NAME! LAND OF THE FREE, LAND OF THE FAT
APUALLING AND EMBARRASING!
Kate 9-09-2008 @ 9:45AM
to "The A-Hole" Read up on anorexia and bullemia. They cause heart failure too and much sooner than obesity. Obesity is a big problem in the US, I agree, and I also agree that parents are taking more of a backseat position in disciplining their children, but please don't encourage malnutrition!
WildKAT 9-09-2008 @ 11:48AM
As a doctor, I agree with you. The wilful ignorance exhibited in the negative comments that follow your posting reveal just how invested people are in defending their "right" to gluttony. In numerous Asian countries people sustain long periods (days or more) of prayerful meditation or fasting for health. Noticeably, their bodies do not suffer from the effects of food deprivation. The MIND is the MATTER. Mental control, training, discipline and intent are the determining factors in Yogis and Monks who are successful practitioners of fasting. Western society has deified skinny models and film stars as "role models". The difference often is that those people are starving themselves for vanity and/or professional careers. Science has proven that calorie restriction begets longevity. However, it must be a gradual shift rather than a starvation or binge/purge paradigm.
colleen 9-10-2008 @ 7:52AM
probably written by a man.
babs 9-11-2008 @ 3:12PM
biotech, I have to disagree with you on the what you eat determing your weight. That is not always the case, and research in mice is fairly obsolete when you still have human cases that firstly, prove that exercise plays an important part of weight as well. do I really need to point that out to anyone? Furthermore, not just any exercise, as for some body types, you can exercise quite a lot and still not lose weight. For some of us folks, exercise has to be mixed up such as adding weights to the routine. There's a big difference between burning fat and burning needed muscles. Last time I checked, mice were not our closest ancestors anyway, not that I want to hear about your chimp testing research. People can still be perceptibly heavy and not eat hohos and twinkies all day. Again, do people still really need to be educated on these things? I guess so.
MR. P 9-02-2008 @ 2:37PM
WHAT ARE THEY YELLING ABOUT..LET'S FACE FACTS WE HAVE SO MANY FAT PEOPLE IN AMERICA.. THE FAT WOMEN CRACK ME UP THEY EAT LIKE PIGS STUFF THERE FACT AND WASH IT DOWN WITH A DIET COKE.
THEN THEY TRY TO FIT THERE FAT BODIES (24) INTO A SIZE 8.. BOOBS SAGGING AND THERE GUT HANGING OVER LIKE A FAT TRUCK DRIVER... TIME TO EAT LESS
PORKY'S....
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jamie 9-02-2008 @ 3:21PM
Even if you had a good point (which you dont..), I would dismiss it without a second thought due to your horrible English.
Please, before you judge someone for their shortcomings, fix all of yours.
Jan 9-02-2008 @ 3:34PM
You are a poor excuse for a human being