Last year, the lower house of French Parliament voted in favor of a bill that would ban "inciting thinness." And earlier this year, it was reported that France has the highest proportion of clinically underweight women in Europe. Meanwhile, Britain's Liberal Democrats would like to ban Photoshopping entirely in ads aimed at those under 16, and require all other ads to carry a disclaimer describing the extent of their alterations.

The new French law proposes that all enhanced photos would be accompanied by a line saying:

"Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person."

Now, we're no fans of overly Photoshopped models around here, but you have to wonder if a stamped warning has enough impact. Much like the "smoking kills" warnings on cigarettes, I imagine this warning would be shocking at first — and then quickly become old hat. Your eyes would end up passing over it, the way they do over fine print. The truth is, visual images have an impact, and a few words on a picture can't keep a woman — or a young girl — from using a Photoshopped image as "thinspiration," a barometer or standard against which to measure herself.

In addition, not knowing how much alteration was done doesn't seem helpful, either. We've been posting "Photoshop Of Horrors" images since this site's birth in 2007, and there are always a few readers who say, "I don't think they changed her nose/waist/thighs… It's just lighting." Take it from someone who worked in magazines for 10 years: "They" change everything.

But all this is not to say that the idea of a warning is a bad idea. Shining a light on the lies we're fed by magazines and advertising campaigns is always welcome. And even if a "health warning" is not enough, it's a start.

France Mulls "Health Warning" For Fashion Photos [Reuters]
'Health Warning' Call On Model Touch-Ups [News.com.au]

Earlier: British Lawmakers Take Stand Against Photoshop
France's Attempt To Ban "Inciting Thinness" Incites Jeers From Some
La Merde Et La Mode
French Women Don't Get Fat (Enough)
Annals Of Anorexia
Photoshop Of Horrors posts

Stephanie Naumoska, 19, was one of 32 women competing in the pageant on Wednesday. Naumoska is 5'11 and weighs 108 pounds, which means her BMI is 15, reports Reuters. The Australian Medical Association is calling for the contest to impose a minimum BMI cut-off of 20. But pageant director Deborah Miller claims Naumoska has a "Macedonian body type," which accounts for her thinness. "They have long, lithe bodies and small bones. It is their body type, just like Asian girls tend to be small," Miller said. Nutritionist Susie Burrell insists that there is no such thing as a "Macedonian body type," saying, 'There is no evidence published anywhere to back up that assertion."

Naumoska was eliminated from the competition last night after appearing in a red string bikini in the swimsuit competition. She said she's very hurt and upset by the controversy, according to The Daily Mail. She said:

'I think that it's horrible... they don't know me, and they don't know what I eat every morning or for lunch or dinner,' she told Australia's Channel Nine.

'They probably think that I don't eat anything, but I do.

'I also think that it's very unfair just to all the other girls out there who have the same body as myself.'

The newly crowned Miss Universe Australia, Rachael Finch, is defending Naumoska, reports News.com.au. "It has been a little overwhelming but I've been saying that Steph is an amazingly nice girl who happens to have a thin figure," she said. "Some girls are just naturally thin and Stephanie is exactly that."

Finch added that she is writing a book for girls who want to build a career in modeling that will emphasize healthy eating. She will compete in the Miss Universe world finals in August.

Miss Universe Australia In "Skinny" Controversy [Reuters]
'Malnourished' Miss Universe Finalist Who Is Just 'Skin And Bones' [The Daily Mail]
New Miss Universe Australia Stands Up For Skinny Stephanie [News.com.au]

Denis Campbell of the Guardian brings us the good news: a study set to be released at the Institute of Education in London later this week proposes that people who struggle with anorexia may be predisposed to do so due to an abnormal brain development in the womb. "Our research shows that certain kids' brains develop in such a way that makes them more vulnerable to the more commonly-known risk factors for eating disorders, such as the size-zero debate, media representations of very skinny women and bad parents," says Ian Frampton, who helped to lead the study.

