If A Skinny Model Falls In The Forest...

...and a slightly less skinny model takes her place, will anyone notice?

Spanish Fashion Show Turns Down Twigs

I wonder myself how much of a difference this could/would make. It'd be fantastic if the fashion industry adjusted their attitudes to include more buxom women in their catwalk shows. There is, however, so much evidence of their preferences for twiggy boygirls all over the magazines runway shows and television and cinema...I personally don't find much to be attracted to, aesthetically, when I see these women, except that the clothing looks nicely draped on their bodies. But that's because their bodies could easily double as mannequins or hangers with heads (I don't know if Kathy Griffin coined that phrase, but she's the only person I've ever heard use it, so we'll give her credit). I mean, everybody knows what it's like to see something in the store and think, "Wow, that's pretty" until they try it on in the dressing room under those horrid lights in front of the unforgiving three-way mirrors.

I don't actually have a problem with skinny models. They don't inspire me, and I don't want to be one. I do take issue with their influence on our culture, seemingly from the bottom up. Not having access to any valid statistics, I can only speak anecdotally; it seems like there are more young women and now even girls who are nearly killing themselves to attain an unrealistic and unhealthy "ideal." As a fat girl, I ask, what the hell is ideal about not eating?

We interrupt this blog for a Friends stream of consciousness moment. Monica: You know the camera adds ten pounds.
Chandler: How many cameras do you have on you?

It's interesting; thick girls round the world had their hopes dashed when it became apparent that the hoopla over Jen Lopez' apple bottom turned out to be a passing fad. There are simply not enough women who look even remotely normal in the entertainment industry. Certainly, I understand it's not about reality, it's about fantasy and escapism. We can't, however, ignore the obvious ripples in our cultural pond as a result. I hear all the time, in some form or another, celebrities complaining about being role models. All the back-pedaling in the world is not going to change the fact that the cart is already ahead of the proverbial horse. A teacher of mine once stated, "It doesn't matter the way things should be. What matters is the way things are."

And as long as it's deemed fashionable and acceptable to look like an emaciated coke-whore (it's not how you feel, it's how you look), I'll be the fat chick in the corner everybody dismisses for eating too much and not working hard enough to fit the mold. I can only hope that my own daughter will view me -- and not some mangy stringy version of the Olson Twins -- as a role model, and that she'll see I struggle with my BMI not because I want to look like Kate Moss, but because I want to participate in life, not watch it from the sidelines in a hoverchair cuz my ass is too big to walk.

In the meantime, I'll be waiting in the forest for my turn on the catwalk. I will most definitely need to pack a lunch.