Do Ultra-Thin Models Harm the Audience?

Today we discussed an issue that has been brewing for a couple of weeks: the decision by the Madrid (Spain) regional government to ban very thin models from appearing on the runway during Madrid's Fashion Week. The move has drawn a lot of comment across the mass media, and has included a lot of speculation as to whether the glamorization of very thin women leads to eating disorders among women in the general population.

After introducing the issue via a recent Yahoo!/Reuters news article, we discussed the issue, keeping close to the MC101 topic of whether images in a magazine or on the screen can encourage anorexia nervosa or other eating disorders. There were some interesting comments from the two classes I discussed this issue with. One student said that most women disregard very thin models and do not see them as an ideal, but she added that a few women probably do think of ultra-thin models as role models to be emulated. This led to several comments that adolescent and teenage females might be more susceptible to these images than women who are older. Another comment was that more realistic-sized models are inevitable in a society where the average person (male or female) is getting bigger, making the ban unnecessary.

***AUDIO MISSING The audio portion of this post is still floating around in cyberspace as I write this. This happens once in a while with AudioBlogger. When the audio link shows up, I will add it here.

***UPDATE WED. 10/4, NOON: The audio post I did on Monday is here, plus the reposts I did yesterday and today. Obviously, you don't need to hear me yammer on about the same subject three times, so I'll give you the link to the first post.

A delegation of 69 MC101s and guests turned out for a taping of Family Feud in Hollywood. It is always interesting to see in person how a television show is put together.

***SURVEY SAYS! We had a good time at our taping of Family Feud on Saturday. The shows went quick and we were out ahead of schedule. Our attendance raised money (I'll let you know how much when I get the check) for Save Our Classes, an organization that adds back essential Glendale College classes that have been axed due to budget limitations.