(R5) The Weight Debate (part 2)

Many thanks to Scott Church for his kind permission to feature the following aptly named and beautiful image. Scott has a new photo blog, which you can view here.

The Complex and the Simple, by Scott Church

Would you photograph this model?

Now of course each of us will have a different, very subjective answer to this question, depending on how we personally feel about shooting larger models. Is she "plus-size" or is she "fat?" Does the language really matter? Yes, I did use the “f” word, deliberately. I can feel you all flinching already.

Size-ism and weight bias rules Western culture. It is the reason that many women (and men) have eating disorders. I frequent a lot of nutrition forums, and the bitchiness between the women is eye-watering. You really wouldn’t believe how nasty people can be about size. In the fashion industry too, thin is equated with perfection. A typical example is Carine Roitfeld (editor of French Vogue) who believes that models can never be too skinny, that only thin is beautiful. The media and entertainment industry’s obsession with rake-thin clothes horses and the Barbie-doll look has done a huge amount of harm to woman-kind in general. It has wrecked our self-esteem, and racked us with self doubt.

Weight bias is even virulent amongst the less educated members of the photographic community. One of the main reasons I left the MM forums was because of the constant vicious attacks on models about weight. One of the worst things a photographer can EVER say to a model is “you’re fat.” And yes, I have seen it happen too many times to count. How rude, how ignorant, but it still happens all of the time. We all know it is wrong, unjust, and I bet all of you reading this agree with me. So, if this is the case, why does seem that the vast majority of nude photographers only photograph thinner women? And by "thinner," I mean size 14 (size 16 in US speak) or under. I’ve no idea if it’s because they can’t find plus size models, or because their personal taste in women is for thinner body-shapes, or simply because thin women are more socially acceptable and sell more images.

I know of at least one photographer who never ever photographs over a US size 4 (UK size 8). He makes no apologies for this, and he’ll freely admit that he just doesn’t find anyone over that size attractive enough to photograph. He subscribes to the “thin is beautiful” regime, and to his credit, he does photograph these svelte ladies extremely well. Of course he could photograph larger women and make them look stunning too, but he doesn’t want to. (He’s a charming chap, BTW.)

Rich, on the other hand, is a personality junkie. He genuinely likes all different body shapes and sizes, and he considers all women potentially good photographic subjects providing they are prepared to “emote” to the camera. In some respects, this is a bad thing as it’s easy to find models who will pose nude, but incredibly difficult to discover models who can express passion in front of the lens.

And then there’s the problem of actually finding a plus-plus size model who will pose nude for us (I mean size 20 or above.) Extensive casting calls on my part have met with abject failure. Unlike the awesomely talented US model Shyly, most larger models in the UK are deeply ashamed to be photographed naked. Although they love art and modelling, they confess to hating their natural bodies, so no nude modelling under any circumstances, which I find immensely sad, albeit predictable. In my teens I was a size 20 (US size 22) and there’s no doubt I hated my body. I wanted to look like the women in Vogue. I wanted to be skinny. Thin = beautiful, acceptable, desirable, LOVED. Even twenty years ago, this was the case. Why? Was this Vogue’s fault? If there had been a fashion magazine for empowered gorgeous larger women, would I have bought it? Hell, no. I would have still bought into the glossy fantasy fashion world. I wanted the dream. I wanted to look like a Barbie doll. I wasn't remotely interested in reality.

The grand irony is, of course, that it goes the other way too. Once you have achieved your ultimate dream of being skinny, you might be absolutely delighted with your new body shape, but I can tell you truthfully that practically every other woman will hate you for it. Very thin women are constantly reviled and demonised by those larger than them. A couple of years ago, just as I was starting modelling, I was a size zero (U.K. size 4.) I was accused by other models of being unhealthy, a traitor to womankind, ugly (apparently my ribs stuck out), emaciated, and one unenlightened photographic critic even thought I looked dead. Mmm…as you can imagine, this did not make me feel so good about my self-worth at the time. Nor did it make me feel desirable, nor more loved. Thank God for Rich, who took some great piccies and really boosted my self-love quota. The more you model nude, the more you learn to love your body. It does wonders for self esteem, and it's great therapy for those with negative self-image issues. If only every woman would do it.

So I’ve been fat, I’ve been thin, and through my experiences as a model, I have since realised that weight should be irrelevant to photography. It's the personality of the model that counts. I mean, who gives a rat’s ass how fat or thin you are, as long as you’re really, genuinely happy in yourself, and you care passionately about your art? That's what produces great photographs, because your emotions are reflected in your work.

Am I crazy? Is nude photography all about selling a fantasy of “the perfect woman?” Why should it be all about making money and what society considers beautiful? What about personality? What about reality? And most importantly, just HOW do we change things? How do we educate women out of the glossy fantasy, and should we even try?

IMHO, the answer might just begin with the image creators. YOU, the photographers, can help challenge the social stereotypes because you are the ones who make the images. YOU are the ones who create the fantasies. The media follow your example, they look at your work and this influences their opinions and shapes their reactions accordingly. The power is with you, the gifted artists, who know that you can reflect the real beauty of ALL women, regardless of whether they are a size 20 or a size zero.

