As Paris Fashion Week draws to a close it is evident that one trend continues to dominate the catwalk each season: the phenomenon of size zero. It seems to me that no matter how many young starlets embrace their curves that thin will always be in.
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| Geldof looking gaunt at Fashion's Night Out in New York |
As the stars line up for a front row view of Cynthia Rowley’s latest collection, it seems they too have got the skinny on this interminable trend. Peaches Geldof is fast becoming the latest poster girl for anorexia, as she displayed her newly thin frame at all the top shows, worrying onlookers about her plummeting weight. Geldof once a healthy size six has shot down to a tiny size zero in only a few short months. However, Peaches is just one of countless celebrities striving to achieve Hollywood’s ideal weight; and when steamed vegetables and lemon juice are the staple diet starvation does not seem too far a stretch to be on top of the Hollywood food chain – as Kate Moss says “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”.
However, what these stars do not realise is the immense pressure they place on young women to live up to this unrealistic ideal. Recent studies have shown that 50% of women spend up to 40 minutes or more getting ready in the morning and an astounding 80% worry about their weight more than cancer. You would think with the numerous promotions of pro-anorexia campaign’s we would realise the dangers of dieting and the physical and mental toll it takes on the body. However, this has just prompted women to become obsessed with their own vanity. Today women are so consumed by the unrealistic portals of beauty portrayed in the media that they have become obsessed with their own body image, counting every single calorie and exercising compulsively for two hours a day. But how far is too far?
It is no secret that we women have always been worried about our body image. However, never has it been this extreme. It seems that we as a nation have become so fixated on looking good that we now even go as far as to measure a person’s success by their outward appearance. How have we as a society who has so much knowledge about this deadly disease reached this point? And how have we let this deadly obsession be passed down to our children?
Our obsession with perfection originates from ‘Barbie’, innocent at first it may be but studies have shown the vast impact ‘Barbie’ has on young girls; with a majority of young girls suffering from anorexica aged 8 - 15. With her perfectly tousled blonde locks, sun kissed skin and four inch waist she is the epitome of perfection. From a young age they hook us in. ‘Barbie’ however, is just the beginning now they have a product for every age and it soon turns from ‘Bratz’ to ‘Project Runway’ and ‘Next Top Model’ following not too far behind.
With a line up like this it is easy to see how we have all been fooled into believing that beauty is only skin deep. However, the truth of the matter is, to live up to societies perception of ‘beauty’ is completely and utterly unfeasible. I don’t know about you, but I think there are only so many raw vegetables a girl can eat. We should embrace our curves; after all we are powerful, independent women and should not let something as silly as food dictate our lives. I am not saying that worrying about weight or looking good is a bad thing; let’s be honest we all loved to get dolled up for a girl’s night out and feel good about ourselves. However, it is to what extent we go in achieving this goal that will ultimately define us. After all isn’t it inner beauty that truly makes us beautiful?
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