In other words, while all of us are exposed to societal and media pressures to lose weight and stay thin, women whose brains developed a bit differently in the womb are more likely to internalize these pressures in the form of an eating disorder. Frampton notes that the brain abnormality is not the result of "poor maternal diet or environmental factors, such as widespread use of chemicals," but rather of the same type of "imperfect wiring" that causes such disorders as ADHD and dyslexia.

The reason this is such a significant discovery is that it opens up the doors to a whole new means of treating anorexia: ""These findings could help us to understand this beguiling disease that we don't know how to treat," Frampton notes, "Arguments that social factors such as girls feeling under pressure to lose weight in order to look like high-profile women in the media contain logical flaws because almost everyone is exposed to them, yet only a small percentage of young people get anorexia.Those things are important but there must be other factors, involving genetics and science, that make some young people much more vulnerable than others."

On a personal note, this is incredibly encouraging news: too often, the treatment of anorexia gets boiled down to "if you just eat, you'll be fine" by those who do not understand the true nature of the illness. When I was hospitalized, in 2003, the doctors at my hospital were pursuing the possibility of a genetic cause for the illness: some of us may be born predisposed to eating disorders, and for whatever reason, a catalyst sets the illness off, much like an alcoholic does not realize they are an alcoholic until they take their first drink...and can't stop drinking.

The notion that the illness is, in fact, a brain abnormality as opposed to, as the public often feels, a series of bad choices leading to bad health, is encouraging in that it opens the door to more research, better methods of treatment, and even the possibility that anorexia could be treated with specific meds, much like ADD is treated with Adderall or Ritalin.

And also, as Susan Ringwood of Beat, an ED charity, tells the Guardian: "And it will help parents understand that they aren't to blame. Parents always blame themselves when their child develops an eating disorder. But what we are learning more and more from research in this area is that some people are very vulnerable to anorexia and that is down to genetic factors and brain chemistry, and not them trying to look like celebrity models or suffering a major traumatic event early in their lives." Amen.

For those of us who struggle/struggled with eating disorders, news like this is not only encouragement that the scientific community is taking the illness seriously, but hope that for future generations of both men and women, the illness can be stopped before it takes over.

Anorexia Risk 'Could Be Predicted' [Guardian]

The clip from Fox News below illustrates the problem. In it, the female news anchor protests, "I'm not going to say chunky Jessica!" She then giggles her way through the rest of the segment... maybe so the boys won't think she's a drag?

This same two-faced, Regina George style feminism is also found in this article from today's Daily News. Jessica Simpson looks just fine, the article says. It then goes on to tear down Ashlee Simpson's assertion that her sister is a size 2. (Which itself a very odd defense. Ashlee, if you're "disgusted" with a culture that scrutinizes women's bodies, why trot our your sister's clothing size?) The News article is particularly bad, because it pretends that misperceptions of Jessica's clothing size "can have negative repercussions for fans," while its headline — "Size 2? Hmm..." — could have come straight from the mouth of some self-loathing Kitson salesgirl.

You know what? At least The New York Post — which like, Fox News, is owned by News Corporation — is honest about having despicable, twisted view on the issue. Yesterday, that master of sensitivity, "illustrator" Sean Delonas, ran a cartoon of a bloated Jessica telling Tony Romo she's... met someone else. Ronald McDonald waits in the background. Just in case that was too subtle, here's a list from today's paper, which is just titled "50 Fat Celebrities." (Yes, Jessica Simpson is there. So is... Topanga from Boy Meets World and The Snapple lady?!)

Yes, It's terrible. Yes, it's offensive. Yes, it's wrong.

But what's worse: The New York Post openly harping on Jessica as a fattie, or dozens of celebrity and women's magazines pretending to "love!" Jessica's curves, while they're all probably propositioning her for their "How I Got my Body Back!" cover stories as we speak?