Society will never break this destructive cycle unless you, the artists, help to make it happen.

It’s up to you. You can start to change the way things are. You just have to want to.



Lynx. Perpetuating the fantasy of the ideal size zero perfection? Or just a talented and passionate art model?

The Weight Debate

Here in the UK, the furore over size zero models continues unabated. Pressure is building on fashion designers and model agencies to use larger women at shows and photographic shoots amid claims that images of skinny models are contributing to eating disorders.

In due course, the law will be changing too. A UK task force is being set up to discuss the introduction of moves to restrict the use of very thin models, and to limit the production of clothes which are designed to fit only women of that shape. Fashion industry personnel will be trained how to spot signs that models have eating disorders, and model agency staff and photographers would be required to learn how to detect physical and emotional symptoms of anorexia and bulimia, such as the model becoming very secretive about what she eats, undergoing fluctuations in her weight, seeing her hair turn dull and lifeless, and knowing the calorie contents of food but eating little.

The British Fashion Council is rebelling against this, and has refused to ban models whose body mass index is less than 18.5%. Alexandra Shulman (editor of Vogue) has pointed out that this would be discriminating against models, akin to saying you can’t shoot black or white models, and would probably lead to cases of litigation by models who would be banned from working under the new regulations. However, if the above proposals are introduced as law, the British Fashion industry will have very little say about the matter.

No-one is denying that anorexia and bulimia are terrible mental disorders, which are types of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. But to say that the fashion industry is causing these, because young girls aspire to be fashion models, is just finding a single scapegoat for an incredibly complex issue. These illnesses have many causes, and to blame it on clothes designers is just plain ignorant.

Fashion designers make clothes to one particular size because of cost. They need a uniform size, so that many models can wear the same garment at many different shows. Fashion shows and fashion photographs are there to show their clothes in the best possible light, and to make us dream of them and want to own them. They are selling a fantasy. The fact is that the majority of people do not look like this. The average dress size for a woman in the UK is a size 16, US size 18. Because of portrayal in the media, women equate success, power and beauty with being thin. The “If only I could lose weight, I would be happy because I’d look like that glamorous model” argument. Hence the hated of the fashion industry. Or so the argument goes.

But why blame those who make fantasies? Can’t you give women some credit for being able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality? Why does this have to lead to victimising thin women because of their shape?

In this age of ever-expanding waistlines and obesity, thin people are seen as abnormal, unhealthy freaks. Skinny models and thin women in general are being increasingly discriminated against, criticised and labelled unhealthy because they do not fit the social norm.

Whilst I was in hospital, I had at least ten comments from jealous hospital staff regarding my size. Samples include, from nurses, “You need to put on weight”, “I don’t suppose you want any dinner, you obviously don’t eat much”, “You could stand to gain a few pounds”, and finally, from a male doctor “I need to listen to your chest. Please take off all your clothes” (kind of complimentary, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have asked if I’d been a size 16!)

This prejudice made me pretty angry at the time, and I am still incandescent with rage two weeks later. Who the f*** are you to judge me by my appearance? What gives you the RIGHT to make snap judgements on me, and then to think it is O.K. to say so aloud? Since when has being so rude about thin women become socially acceptable?

Just because I am thin, doesn’t mean I starve myself, and it doesn’t mean I am unhealthy. If I had turned round to one of the nurses and said “You’re fat, you need to lose weight because you’re obviously eating too much”, I’d have been reported for insolence and chucked out of the hospital.

For the record, I am currently a UK size 8, which is a US size 4. In my life, I have been from one end of the weight spectrum to another, from a UK size 20 (when I was a tubby teenager) to a UK size 4-6 (US size 0) last year. I have always loved my food, I have never had an eating disorder, and I am healthier now than I have ever been. I don’t starve myself, contrary to what most people think, and I eat a lot more than Richard does (but only weigh half as much). My BMI is currently 18, which means I’d better beware of any aspirations to become a mature fashion model in the future.

In the world of nude modelling, and indeed in life generally, it seems perfectly obvious to me that all women are beautiful, regardless of their weight. All models are individuals who each have a unique inner beauty, no matter their size or shape. Believe me, I know. I am disabled, scarred, disfigured, saggy, scrawny, you name it, and photographers can make me look stunning, so I know what I am talking about when I say that weight is irrelevant in nude modelling.

For the fashion industry, this is not the case, of course, because models are effectively clothes horses, and have to be the same size. But for society to discriminate against all thin models is just plain stupid. And to solely blame the fashion industry for anorexia is equally so. What are we going to have next? Photographers wielding BMI callipers and scales to check a model’s weight before each photoshoot?

The important issue is not a model’s vital statistics, but her health, both physical and mental.

And to all those women who crave to be a size zero, do you have ANY IDEA just how hard it is to find everyday clothes that fit?




Lynx, in a more-glamour-than-fashiony pose. But we’re not very good at fashion yet.