Observation of the Day

When did the Victoria Secret's mannequins become anorexic?

I had a couple of hours to kill earlier today and decided to stroll into the flagship Victoria Secret's store on 34th St. As I walked around I couldn't help notice that the mannequins were decidedly tall - about 5' 10" and painfully thin. I would guess they were a size 2. To top it all off the mannequins had visible hip bones that would cause paper cuts and visible front and back ribs - BACK RIBS!!! From my guesstimation, if the mannequins were real women, they would all average about 110 - 115 lbs. That translates to a BMI (body mass index) of under 15 - which would be considered severly underweight (anorexic). Healthy women are supposed to have BMIs of 21 - 25. By comparison, I'm 5' 7", 143 lbs and have a BMI of 22.5. My body fat percentage is 21%. Women usually stop mensturating when their body fat percentage drops below 16/17%.

It's obvious the mannequins were based on models and other celebrity starlets. Are the mannequins supposed to represent the ideal woman? Is this what we have reduced ourselves to? A country were the majority of the woman are borderline obese, yet the models of beauty are severly malnourished?

Why don't we idealize healthy women? Women who are physically strong, who eat, and who have a body that is attainable and real! Above all else, we need women who are real, who love their bodies and relish every variation, change, and strength.

I'm the first to admit that this country has serious obesity issues but it doesn't help the cause when the fashion industry flaunts unrealistic and unhealthy models of beauty.