Size Two? Hmm ... [NYDN]]
50 Fat Celebrities [Page Six]
While Discussing Ashlee Simpson's Comments On Media Portrayals Of Women, Fox & Friends Runs Caption: "Smooth Or Chunky - Jessica Simpson Has Filled Out A Bit" [Media Matters]

Hensley, a PhD student who is clearly quite ill, claims that she's not talking to psychologists or psychiatrists because her intellect makes her incapable of treatment. "I am always one step ahead of them," Hensley says, "I know what they are thinking and how they think they will 'cure' me." Which, as any former anorexic can tell you, is complete and total bullshit. Everyone, when deeply, deeply sick, feels like they are too smart for treatment: the illness has taken over, and the ED voice will do anything to convince us to stay away from those who might want to pull us away from our obsession.

Yet the Daily Mail paints Hensley as a brilliant and tragic mind whose story is somehow different from the stories of millions of women out there suffering from eating disorders, describing her failing health, interviewing her desperate mother, and acting surprised that someone as bright as Hensley could fall victim to anorexia. It is just another in a series of disgusting media interviews with incredibly sick women; a freak show designed to shock readers with images of anorexic females and tales of the dark side of eating disorders.

My issue here is this: Vikki Hensley's story, much like the story of the anorexic twins, who Entertainment Tonight breathlessly followed around for years as if they were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, is not designed to help anybody. Instead, it is designed to add a mysterious glamour to the illness, a n"Oh, isn't this awful? Let's post more shocking pictures" treatment that dehumanizes the victim and adds yet another misconception to the disease: that it is a peculiar "choice" that some women make, and not a serious mental illness.

Hensley's quotes are painfully familiar: she claims that she enjoys being mistaken for a young girl, and that her weight is a sign that she's "very good at dieting", which feeds her drive for perfectionism. She is, sadly, a textbook anorexic: everything she's said, I once said, as did the women who were hospitalized with me during my illness. We all thought we were too smart for treatment, we all strove for perfectionism, we all allowed the ED voice to speak on our behalf. Yet at some point, we recognized that our illness had taken control, and we took the steps to gain that control back.

Not so for Vikki Hensley, who, after attempts to go into recovery at a hospital, now keeps herself going with a caloric intake that "allows her to function 'normally.'" Hensley is still very sick: she has not had a period in years and still speaks only in the language of the illness, noting that "The thought of having a period makes me feel unclean, and while I want to have children, having periods isn't something I want to have to deal with. In my ideal world, I would only have a period when in the future I want children, not now." Her desperate need to return to a pre-pubescent state, where her body remains androgynous, is something many fellow anorexics are all too familiar with.

We are supposed to empathize with Hensley, and to a point, I do. But mostly, these types of articles piss me off more than anything else: Vikki Hensley is mentally ill, and on the path to death from her illness, yet the Daily Mail celebrates her willingness to barely squeak by in the name of her career, as if we should think she's some kind of hero for being able to juggle her anorexia and her coursework at the same time. I should clarify that my anger is not directed at Vikki, but rather her illness, which is leading her to believe that she's doing the right thing, and the Daily Mail for shamelessly trumpeting said illness. Nobody should be held up for being sick: this type of thing only validates her existence as "Vikki The Anorexic" instead of Vikki the Person, and sadly, every time we parade sick women around as tragic heroes, we are only feeding the illness and potentially egging them on toward their death.

It breaks my heart to read such things: Vikki's story and her words are things I've heard a million times, words I've used myself. Yet I was fortunate enough to escape the strange media fascination with the illness: nobody ever praised me for being mentally ill, or celebrated the fact that I had found a way to barely survive while continuing my "commitment" to anorexia. One can only hope that Vikki, sooner rather than later, will get the help she really needs. God knows she's not going to get it from exploitative articles like this.

Why I Starved Myself To Have The Body Of A 12-Year-Old [DailyMail]

Eric became obsessed with his calorie intake, not because of his fear of weight gain, but because he is obsessed with his body fat percentage. He wants to have a completely chiseled appearance, and is putting his family through hell in the process. What's interesting about how his disorder differs from our ideas of female anorexia is that some women tend to hide their lack of food consumption from their family, so as not to make anyone suspicious. Eric, on the other hand, involves his entire family in his strict diet, orders them to use separate silverware, hijacks portions of the fridge so that his food does not touch fattier foods, and forces his mother to cook according to his rules.

