Suche
Mein Konto
Modeling and body dysmorphic disorder
I recently went to an appointment and there was a stack of magazines in their reception area. I saw a picture of Kelly Ripa and there was a caption: "15 Things You Don't Know About Her"... I'm always fascinated by learning things I don't know about, so I picked it up from SELF magazine. I laughed that it was a 4 year old issue from February 2007, but even so I was still interested in checking it out and wasting some time in the reception area by appointment beforehand. If I read a magazine article...
Modeling and body dysmorphic disorder
I recently went to an appointment and there was a stack of magazines in their reception area. I saw a picture of Kelly Ripa and there was a caption: "15 Things You Don't Know About Her"... I'm always fascinated by learning things I don't know about, so I picked it up from SELF magazine. I laughed that it was a 4 year old issue from February 2007, but even so I was still interested in checking it out and wasting some time in the reception area by appointment beforehand.
When I read a magazine article, sometimes I don't start at the beginning of the story (bad, I know), but rather flip through the pages of the article and see what catches my eye. I never made it to Kelly Rippa's article this time because I noticed something else. I've seen some percentages. Hell I was curious what this “other” article was about. The stats were on the same page as a picture of a nude model standing in the woods, half covered in a sleeping bag. She looked like a nature-loving, pretty girl with a normal body...not too heavy and not too thin. Here are the stats from SELF's survey:
83% feel worse about their body after swimsuit shopping.
79% believe life would be better if they were just thinner.
78% say their weight determines their mood for the day.
74% have declined an invitation because they felt bad about their body.
72% say negative body thoughts affect their enjoyment of sex.
This is something that can cause many people's attitudes to suffer, but guess what? If you work or study in an "artistic" field such as the "appearance-oriented" fashion industry, you are even more likely to develop a body image disorder such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, which is a distorted view of how you look. About 20% of the industry may have it... I'd bet more! Researchers believe that those people who have this special artistic eye can turn this talent on themselves and become more critical of their bodies.
When I read this article, I thought to myself how true this is, especially among models and related industry professionals. I wish I could encourage models to overcome it, but when the image they set for projecting is usually under such an objective microscope, the news isn't so good that models can just "overcome" it.
After reading this article, I thought about adding this topic to my research. My point of this discussion is just a reminder to the modeling industry that things can often be distorted when it comes to what you project. So try to take care of yourself. Expect criticism from others, but don't let it RULE you. Accept criticism respectfully from a business perspective, but be aware that it can affect your self-esteem and body image. Fight the urge for perfection. We want a healthy image both physically and emotionally... and you don't have to be perfect. Honest.
Inspired by Carol Anne Blackwell