"They measured my fingers to see if I was fat" was the headline on an article in The Daily Mail last week. Those words come from Gemma Clark, once a waif-ish model. Comparing the two pictures that accompany the article it is my opinion that today she is a vibrantly beautiful woman who not too long ago looked almost sickly.
For the purpose of my opinion here, I'm not going to spend time on the story she tells of the photographer who took advantage of her. It's a symptom of a much deeper problem. Women in general and models specifically are viewed by the fashion industry as objects. Kind of a tool to help them make money. If it were only the fashion industry that held this twisted, sexist view we could say, "Well, those people are oddballs anyway."
Unfortunately, we have allowed the thinking to creep into our culture. A model is considered beautiful if she's skinny enough. If you don't fit the mold that somehow a few people have decided is the standard, then you can't possibly be pretty.
Since I read the article I've been trying to think of what we could do to change the trend. So far I have not come up with anything. One thing is for sure though. We must be constantly vigilant that we don't get sucked into that disgusting idea that a woman must be a perfect, plastic barbie doll to have worth.
Men, I'm calling you out. I think the single most important thing we can do is to make sure that in our own minds we do not treat women as objects or tolerate the behavior from others especially in our circle of influence.
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