It was my husband who first brought it to my attention. “I’m a bit concerned about Jen. She’s looking a bit skinny.”
To whom was he referring you might wonder. From the personal concern you might assume it was my daughter, except for the fact that she’s not called Jen. Nor was it one of his sisters (also not called Jen) nor my friends (surprisingly not one called Jen). No, it was Jen Hawkins, former Miss Universe, all Australian girl and his personal get out of jail free card. If you don’t know what that is read my former post on it.
So I sat in front of the current affairs show (either Today Tonight or A Current Affair–can’t remember which–they run the same stories) and saw indeed that Jen was looking a bit skinny. Then I thought to myself, in 23 years of marriage he’s never once said “Kell, I’m a bit concerned about you, you’re looking a bit skinny.” Funny that, but I digress.
Anyway, there’ve been all these lovely supportive articles about Jennifer Hawkins and how industry experts say that she’s just fine–and they would wouldn’t they–you wouldn’t want to piss off Australia’s most famous model, would you?
So how does JenHaw measure up? According to the Fashion Model Directory she is 180cm tall and 57kg who wears a size 8. Good on her. She’s a model she’s supposed to be skinny I suppose. Did you like that–good on her–no rant about unrealistic body images or poor role models. You see that’s because I’m evolved. I don’t look at JenHaw and want to be her. I admire her like I admire Leonardo’s ability to paint the Mona Lisa. Perfection abounds but it’s not for me.
You see I’m getting mighty sick of the lobby that keeps telling us that it is ok to be a size 14 or a 16. It’s not. Myer and David Jones are introducing a size 16 mannequin into their stores this week. Size 16!
Youth Minister Kate Ellis can rave on all she likes about how “…the industry will continue to take positive steps to promote and support healthy body image.” but when charity The Butterfly Foundation says “The average woman’s size is a 14 to 16–it’s a more accurate reflection.” well I get a bit cranky.
OK, you can be a size 14 or a size 16, it’s your body, your call–but I won’t accept that it’s healthy. If you are a size 16 you are overweight–sorry–you are. And Australian society has a much greater problem with obesity than eating disorders. Yes, that’s obesity that leads to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, increased risk of cancer, heart disease etc, etc.
So I’ve done some maths for you. In 1995 (yep that 15 years ago) the average Australian woman was 161cm and 67kg. That gave the average Australian woman a BMI of 25.85, just outside the top of the healthy BMI range of 25–she’s overweight–just. Bet those numbers will go north when they update the statistics. If that proves to be true, that will mean that the average Australian woman will be sitting squarely in the overweight range.
By making things like size 16 models OK, we’re endorsing the risk of obesity and the subsequent unhealthy lifestyle factors. OK, Jennifer Hawkins’ BMI is 17.59 which puts her into the underweight range. But if we are all so heavily influenced by the likes of JenHaw why aren’t most of the girls in the northern corridor suburbs of Brisbane mere slips of things instead of the substantial size 16 plus that many appear to be.
I truly doubt it will be mimicking the likes of Jennifer Hawkins that will cripple Australia’s future health ecomony.
Loaded Web Australia
Fat girls aren’t emulating famous fat people. Underweight girls ARE trying to emulate what is considered “sexy” so I think you’ll find mimicking the likes of a woman with the body of a 180cm man like JHawk is extremely unhealthy.
I really don’t like it when people say underweight is unhealthy. I have lots of friends who are slightly overweight but eat normally and healthily, and slightly underweight friends that do the same. Sometimes it’s not about healthy/unhealthy eating habits. A lot of the time it’s to do with genes and metabolism. For one, Jen definitely works out. Working out is unhealthy now? Just because you’ve got slightly less fat than the majority of the Australian public? That just seems so unfair. It’s not like she’s anorexic – starving herself, or purging herself, it’s not like she has bones sticking out – that’s cause for concern. This isn’t. And if Jen’s body type is actually unrealistic, then girls with bodies like Jen would be rare – they’re not.
People come in all different shapes and size, some girls are large, some girls are small, and some are fairly average. It is a fact of life. I am a UK size 4, which I believe is a US size 0. I don’t eat any less than what someone of what is considered a more healthy size eats, in fact, I probably eat more. I just happen to have a fast metabolism. I think most people will find that the majority of “skinny” women, were born that way. There will always be the select few, but their is a flip side to the coin in some African countries where it is considered that women are only attractive if they are over weight.
People should just accept everyone for who they are. Instead of focusing on the height, weight, hair colour, race or any external appearances, we should focus on personalities.
http://www.helium.com/items/1426323-underweight-models-fashion-shows