In related news, Reuters is reporting that more and more physically-active men are falling victim to disordered eating behaviors due to ideas that their athletic performance can be increased as their percentage of body fat decreases. ""Often he'll notice that he's getting faster and that his placement when he competes is getting higher and better," Dr. James L. Glazer tells the news agency. "That will change what is a good and a healthy dieting pattern into one that becomes a little problematic and dangerous."

Related: Eating Disorders May Be Rising Among Male Athletes [Reuters]

Earlier: Boy Anorexic Sheds Light On Girl Anorexics
Indie Rock Boys Have Weight Issues Too
And Then There Was Nothing: The Incredible Shrinking Male Model

Elan goes on:

Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson has been at the receiving end of barbs about his weight…Richey Edwards and Kurt Cobain famously had issues of body dysmorphia and anorexia. And I'm sure I'm not the only one to be taken aback by recent press shots of a gaunt looking Brandon Flowers. It can surely only be a good thing that Caleb has highlighted this serious, and too often ignored, issue.

Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns and the Darkness singer Justin Hawkins have also publicly discussed their eating disorders.

I actually noticed the rampant emaciation of indie rock stars almost three years ago when I was working for Spin and going to shows all the time. "The boys in Ambulance LTD are nearly translucent they're so skinny; We Are Scientists are gangly like real scientists; Detachment Kit is bony as all get out. Is there a Y-chromosome gene that includes both thinness and guitar proficiency?" I wondered.

Obviously eating disorders are far more complex than just societal pressures, but being in a looks-focused industry can certainly exacerbate body insecurities that were there anyway. However, it's impossible to have gone to an indie rock concert in the past five or ten years and not notice that a certain skinniness was the romanicized male ideal.

Indie's Obsession With Skinny [Guardian]

A 17-year-old named Rose says:

These sites provided a setting where I could talk about the illness without people trying to fix me or tell me that what I'm doing is horrible, disgusting, maladaptive. For me, part of the illness was just about getting attention. You feel so lonely and you want someone to notice you, and I guess that's kind of the way to do it, even with other sick people.

And the other sick people will definitely notice you: Facebook reportedly shut down a group "as well as the Facebook account of its creator, a girl who would encourage others to post their pictures online and then harshly detail their 'problem areas.'" However, coming out publicly as an anorexic is not always negative. Singer Juliana Hatfield tells the Guardian that blogging about her experience in an eating disorder clinic helped her get through it. "I needed to reach out to people. I needed support from anywhere I could find it. I wanted to tell the truth and let people know what was going on," she says.

It's important to note that the line between helpful and hurtful when it comes to internet discussion of eating disorders is very thin (no pun intended). According to Newsweek, a recent study shows "50 percent of teens who visited sites ostensibly devoted to eating disorder recovery also learned new weight-loss tips." Navigating the internet for someone susceptible to eating issues is definitely a minefield.

Out Of The Shadows [Newsweek]
'A Heart That Hurts Is A Heart That Works. I Will Beat My Anorexia' [The Guardian]

Us
"How I Saved My Son." To be honest, we couldn't really get into this cover story. Meaning: refused to read it. Intern Margaret applauds Jenny McCarthy's efforts, but… yeah. Also inside: According to Jason Alexander, the guy that Britney married for 55 hours, he has renewed his friendship with Brit. Britney's rep denies this. There are two pages about Jen Aniston and John Mayer being back on: They spent the weekend together in New York! Plus: Shanna Moakler describes Travis Barker's skin grafts: "That's when they shave the skin off and then staple cadaver and pig skin right on, so the skin underneath can heal." Science! Lastly: American Idol's Nikki McKibbin wed her childhood rollerskating coach. She'll appear on the second season of Celebrity Rehab.
Grade: F- (silt)


