By Kasey Brooks, '08 |Staff Reporter

Beauty is, as the proverb goes, in the eye of the beholder. However, what is being promoted by the fashion industry is a dangerous, backwards perversion of what beauty should really mean. Since the ‘90’s, models have been steadily encouraged and enticed to slim down to deadly levels, often with the bribe of higher paychecks.

A hush falls over the crowd as the show begins. Moving with an eerie slowness, a creature enters and, teetering on oversized, pointy hooves, moves down the path cleared for it.

Its wishbone-thin arms swing in a frenzy, and the shapeless legs cross each other again and again in dangerously rapid-fire motions. The eyes are eclipsed by half-moon shadows, the ones cast by jutting cheekbones.

Sure, it could be a horror movie, but what you’re probably seeing is an haute couture fashion show.

Beauty is, as the proverb goes, in the eye of the beholder. However, what is being promoted by the fashion industry is a dangerous, backwards perversion of what beauty should really mean. Since the ‘90’s, models have been steadily encouraged and enticed to slim down to deadly levels, often with the bribe of higher paychecks.

Luckily, Madrid has recently taken the first step towards a healthier fashion industry by banning overly thin models in its fashion shows. According to CNN.com, models with a BMI (body mass index) of 18 or under are prohibited from walking in the shows and encouraged to seek professional help.

Not only do I question why this wasn’t done earlier, but I also question the fact that these actions have received an abnormal amount of backlash from the very industry it’s trying to protect. Designers have come crawling out of the woodwork to argue that their fashions look better on very thin frames, which is why they request very thin models. Where do these values come from? Since when should an “aesthetically pleasing” image be more important than the health and happiness of the models and, indirectly, of the young women who dream of following in their high-heeled footsteps?

I feel that the problem of visually pleasing designs can be solved quite easily: designers should get used to designing for normal-sized women. No, a woman with a natural female figure will not look that attractive or comfortable jammed into a tiny dress. What is so wrong with designing something that would hang beautifully on a woman with a curve or two?

Probably what has me most stymied is the United Kingdom’s decision not to follow in Madrid’s footsteps and regulate the models walking its runways. The reason cited is that the ban would be “unenforceable.”

Do they really mean to tell us that, with all of our technological advances, there is no way the UK can devise to control the waiflike appearances of its models? BMI calculators and high-tech scales are just a few of the innovations people have come up with to monitor weight, but the UK deems it inefficient to implement these practices, even if it would save a few hundred girls from fainting spells before they walk out on the runway.

The UK’s solution, instead, is to prompt designers to choose “healthy” models. Well, we’ve already been through that, haven’t we? To an average designer, it is in his or her best interests to have a small-framed model to work with, so obviously the designer’s concept of “healthy” is going to be slightly biased, not to mention the model’s concept of “healthy.” If a very young slender model without a lengthy resume gets a call from Dolce and Gabbana or Proenza Schouler, odds are fairly hefty against the model saying, “Well, I don’t really feel that I am of a healthy weight to walk in your show. Thanks for asking, though.”

This isn’t to say that a model does not know the workings of his or her own body and constitution. However, I think it’s an honest appraisal of what happens in the modeling world more often than one would think.

If you happen to turn on an old taping of Paris Fashion Week from the 1980’s, it can be like stepping into a strange parallel universe. Shiny, healthy skin, rounded hips, curvy arms and muscular legs. Cindy, Claudia and Naomi – none of them looked at all gaunt or skeletal.

Despite the fact that many new models probably claim to look up to these legends, it is unfortunate that more do not try to emulate them. Hopefully the Madrid ban will spark more intelligent thought in the fashion world, and, maybe some day, the legends will return and change modeling back to the celebration of feminine beauty and diversity.