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news: voluntary charter for models tries to project realistic body image
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| Title/Topic: Voluntary Charter for Models Tries to Project Realistic Body Image |
| Posted On: 10/16/2009 |
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Oct 16 2009, Montreal (The Gazette) - It was a fashion show unlike most: seven models ranging from thin to plus size walked the runway Friday where Montreal Fashion Week had just wrapped up.
One model had bony shoulders, another was round and buxom. A few were simply average-sized women.
They were role models for Quebec’s new charter for a healthy and diverse body image, unveiled by Christine St-Pierre, the minister responsible for culture, communications and the status of women, along with members of a working group of media, doctors, designers, industry and modelling representatives.
The charter states: “We reognize that beauty ideals based on extreme thinness can harm self-esteem,’’ and sets in motion seven actions by which signatories hope to promote a more realistic image of women in the media – and by which to fight an epidemic of eating disorders.
About 3 per cent of females 12 to 30 years old suffer full-blown bulimia; another 10 per cent have a constant preoccupation with their weight and body image, said Howard Steiger, the chief of the eating-disorder unit at the Douglas Hospital and co-chair of the working committee for the charter. That translates to about 30,000 young Quebec women with anorexia or bulimia, and three times that many who are seriously impacted, Steiger said.
The charter is non-binding and has no legal implications, St-Pierre told journalists at Bonsecours Market. “A law is not the good approach.”
“It’s really about voluntary adherence to a set of values and an engagement on the part of more and more people in the industry,’’ Steiger said.
The effect of the charter remains to be seen.
“It’s a beginning,’’ said Marie-Josée Trempe, owner of the Specs modelling agency, whose models took to the stage yesterday and a signatory of the charter.
“It’s up to the designers,’’ said fashion week producer Jean-François Daviau, asked if the charter would change the look of Montreal’s semi-annual fashion week. He said those working on the ground with models have already been asked to be vigilant.
Steiger said the plan is to study the impact of charter: if there is positive change, fine. “It’s not impossible to think of some more legislative solution in the future,’’ he noted.
Programs in other countries have introduced precise regulations like body-mass index rules without success, he said, but they are difficult to measure and enforce, he said.
Models tend to be wary of potential guidelines or rules. Geneviève Ryan Martel – granddaughter of Quebec Liberal icon Claude Ryan – is 16, 5 foot 10, lovely and willowly thin, with intelligent wide-set eyes. A rising star on the international modelling circuit, she worked dozens of shows in New York and Milan this past season, and counts Issey Miyake and Vera Wang among her favourites.
Asked earlier this week about the prospect of a charter impacting models, Ryan – her modelling name – was smart, composed and concerned. “It’s difficult for the public to understand that some models are naturally thin,’’ she said, voicing concern that some models might unfairly be blocked from their careers.
And asked how far she would like to take her career, she responded: “As far as possible.”
“Our daughter is made like this,’’ said Thérèse Ryan, her mother, before details of the charter were made public. “She eats well.”
Modelling has been a good life experience for her daughter, she added, imparting confidence and maturity. “We must not discriminate against girls. We can’t generalize that easily.” |
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