e-Zine

Thursday, 12 July 2007

Young Are Hung Up On Their Bodies

A commentary on this BBC Newspoll by Danièle Hromek, MD of Busting Diva

I have a particular fixation for morning news presenters and their often shoddy presentation. In fact I regularly find the daily onslaught an assault on my eyes! Considering they should all have some sort of access to celebrity stylists I personally think this is unacceptable!

However I was rather saddened to hear the report on the news this morning which stated that according to a BBC Newspoll "some 51% of young women would have surgery to improve their looks and a third of those who are a size 12 think they are overweight." Apparently more than half had "loads" they would change about their body and 10% even hate their bodies. This is despite the fact that most of those responding when asked to choose which body they preferred between superthin, thin and curvy, they chose the curvier physique.

My goodness, how very sad for those youth (of which I am supposedly still one!) to feel that way about themselves. I wish I could speak with each one of them and help them see their own beauty. It seems we concentrate so much on what is wrong with us instead of enjoying what is right. When I style my clients, I make a point of discussing their better points and how to make the most of these, whilst reducing the noticability of the less favourable ones.

There is a case for the media to start representing so-called 'normal' females in a more positive light. To think that size 12 is overweight is a distorted view of the actuality; the average woman in the UK is size 16. I also think that young women need better role models to look up to. As I mentioned in an earlier article The State of the Nation, the quality of role models at the moment is appalling.

As for fashion and it's role in this issue, the real reason fashion designers use size 0 models is because they don't have to design the garments as well! I work with fashion designers and they admit it is trickier to make clothing for curvier figures, however this doesn't mean they are overweight and that fashion designers should be able to get away with using this excuse, in fact it is a pathetic excuse! Surely it's time for a challenge?! Now I'm not against size 0 ladies so long as they're healthy, but let's get some balance into the equation - please!

Author: Danièle Hromek

Tags: celebrity stylist, dressmaker, dressmaking, fashion design, fashion designer, role model