OK!
"Young, Rich & In Love!" Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens are YR&IL. They vacation together, work out in matching outfits and own million dollar homes. He's 21, she's 19. Yawn. Moving on: Kelly Ripa was at the Madonna concert and totally got to sing along when Madonna handed her the mic during a song! Is The Hills over? An insider says: "No one gets along anymore. Whitney moved to New York, Audrina can't stand to be in the same room as Lauren anymore, and they all want more money." Hey, ever notice how Katie Holmes and Mr. Spock look alike (Fig. 1)? Next, profound words from Eva Mendes: "My secret obsession is love. I love 'love!' I love being in love, and I love having someone be in love with me. Love is the sexiest thing in the world." So, this is probably bullshit, but there's a 2-page story about how even though they broke up 2 years ago, Cameron Diaz is still pining for Matt Dillon. "I'm sure she still thinks about him — a lot." a pal of Cammie's says.
Grade: F (sludge)


Life & Style
"I'm Pregnant!" If you care about The Bachelor's Trista Rehn Sutter, then you'll be interested to know she is knocked up again. Another story we refused to read. Moving on: Angelina bought the same dress in 6 colors (Fig. 2). Jamie Lynn Spears has been "struggling" to shoot down reports that she is pregnant again. "I'm not pregnant," Jamie Lynn says. At her concert, Madonna dedicated a song to "anyone with intimacy issues." Her marriage is "all but dead," says a source. Tom Cruise bought Katie Holmes a cross as a gift for appearing on Broadway. The mag points out that it is more like a Catholic cross than a Scientology cross, which has eight points. But, it's actually a square cross, like the Red Cross. Whatevs. Lastly: A picture of Sarah Jessica Parker as a kid. Cute! (Fig.3)
Grade: F+ (sand)


In Touch
"I'm Not Anorexic." Basically this is a six-page series of articles calling out "scary skinny" actresses and explaining why they are so slim. Lindsay Lohan is on a "risky new diet" that involves Redline, an energy drink that promises to burn fat through a shivering response. Like a chihuahua? A doctor says it's pretty close to being an amphetamine. Anne Hathaway has eliminated carbs and sugar and become and "insane" calorie counter. Angelina Jolie is only eating 1,000 calories a day, and there's a chart so you can play along at home! The mag also claims that in those pix where she's wearing that black dress at the premiere of Changeling she's also wearing a "custom made corset." Could it be called "Spanx"? As for Keira Knightley, she is still insisting that she is naturally thin, but that doesn't stop the magazine from drawing arrows that point to her "thin arms" and "skeletal back." A pal says of Katrina Bowden from 30 Rock: "She works out 4 to 5 hours almost every day." Moving on: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony came up with the idea for their second wedding at 12:30 am after seeing the Las Vegas Pussycat Dolls. The Hills' Justin Bobby speaks! He was overheard telling a pal he never hooked up with Lauren Conrad and it's all for the show. "When a group of blondes tried to ask him about it, he threatened to punch them," says an onlooker. Gossip Girl stars Taylor Momsen and Chace Crawford were spotted making out at two parties in NYC. Even though they go to the same school on Gossip Girl, in real life he is 23 and she is 15! Rose McGowan is going to marry director Robert Rodriguez after all: They'd taken a three-month break, but it's back on. Jessica Lowndes and Adam Gregory from 90210 are dating, if you care. Ooh, exclusive interview with Holly Madison: "There were a lot of people — not just Hef — who wanted me to pretend we were still together for the sake of the show." She also says: "I want to be out of there by Halloween. It is so awkward being there, because he is dating other people." Also! She'd been getting fertility treatments but the clinic told her pregnancy wasn't possible because Hef was too old. Next: An interview with Kelli Dawson, the woman who claims she had relationship with Casey Aldridge (he denied last week it in OK!) says: "I heard that [Jaime Lynn] told Casey she is pregnant." Lastly, a sausage-loving town in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has an exhibition of masterpieces of art made entirely out of slices of local sausages and meat (Fig. 4).
Grade: C- (cyanide-processed gold ingot)


