Here we follow up on the developmental concept of early to middle adulthood as being a time of turning the body into a “commodity” for sale as was seen in my blog-lecture on The Sporting Body (see also Bybee & Wells, 2006). The focus here is on persons who sell their bodies for public viewing as is the case of fashion modeling.
Body as Performance Art
Fashion models display their bodies and their features as a living. They turn their bodies into highly specialized, visual commodities. They are in this regard similar to athletes such as ballet performers, bodybuilders, and gymnasts as well some actors whose occupations are based on the aesthetic display of physique. Most fashion models, despite some modest inroads in the media made by the body positivity movement that advocates for the acceptance of larger body sizes, appear (or are perceived as being) notoriously underweight. The general assumption is that because some models appear “anorexic” then they must suffer from eating disorders. There is some truth in this but, as the limited research undertaken thus far indicates, it is not an absolute truth. In other words, when speaking of weight disorders in the fashion industry, it depends in part on the stress level from professional competitors. An exception to this rule is the case of runway fashion models. They appear to be under many different stressors to maintain a near-anorexic weight, both male and female. Research has found that Body-Mass Index of runway models has slowly decreased over the years to the point that extreme thinness and the health problems which come along with those extremes is an industry norm (Jestratijevic, Rudd, & Ilic, 2020).
This is particularly troubling because the media images of those bodies spread body unhappiness throughout its viewing audience.
Body Image of Fashion Models
A group of 52 professional fashion models was compared to a matched sample of 51 non-models from London, England, on indices of weight differences, level of body self-appreciation, social physique anxiety, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, the degree of internalization of sociocultural messages about value of attractive appearance, and the level of their dysfunctional identification with their own appearance. Results indicate that professional models shared a significantly higher drive for thinness and dysfunctional identification with physical appearance as compared to the control group. Longer occupational duration as a professional model directly related to more positive body appreciation but also a stronger drive for thinness. These results indicate that underweight models have a strong desire to maintain their low body mass or become even thinner (Castellano et al., 2021). This is especially true in the case of aspiring fashion models trying to break into the industry (Di Corrado et al., 2021).
BID and Fashion Modeling
Fashion models, alongside actresses, stars and other beauty icons who are seen as exponents of thin body ideal represent cultural ideals of beauty. Over the past several decades the feminine ideal has become increasingly thinner. One indicator is the progressive decrease in body size of beauty pageant winners while increasing average weight (Zancu & Enea, 2017).
Fashion models like athletes, dancers, ballerinas and other aesthetic styles aimed at perfecting physical appearance are very prone eating disturbances from the constant pressure to maintain low weight and thinness. On international catwalks, models share a similar ectomorphic body form: tall and very thin body structure. This form usually starts from 5.9 feet in height along with a higher height/width ratio. Fashion models strive for this form because its proportions highlight the clothing as the camera lens distorts the image by adding width, volume, and size. Fashion show collections are created on these proportions to highlight designs and models are selected to fit this standard with no specific intention in promoting the thin ideal (Zancu & Enea, 2017)
Another important fact to consider is that in all studies the models have a significantly lower BMI than non-models. They are on the average slightly underweight with a BMI around 18 and all of them share a high drive for thinness. Yet this does not seem to be strongly related to eating disturbances. This may be because the above average height of the models allows them to naturally maintain a slim shape without relying on unhealthy behaviors. Yet, on the other hand, many studies have found a prevalence of clinical eating disorders. Interestingly, it was found in one study that fashion models did not report more disordered eating than controls on self-report inventories, but told a different story in personal interviews by admitting they actually did have severe eating disorder habits (Zancu & Enea, 2017).
Oddly, more recent research shows that fashion models in general enjoy a positive body image and generally do not report more dysfunctional eating behaviors than others. This is possibly due to the fact that their body forms approximate the cultural ideals of thinness. Yet, on the other hand, some fashion models who give great importance to being underweight with significantly lower BMIs have a higher prevalence of partial-syndrome eating disorders (Zancu & Enea, 2017). This means that regardless of body size or naturally-thin physiques, many fashion models have a near-pathological drive for thinness and engage in substantial disordered eating.
Closing Thoughts
So, in conclusion, when it comes to body image disturbance in the fashion modeling industry there some fire, but not as much smoke as usually assumed. Yet, the smoke that is there is far ranging in its effects on the public via the media.
It seems very counter-intuitive that lower BMI is not strongly linked to eating disorders in either models or non-models. However, other studies show that it is. In any event, because lower BMI levels are the norm within the fashion industry, they may not be the best variable to use when thinking about body image disturbance and professional modeling.
In general, the results given above generally indicate there is a real problem in the fashion modeling field, but it may not be as large as previously assumed. It also suggests that treatment interventions aimed at promoting healthy body image among fashion models may require different strategies than those aimed at the general public as their motivations and self-image are so unique.
Ah, to be beautiful, but at what price?
Paul Shane, Ph.D., LMT
Director, Academic Content
References
Bybee, J. & Wells, Y. (2006). Body themes in descriptions of possible selves: Diverse perspectives across the life span. Journal of Adult Development 13(2), p. 95-101.
Castellano, S., Rizzotto, A., Neri, S., Currenti, W., Guerrera, C., Pirrone, C., Coco, M., & Corrado, D. (2021). The relationship between body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms in young women aspiring fashion models: The mediating role of stress.
Di Corrado, D., Coco, M., Guamera, M., Maldonato, N., Quartiroli, A., & Magnano, P. (2021). The influence of self-efficacy and locus of control on body image: A path analysis in aspiring fashion models, athletes, and students. International Journal of Environmental Research in Public Health 18(11), doi: 10.3390/ijerph18116128.
Jestratijevic, I., Rudd, N., & Ilic, S. (2020). A body to die for: Body measurements and BMI values among female and male runway models. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 40(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X20968893.
Ralph-Nearman, C., Yeh, H., Khalsa, S., Feusner, J., & Filik, R. (2020). What is the relationship between body mass index and eating disorder symptomatology in professional fashion models? Psychiatry Research 293, doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113358.
Swami, V. & Szmigielska, E. (2013). Body image concerns in professional fashion models: Are they really an at-risk group? Psychiatry Research 207 (1-2), p. 113-117.
Zancu, S. & Enea, V. (2017). Eating disorders among fashion models: A systematic review of the literature. Eating & Weight Disorders 22(3), p. 395-405.