Thin Is In: Why?!

This is Ana Carolina Reston. She was a Brazilian model, killed by a diet of apples and tomatoes. She weighed just 40kg (88lbs) when she died. More and more young girls will die unless they realise beauty does not come from having all your ribs on show.

As London Fashion Week roars on, so does the debate about being 'size zero'. The organisers of the event made the decision not to bad models under a certain size. From the television pictures of the event, a lot of the models appear to be of the slimmest possible nature. Quite why being that thin is so desirable to young girls is beyond me. Men do not lust for women of that size.

Now the media focus has shifted on to websites which promote anorexia, or 'thinspiration', as they call it. I just had a quick search on google for a few such sites as research for this post, and they do not seem shy in promoting anorexia as a way of attaining a 'desirable' figure. Some of the images are shocking. What devastates me the most, though, is why.

Why do people want to be this thin? Why do people want to be able to count their ribs when they breath in? Why is it desirable to be a 'size zero'? As someone who is naturally thin, I am even more baffled than the average person. For 19 years I have had to battle against being thin. I can do nothing to gain weight and I hate being this thin. I hate being able to see my ribs. I'm 19 and I can still count them clearly. The idea that someone could be reading this post and wishing they were as thin as I am is completely beyond me.

For me, being this thin is a curse -- a horrible horrible curse. If you are fat (and by that I mean 16/17 stones), then people around you are conscious that you probably do not like being that size. They refrain from making jokes around you, and they refrain from criticizing your eating habits. It is different for us thin people. Friends, co-workers and family are not so aware that you probably do not like being thin. They do not contain their comments. I am sick to death of one certain person telling me a few dumplings in a hot pot would 'see me right'. Why should I put up with this when the fat boy does not have to listen to 'a few slim fasts wouldn't do you any harm'?

The organisers of London Fashion Week are using models who are 'size zero'. This is both dangerous and wrong. Miss England was on the news channels today saying she was happy with being the size she was and that being a 'size zero' did not appeal to her. Women need to be convinced that beauty comes from within and being who you really are. It certainly does not come from having a non-existent waste. Being ultra-thin is not sexy and it is not beautiful.

Yours, wherever you may be,

Daniel C. Wright