Do I Look Fat in These Pants?

It’s the age-old question that’s been haunting women everywhere. Most of us, unhappy with the goods that god gave us, pursue diets, exercise or (for the wealthy and brave), liposuction. However, lately the age of women who consider themselves on a diet seem to be on a downward trend.

No doubt, as students, we are all under a lot of pressure; not only do we have to do well in school to get jobs and become successful, but most of us feel the need to fit in with our peers. It was difficult enough starting college and dreading gaining that infamous “freshman fifteen”, but, continuing into my second year, still fearing the same thing. According to the University of British Columbia in an article called Eating and Nutrition, Disorder eating, “A survey of UBC undergraduate students found that 51.6% of females are trying to lose weight.”

Social and cultural pressures seem to be getting heavier and heavier. Most of us are exposed to media images of what society deems as “sexy” or “beautiful”, but in reality are just unrealistic, photoshoped, mannequins. What’s more is that our younger counterparts are being exposed to these same images and thus feel the same pressures. “…Many teenagers feel the cultural pressure to be thinner than is required for good health, and may try to achieve this goal through poor and sometimes dangerous nutritional choices.” As reported in the article Dieting in Adolescence published by the Canadian Pediatric Society. The images that are polluting magazines, television and fashion runways are starting to take their toll on young Canadians. In the same article, the Canadian Pediatric Society reports that “Canadian cross-sectional data suggest that more that one in five teenage girls are ‘on a diet’ at any given time.” Another article titled Teens dieting to look like stars by Deborah Condon suggests, “…(teens) obsession with looking like famous people is leading them to make unhealthy diet choices.”

Within the fashion industry, however, these pressures seem to be the norm. It seems that within the past few years’ models waists have been getting smaller and smaller therefore affecting the clothes we see being sold in our local retailers. “Clothes have shrunk, too, sample sizes dwindling from a 6 to a 4 to a 2 and below.” reports Antonia Zerbisias in an article called Model vanishing act echoes cultural famine. The fashion industry, too, is starting to see the repercussions of their actions. “ Today’s models are literally starving. At least three have died from eating disorder-related causes in the past 18 months”, Antonia Zerbisias reports in the same article published in The Toronto Star, Oct. 20, 2007. We never see that part of it. Most of us only see the glamour, the parties, and the fashion. We don’t see the consequences of what a poor diet can do to our bodies.

What most of us are unaware of is how old some of these models actually are. They may appear as if they’re in their 20’s, but in reality are much younger. An up and coming model Chanel Iman, for instance, looks as if she’s in her early 20’s. Wrong, she’s actually only 17! The fashion industry is featuring some of these young girls in their runway shows and their ad campaigns that are geared toward an older market; thus sending the message to women that these are the ideals they have to live up to, when in reality it’s all just an optical illusion.

What’s worse is if you’re a fashion student, like myself, being exposed to these stick thin robots from watching fashion shows, or reading fashion magazines. This can make one feel as if they’re not trendy enough or even ugly. There’s always going to be that natural urge to better one’s self. However we must learn to draw the line somewhere in between what’s healthy and what’s downright disturbing.