Star
"Stars Without Makeup." Well, they just did this EXACT SAME STORY in July, but here it is again. Intern Margaret says that in the "without makeup" pictures, they are all wearing makeup. Eyeliner or something. She also says they all look pretty damn good "without" makeup. Also inside: Rihanna was spotted sitting on Kanye West's lap backstage at a T.I. concert in Hollywood. "Before long, the two were full-on kissing each other," says a source. Scandalous! To mark her 55th birthday in January, Oprah is giving herself the gift of $500,000 in plastic surgery. Star actually creates before and after pictures so you don't have to use your imagination (Fig. 5)! Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer have renewed their romance with intimate dinners at John's Soho apartment. She checked into a hotel, but it was just for show. A source says: "She actually spent her nights at John's place. They ordered sushi and watched movies and he played the guitar for her. She spent several nights there. And yes, they slept together. Jen says the sex is amazing and that she can't help herself — she's crazy about him!" Who is this source, the sheets? In Maureen McCormick's upcoming book, she discusses her sexual experimentation with Greg Brady, how she fell into coke, and it includes the following info: "A contractor named Harrison Ford made her a special hot tub with a hidden compartment she used to stash cocaine."
Grade: C (gold ore)


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Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Last week happened to be my 5-year recovery day. On September 9, 2003, I checked in to an intensive inpatient ED unit, in a wheelchair, with barely anything left of my body or my brain and a heart rate of 43 beats per minute. Four months later, I walked out happier, healthier, and scared to death.

Getting well in the safety of the hospital is one thing; staying in recovery once you leave is another. I had seen women leave and come back to the hospital during the course of my stay; the world was too hard for them to deal with and their ED came raging back. I threw away everything in my life that reminded me of being sick: my old clothes, sick pictures, and the scale that I stood on every morning. The one thing I kept was my journal from the time, which had scrawls from the hospital all over it. On one page I had written something that still scares and stays with me:

Do Not Forget This: you saw your friends plugged into walls, you heard about their melting intestines, you saw her without her teeth on a Tuesday morning, you began to remember your own life as soon as you picked up a spoon.

It is easy, I think, for those of us with eating disorders to fall back into old patterns. The ED voice is a total bitch, hellbent on destroying everything that you are, were, or want to be. In any given moment of weakness — a sudden change, an illness, a breakup, etc — the ED voice swoops right in, as if to say, "Don't worry about the world, Fatty. You still have me." However, the further along I have come in recovery, the weaker that ED voice gets. It also helps that I picture the ED voice looking like Joan and Melissa Rivers on the red carpet, so whenever I get a case of the "you're fats" I just think, "Help! My daughter's not talented!" and that seems to work things out.

Also, I have a kickass treatment team in place that I still see once a month, to keep me on track.

It took a very long time, but once I went into recovery, I never looked back. When you lose that part of yourself, you begin to remember who you were before you were just bones and numbers and calories. You start to see things differently, to appreciate small, quiet things that your ED never let you notice before. You eat a fucking Snickers bar for breakfast and you feel like Michael Phelps should mail you a gold medal, because you are such a champion.

I know that people like to portray anorexia as an illness of vanity, but that's about as far from the truth as you can get. Anorexia is never about the weight. The weight is a symptom, a distraction. The need to starve one's self, to concentrate on numbers and sizes and measurements, is merely a means of coping, of drawing the brain away from whatever is hurting it so badly that the only way of dealing is to numb it out completely. It's a very quiet form of suicide. It is a way of telling the world that all you want to do is disappear. For me, it was also a way to say, "I need somebody to help me," as I come from a family that has both a history of mental illness and a history of ignoring mental illness in the hopes that it will just go away.

