Tyra Banks talks skinny. We say models model clothes, not life, for our girls
Supermodel Tyra Banks has been getting a lot of press this week for her 鈥渙pen letter to models鈥� in The Daily Beast in which she praises Vogue magazine鈥檚 new pledge to stop using young teen models and those who appear to have eating disorders.听
This move, she says, could do wonders for little girls, who have been subjected to increasingly twiggy beauty standards.听聽
鈥淲hen I started modeling, I used to see models who seemed unhealthy backstage at the fashion shows,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭hey appeared to be abusing their bodies to maintain a certain weight.听These girls were booked over and over again for countless fashion shows and photo shoots. I鈥檓 sure many of you today have witnessed this, or even live it. Now, real progress is finally on the horizon. Vogue is stepping up, doing the right thing, and protecting that girl.听Perhaps that girl is you!鈥澛�
Well, thanks for the encouragement, Tyra. Sort of.听Because, really, that girl is decidedly聽苍辞迟听me. Or my daughter, I hope.听
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See, what gets lost a lot in this whole 鈥渕odels are too thin and therefore bad role models for our girls鈥� discussion is that maybe models shouldn鈥檛 really be role models for our girls.听
There鈥檚 nothing wrong with the 鈥淰ogue鈥� announcement earlier this month. Nobody is going to take issue with Conde Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse鈥檚 statement that 鈥淰ogue believes that good health is beautiful. Vogue Editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the well-being of their readers."聽
But the idea that this will change body image problems for girls misses the point. The models in women (and teen) magazines will continue to be thin and beautiful. That鈥檚 their job. (I mean, it鈥檚 not like aspiring to look like Tyra Banks is not particularly attainable for most women, either.) And having "thin and beautiful" as an aspiration 鈥� perhaps not the loftiest of goal.听
So as Vogue changes its standards, what we can change at home is how we talk to our daughters about media, about the images in the magazines, and 鈥� all importantly 鈥� the way we absorb these messages ourselves.
Which brings up my favorite part of Ms. Banks鈥檚 letter:聽鈥淭o moms everywhere, we need to educate our girls not to fall prey to听迟丑颈苍pirational images of beauty,鈥� she writes. 鈥淪o where do we start? By being very careful about how we talk about our own bodies in front of our daughters.鈥澛�
Exactly.
