The Size Zero Debate

Both the fashion industry and the media are strong platforms for the size zero image. Many different fashion campaigns hire size zero models which makes it seem normal to be that skinny but in retrospect its not. For instance the Victoria Secrets campaign called “Love Your Body” features 7 skinny women posing in underwear all the models are stick thin and toned. This campaign suggests that it is normal to be that skinny and that that is a normal representation of a woman’s body.  When you think of the size zero image, people automatically think of celebrities and models, but that is not necessarily true, many celebrities struggle with weight problems and are scrutinised constantly by the media. Another example would be the Dove campaign called “Real beauty” where they hired regular sized models to pose in their underwear to show that you don’t need to be a size zero to be beautiful.  The skinny models in the fashion industry are a small minority and the majority of people are a healthy weight, so why do people aspire to look like them when they are just a small minority?

Many people are against the size zero debate. The fashion industry has been scrutinised for only hiring models under a certain weight but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. The Dove campaign encourages diversity by featuring an arae of different: sizes, skin tones, heights, and hair types. The argument is that everyone is different and that s what makes us beautiful.  The curvy women are a contrast to what we usually see on glossy magazines, and that is what makes it so affective. The women are shown smiling and laughing which backs up their campaign of you should be happy with your own body. Doves campaign makes a stand against the fashion world saying that the definition of beauty needs to be widened to a variety of shapes.

The size Zero debate involves a wide range of ages from young teenagers who what to look like them and aspire to be stick thin so they can be models when they are older, to middle aged women who feel that they need to look like that to be sexy.  I think it is wrong and real women should be represented in the fashion world not just skinny girls but girls with hour glass figures and girls with a bit of meat on them. Fashion designers think that they need to have skinny tall models to promote their clothes when really they aren’t the women who will be wearing them.

Overall the size zero debate will always bey a very topical subject in the media. We live in the 21^st century and should be more open minded when it comes to beauty and the way people look. People should be happy in there own skin and we should not be promoting being unhealthily thin.