LizzLoves Vogue Choosing Healthy Models May 8, 2012

I try not to make a habit of repeating topics two posts in row, but when I saw this article on NPR about Vogue agreeing to only use healthy models, I knew I had to do a follow up. In a nutshell, the editors of 19 global editions of Vogue are trying to make a step in the right direction by agreeing to:

• not work with models under age 16
• not work with models who appear to have an eating disorder
• encourage healthy eating lifestyle among models
• encourage designers to “promote the casting of models from a broader range of body sizes.”

These are only some of the points in their pledge to change the current harmful practices in the modeling industry that are all too common.

 

What do you think? Is this enough? What else should Vogue and other high-fashion magazines do to change the modeling industry?

 

*One more update: Remember Julia Bluhm’s petition to Seventeen magazine in the last LizzLoves post? Well, Seventeen invited Julia to their offices. Read this New York Times “Motherlode” blog post for an update and details about her visit here.

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LizzLoves Healthy Body Images for Girls April 30, 2012

Recently, I signed a Change.org petition that asks Seventeen magazine to make a new effort to portray realistic images of young women.

 

If you know anything about Change.org, then you know that this online platform places the power of social change in the hands of anyone who is passionate about an issue. The site transforms users into activists by allowing them to combine e-petitions with social media to spread the word.

 

Julia Bluhm, a 13-year-old, wants to spread the word about how Seventeen‘s current portrayal of young women makes her and her friends feel. When I got her Change.org letter via email, I knew I had to support her petition:

 

…she says she feels the pressures created by these fake photos every day.

“I’m in a ballet class with a bunch of high school girls,” Julia says. “On a daily basis I hear comments like: ‘It’s a fat day,’ and ‘I ate well today, but I still feel fat.'”

…Seventeen‘s editors freely admit they retouch photos — one of the magazine’s editors even wrote, “You know how everyone says celebrities look good in photos because they’re airbrushed? Well, it’s true!”

But these fake photos have a real impact on young girls. Nearly half of girls between first and third grade say they want to be thinner. And by the age of ten, 81% of girls say they’re “afraid of getting fat.”…

 

So Julia is asking Seventeen to start small by running one unaltered photo spread in each issue of their magazine. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask…do you? If not, follow the link below to make your voice heard! She only needs 200 more signatures to meet her goal.

 

Sign Julia’s petition here to speak up for promoting

realistic & healthy body images for young women