this is my life #1

Episode One: I get my hair cut...

P.S. I do not have nits. 

X

Fashion Week + Eating Disorder Charity = ???

What do you get when you mix LFW with an Eating Disorder Charity? Well, a lot of murky, oily water folks. (as the image below suggests)

Last night I went to a "positive body image summit" hosted at ASOS HQ in association with BEAT.

Beat (that's Beat Eating Disorders folks) is the main UK charity dedicated to supporting sufferers of eating disorders and their families. ASOS [anagram factoid alert] stands for As Seen On Screen. Who knew? It certainly seemed to surprise Sophie Glover (Head of Technical Services at ASOS)!

Along with Sophie, there were three other women on the panel:

Beat Young Ambassador Ellie Douglas, an inspirational young woman who has recovered from multiple eating disorders and now speaks about her experiences on behalf of Beat in the hope of helping fellow sufferers.

Georgina Wilkin, another courageous young woman who has worked as a fashion model and who spoke eloquently about her experiences of anorexia and the fashion industry.

Carol Spenser, stylist.

The panel was chaired by Beat’s Chief Executive Susan Ringwood, who fielded questions from the floor.

It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) Ellie Douglas and Georgina Wilkin were both extremely brave in speaking out about their eating disorders. Furthermore, BEAT is an amazing charity... but daymn this evening was a shambles. 

Here's why:


Firstly: Carol Spenser. I don't think she should have been invited to speak at this event; her opinions were ill-informed, insensitive and occasionally offensive. She distinguished models from "normal people", claiming they were just "walking coat hangers". Most shockingly, she described them as a fantastic but different "species", nothing more than "genetic accidents". No. Models are real people, and they deserve to be treated as such.

Carol also gave us the benefit her own (unsubstantiated) theory that fewer men and women from ethnic minorities suffer from eating disorders because there are so few fashion models from minority backgrounds. Definitely not that (as BEAT CEO Susan Ringwood gently suggested) in certain communities eating disorders are simply under-diagnosed.

Carol also proffered the opinion that male models don't suffer from eating disorders. Bullshit.

Eating disorders don't care whether you're black or white, male or female. This disregard for ethnicity, gender and sexuality is their only redeeming feature.


This second issue is really sensitive. In short: I found some of the messages voiced by Georgina, who  spoke about her experiences as a fashion model, to be triggering. When asked whether she'd ever been asked to cover up any bodily imperfections on a shoot she described the layers of concealer required to mask the blue tinge of the skin on her hands and feet that resulted from poor circulation. Now, I'm no doctor, but blue hands? That's not a bodily imperfection. Warts? Mmhm. Chin hairs? I guess. But blue hands and feet? Nah, that's just common or garden untreated anorexia.

The way this anecdote was handled made it appear that Beat is okay with models being unable to pump sufficient blood to their extremities. That this was normal, and I was abnormal for daring to think otherwise.

Georgina also described how, after starving herself between the ages of 15 and 18, her model agent eventually turned round to her and said they couldn't have her on their books in her current state of emaciation. The agents said they could no longer "sell a product that was damaged", and that her current appearance would "taint" them as a company. Her response? She "respected them for that".

Say whaat? These adults told a 15 year old child that she had "hippo hips" and recommended that she starved herself to the point of death for three years. Sounds like child abuse to me.

These model pimps (sorry) agents don't deserve respect; they deserve to be sued to kingdom come. 

Georgina is a powerful speaker and remarkable woman, but I was left confused. Some of the things she said didn't sound like the opinions of a healthy adult. Does Beat's CEO Susan Ringwood sanction the abusive behaviour of Georgina's model agent? Was Georgina speaking out as a survivor in stable recovery? Or, instead, as a young woman who continues to be the victim of a carnivorous industry that remains utterly unchallenged, no matter how many "positive body image summits" Beat organises?


Thirdly, I have an issue with ASOS. As a company were kind (and brave!) to host this summit and to allow Sophie Glover to speak to us. But when I asked her why there isn't more size variety among the swimwear models on your website, Sophie was unable to answer me. Because she was involved in sizing up clothes, not models. Next time ASOS, why not let the staff who chose the models be interviewed? Or better, get your CEO on the stage...

ASOS, If you really want to promote a positive body image among your young customers, you need to let the public speak to those at the top of your organisation. That way, when we ask you why, given that you claim to employ a diverse group of models, why you only use one (extremely slender) woman to showcase your swimwear, we might be able to get an answer.

Sophie told us that your target audience was a size 10 twenty something. Fine. But most 20 year olds are not a size 10, and most women are not in their twenties.

Let's look at this the other way round ASOS. Maybe your most popular swimwear size is a 10 because your website suggests that only size 10 twenty year olds will look good in your bikinis. If you allowed some of those size 12 and 14 models to be photographed in your swimwear, you might actually sell more bikinis. It's a called capitalism.


One final thing, about this size 10 bikini model. I made a mistake when I asked the ASOS team why there wasn't more size diversity among their swimwear models. I said that I thought the model featured was a size 6. ASOS was quick to correct my mistake, and Susan Ringwood (Beat CEO) turned to me and said: "See, that's the problem with images, we think they tell us one thing, but when we're told the truth, then we realise we were wrong." 

So apparently I'm wrong; Beat is telling me - Beat is telling all young women - that it's healthy to only have walking coat hangers who can't maintain circulation advertising skimpy bikinis. That these women are size 10 role models, and what a shame I'm to silly to realise this.

Susan, I'm going to give you the chance to reconsider your answer. Can you honestly look at this image and tell me this is a healthy size 10 twentysomething with a strong body that I, as a twenty-one year old woman, should aim for.

Or is it just another very thin girl? 




Feel free to tweet me @oxbeautyblogger. I keep student hours.

xx