I realize how lucky I am to have received treatment; the insurance companies make it impossible for most women to complete their programs, leaving them in a state of flux as far as their recovery is concerned. I think that's why I work so hard to stay in recovery; I was given a chance to recover, a chance that many women with eating disorders won't get, and I don't intend to waste it. I remember the women who would come in and talk during my time in the hospital, the ones who would say, "I got better, and you can, too." At the time I thought they were full of shit. But now I know better, and I now I AM one of those women: I know there are many of you who read this site who are dealing with your own ED issues, and that at times recovery seems not only impossible, but unfathomable. Doves, this is not the case. Yes, recovery is hard, and it hurts, and it's a lot of work, but it is beautiful and worth it, and if I can do it, then trust me, so can you.

Earlier: Shun Your Friends & Learn A Cool New Eating Disorder In Teen Vogue!

"I can't help but look down on my friends when they give in to temptations like pizza or ice cream."

Uh, beg your pardon?

And! Across the page, another quote:

"I refuse to put anything poisonous—like processed foods—in my body. I'll stay this way forever."

Pretty extreme for a teen magazine, no?

If you flip back a page, you'll discover that these are not diet tips, per se, but quotes from real girls in a story about orthorexia. Orthorexia is a fixation on healthy eating, which Tara Gidus, National Spokesperson For the American Dietetic Association tells Teen Vogue: "It's not quite an eating disorder, but it is a form of disordered eating." Phew! As long as it's not an actual eating disorder, then we can promote it, right? Wait! Gidus goes on to say: "It could easily lead to bulimia if you binge on unhealthy food and feel like you need to get rid of it. And the rigid nature of the disease could also lead to anorexia."

Good to know! True, the magazine isn't outright suggesting readers try orthorexia, but here's the picture that appears in the photo shoot immediately preceding the orthorexia story:

[Teen Vogue]

Remember that when she started, with those famous shots by Corinne Day in The Face, Kate Moss was 15 years old. (She says of that shoot: "Corinne just wanted to bring out everything that I hated when I was 15. My bow legs, the mole on my breast, the way I laughed.") But by 1994, she was earning $2.6 million a year with contracts for Gucci, Louis Vuitton and, of course, Calvin Klein. Her rail-thin body sold jeans and fragrance, and became an "Obsession," to say the least. Previous supermodels, like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, were in possession of a more "robust" physique. But Kate Moss ushered in a new style. It started out as shocking, but everyone adjusted, and looking back, she doesn't even seem so skinny anymore! So. Thin was in, and it stayed stylish. Ms. Freeman writes: "In the next issue of Interview magazine, Moss admits that at times she was too thin: 'When I was doing shows ... nobody ever fed me. I didn't eat for a long time. Not on purpose ... I remember standing up in the bath one day, and there was a mirror in front of me, and I was so thin! I hated it. I never liked being that skinny.' Hilariously, the journalist, confirming all cliches about the fashion press, interrupts: 'I didn't think you were all that skinny.' But Moss stands admirably firm: 'I remember thinking, I don't want to be this skinny.'"

When a tipster sent us the link to the Guardian story (which was already on our radar) with the comment: "Kate Moss is the new Che Guevara. Ahem." I sort of rolled my eyes. But actually, the tipster, Hadley Freeman and Kate Moss are right: The fashion industry needs a revolution. And the chances of things being changed by someone from the outside are — forgive me — slim. Only someone who has been granted access into the inner sanctum, who is well-respected, who has worked in the trenches, who knows all the players and knows the game can actually make an impact. Will a post-coke scandal, open-about-starving-herself Kate Moss be the one? Can Kate Moss be a revolutionary in whole new way?

