It doesn’t matter whether you’re thin or plump, blonde or brunette, tall or petite, every woman is likely to have bad feelings about her body after viewing photos of models in magazines.

A study conducted at the University of Missouri surveyed women on their feelings about themselves, their bodies, hair, weight, etc. One group of women then looked at neutral images and a second group viewed models in magazine ads. The women’s attitudes towards their own bodies were measured again after viewing the images. The women who viewed images of models experienced a drop in their level of satisfaction with their own bodies.

The assumption that only overweight women would be less satisfied with their own bodies was incorrect. All women, regardless of weight experienced an impact in self-image after viewing the magazine models.

Because these images are often computer-enhanced, partially computer-generated and have all imperfections air-brushed out, it is not surprising that no woman feels she comes up to the standards of beauty that are held up by the media.

The study – “Predictors of Media Effects on Body Dissatisfaction in European American Women” – was published in this month’s Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.

Women of All Sizes Feel Badly about their Bodies after Seeing Models

Italy has produced some of the most famous beauties that the world and Hollywood has ever seen. Film stars such as Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren represented the sultry and voluptuous woman.

Now Italy joins Spain in regulating the health and weight of fashion models. The Italian Fashion Chamber has teamed with the Italian government to produce a code that would ensure that models are healthy by requiring that models produce medical proof that they do not have an eating disorder. It would also ban models younger than 16. Interestingly, the code asks for fashion houses to add larger sizes to their collections.

In the photos of these famous Italian beauties it is clear that their clothes were designed to accentuate their assets. What you notice about clothes on fashion models today is that these sorts of assets would get in the way. The clothes seem designed to be draped over the stick figure clothes hanger that is the model. Which, I wonder, would men consider to be more attractive?

It would be wonderful if this code could be adopted internationally. It could save the lives of many young girls who develop eating disorders in trying to emulate these models and it would finally allow real women to assert their beauty.

Spain has certainly caused a stir in the fashion world with its ban on too-thin models in an upcoming fashion show in Madrid. You can read about it in my article on this blog. New reports indicate that up to 30% of models were eliminated based on their low BMI scores.

What I found didn’t get much press was the untimely and sad death of a 22 year old Uruguayan model, briefly mentioned in a news article about the Spanish boycott. Luisel Ramos, who had been advised she could really make it big as a model if she only dropped some weight, reportedly starved herself for a period of up to two weeks prior to a show and suffered heart failure after stepping off the runway in Montevideo on August 2, 2006. Medical personnel called to the scene were unable to revive her. Her father told police she had eaten only leafy vegetables and Coke for weeks prior to the fashion show appearance.

I tried to find more on this sad story but nearly every article I found was either on a blog or on a South American website. I found one in German and another from Vietnam. I don’t speak either German or Vietnamese so I had to rely on the Spanish sites and the English language blogs for information. But why didn’t this story get more media attention?

I don’t know the answer to that. I do hope that the recent decisions by the regional government in Madrid are part of a new trend. Despite the constant media barrage of ultra-thin female images, there is little said about the dangers of being too thin and besides, young teens aren’t going to listen. The only way to prevent a tragedy like Luisel Ramos is to show them. Give them positive body images to emulate in fashion and entertainment. That can only happen if we stop rewarding the perpetrators. When we stop pulling out our checkbooks and wallets, they will get the message.

Models who are considered too skinny will be banned from a fashion show in Madrid later this month. The regional government has expressed concern that the image portrayed by these gaunt women might influence young Spanish girls and increase the incidence of anorexia and bulimia.

It seems to me that the skeletal thinness of fashion models and Hollywood stars is increasingly out of step with the attitudes of average women. When we were young, low-rise pants or “hip-huggers” with body suits that clung to every inch of the torso were worn by young women everywhere, but no one would have dared to wear that style unless they were pencil thin. Nowadays the pants are still riding low on the hips and in place of the body suit are stretchy, torso-hugging shirts that end just short of the top of the pant-waist, showing lots of skin. The difference is that heavier girls wear the style just as often as the skinny ones do. Attitudes towards what is an acceptable body seem to be shifting more towards healthy weights and away from the desire to be bone thin.

These thoughts make me hopeful for the future although, because they are my personal observations, I could be wrong. But think of having fashion and Hollywood taking their cue from the public instead of the other way around. It can happen, if we refuse to accept the pre-packaged trends and images they offer us.

I am not saying that there’s anything wrong with being in style and enjoying all that fashion has to offer. I am suggesting that we send the message, loud and clear, over and over, until Hollywood and fashion designers hear us: Style and fashion are for everyone, not just for under-nourished twenty-somethings who do not represent real women.

Madrid bans too-thin models from catwalk