Only The Clotheshorses Can Buck Fashion's Thin Fixation, Fashion Industry Made Me Too Thin, Says Kate Moss [Guardian]

Rowan became fixated on food in her teens: Counting calories, weighing herself. She seems to have snapped out of it at age 17, but now she has daughters, 14 and 11. The 11 year old thinks that she is fat. Ms. Rowan writes:

"Oh Mummy, look at my fat tummy," she has wailed, tugging at a T-shirt in an effort to pull it over her waistband. Shopping for a swimming costume is angst-ridden. "Not a bikini," she stresses, "one that covers this up," pointing to her stomach. Her sensitivity is born of comments from her peers. "A friend told me," she confides, "to stop pushing my tummy out. I wasn't." … I ask our doctor if she is too heavy. And I feel ghastly, disloyal, like a vain, competitive designer mummy who wants her daughter to appear as perfect maternal accessory. He regards me as if that's precisely what I am. No, he says sharply, calculating her body mass index; she's fine. I cannot explain that I am asking so that I can reassure my little girl the next time she worries about the way she looks.

What happens when something goes mainstream is that people feel comfortable talking about it. It's a good thing that eating disordered people not feel shame or misunderstanding; but how come 11-year-olds feel it's okay to make comments about each others' bodies? And what message is sent when you take your (normal, healthy) daughter to the doctor to have her weight checked? And should we even be using words like "wannarexic" and "nearlyrexic"?

The Rise Of The 'Rexics': Another Illness We Made Up Earlier [Guardian]
Mummy, Do I Look Fat? [Times of London]

Remember that eating disorders are inherently an existential struggle over the very notion of free will.
You can worsen them, and you can encourage them, but you cannot singlehandedly instill them in your kids, nor can you prevent them. The coolest thing about my mom is that she kind of got this. Her reaction to my adolescent 800-calorie-a-day diet was one of concern but also, exasperation; she had specifically taken such great care to rear me on healthy food and ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION OF MY WEIGHT; I was not even at all overweight, and now, as my big display of free will and rebellion I'd chosen anorexia? She made it clear she thought it was fundamentally shallow, and intellectually, I agreed, but by that point I had almost given up on free will when it came to eating; food issues were just my DESTINY, my curse and fate and blah blah blah. Anyway, that was probably mostly depression. I didn't medicate it, but eventually I suppose it subsided, and my intellect took the wheel again, which was lucky.

With that in mind, ask yourself, are you shallow?
What do you most want for your kid? Happiness and some sort of fulfillment, right? People of all sizes achieve that! The negative correlation between happiness and excess pounds, such that it exists, is totally all in your head, as the field of duh studies has recently confirmed. So if your kids think they're fat, you need to chew on this question: does that have anything to do with you? (Chewing on said question, btw, is a good way to stop yourself from nagging your poor kid!) Like I said, are you shallow? If so, is that the trait you'd most like to pass onto our progeny? (Please, for the good of the country, answer "No.") Conversely, are you so dogmatically un-shallow that they think you just don't have any idea what sort of world world they're living in? That was sort of my problem. In the end it was a good one to have. It was like, hey, the one genetic advantage I have here is that my parents are bright people with strong moral values who don't give a shit how fat I get, except inasmuch as they know I don't exactly have health insurance.

Be honest and remember it's not a big deal.
Acting like a kid's chubbing out is a grave issue that must be discussed in hushed tones is probably not the best idea, especially if they have the sort of grandfather (mine) who will go up to them and play the "Pinch an inch" game. While the Pinch an Inch game is annoying, I never really doubted that my grandfather loved me. I think he just thought kids today spent too much time watching the idiot box and not enough playing elaborate war games in the woods. And he had a point! I asked my friend Don, a former fat kid, whether his mom (a personal idol of mine) had ever said anything to him about his weight, and he recalled a time one summer at the age of 13 when he was eating a piece of pizza while wearing a swimsuit and somehow the topic of his blubber came up. Laughing, she agreed, "Yeah, you really have to do something about that." A few years later, when he stopped eating meat, she worried she'd scarred him; but seriously, Don was picked on his entire childhood for being a fat kid, and she basically played it perfectly, choosing to encourage his positive traits (such as he is fucking hilarious) and accept that he was never going to be as physically attractive as she is. (She is, to be fair here, really pretty.)

Don recommends this movie.
It is, he says, his "Exile in Guyville."

Earlier: Sometimes A Parent's Words Can Bear The Weight Of The World

Image via Skip To My Lou