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Natalia Vodianova's disordered eating, and Elle "The Body" MacPherson cannot find a man!

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Natalia Vodianova recounts her struggle with disordered eating at the CFDA “health initiative” panel

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) recently showed faux concern for the health of fashion models, and left little doubt about how genuine its concern about fashion models’ health was by organizing an invitation-only panel discussion on beauty and health during NYC fashion week.  Natalia Vodianova was a panelist, and described her past troubles:

“Oscar Wilde once said that to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance,” she said. “But I hope you would agree with me that no relationship comes that easy.”

“Perhaps the trickiest and most complex relationship is the one between you and yourself, your body and your mind. Sometimes it’s even possible to be crueler to yourself than you would be to your worst enemy.”

Natalia had gone through a time when she was cruel to herself. She explained that she came from a poor background and grew up thinking of food as what you eat to stay alive. She had no concern about her weight until she became a model in Paris in 2000.  She said the pressure of being ultra-thin, keeping a very busy schedule and modeling for runway shows resulted in a weight of 106 pounds, hair loss and being very nervous and overly sensitive all the time. (Feb. 11, 2007).

Comment: Note no comment about the source of the pressure to be ultra-thin.  If the source of the problem is not identified, how will one solve it?

Why is Elle “The Body” MacPherson not able to find a man?

A woman designated “The Body” should have no problem finding a man, yet we come across the following:

Supermodel Elle Macpherson is desperate for a man in her life, but is struggling to find anyone who will go out on a date with her. The Australian beauty, who is nicknamed The Body, has been celibate for two years, and is still single despite attempting to chat up guys herself in a bid to get a date.

She moans, “I just don’t get men hitting on me. It’s crazy - but apart from a brief romantic intermission last summer, I have been single and celibate for two years. How boring is that? “I’m a hopeless flirt. I’ll go up to a guy and say, ‘I think you are so beautiful,’ but it doesn’t work.” (Feb. 9, 2007)

Comment: The problem is unlikely to be explicable by Elle hitting on men too young for her, but guess what?  Who designated her “The Body”?  The fashion industry, and she was even married to fashion photographer and Elle magazine creative manager Gilles Bensimon.  With her masculine physique -- obvious in the non-recent pictures shown at the link, i.e., she is manlier currently -- she is probably targeting the wrong men.  Men involved with the fashion industry would be her best bet, but she is too old for the typical such man, even if he is older than her.  She could take a cue from fellow masculinized models and hit on men such as the current interest of Kate Moss, men with a history of dating masculinized women (e.g., Heidi Klum’s partners: Flavio Briatore, Seal), men known to be disproportionately homosexual such as hairstylists (e.g., Ric Pipino, who was married to Heidi Klum) or men dogged by rumors of being of an atypical sexual orientation such as Richard Gere (was married to Cindy Crawford) and Leonardo DiCaprio (was involved with Gisele Bundchen).  Of course, there are health risks associated with seeking the kind of men that would be attracted to Elle MacPherson’s physique; Elle should be circumspect.  Good luck Elle!

Comments

you edited out the measurements she stated they expecte her to have. because of her frame--it was difficult to attain that size without extreme diting.. i know of wonmen who are taller, the same measurements and 118-126.. its the same size i am i the summer ( i walk more then)... so the industry didn't exactly force her...

Kristin: The source that I cited did not mention the expected measurements; I didn‘t edit them out. Besides, when you talk about “they expected her...,” who are "they"? Obviously the fashion industry, which is thereby appropriately blamed for forcing the woman to be ultra skinny.

her measurements as she stated in the speech was 34-27-34. that is ket to understanding the dilemma. women with more rectangular figures typically have extra inches at the same weight where a hourglass woman wouldn't have it. i know soo many women who are in their late teens who are about that size. also take ino her account she is actually about 5' 7.5", she rreally wasn't that thin---just thin for her. there are many young women who easily maintain small measurements. she pressured herself. she should have quit. no one forced her to stay. she is married to a british nobleman, so she does not need the money. in fact--that is what she did. she stopped doing runway, and only does campaigns. she makes loads of cash with just that too.

her is the full rticle:
Natalia Vodianova

Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
At CFDA Health Panel, a Model's Story
By Marc Karimzadeh

NEW YORK — All the experts in the world couldn't have crystallized the controversy of fashion's role in eating disorders better than model Natalia Vodianova.

At Monday's Council of Fashion Designers of America health initiative panel discussion, Vodianova was responsible for the most revealing and touching moments, offering insights into the psychological impact being a model can have.

"Oscar Wilde once said that to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance," she told the audience of health experts, designers and editors. "But I hope you would agree with me that no relationship comes that easy. Perhaps the trickiest and most complex relationship is the one between you and yourself, your body and your mind. Sometimes it's even possible to be crueler to yourself than you would be to your worst enemy."

Designers like Donna Karan, Gilles Mendel, Tory Burch, Reed Krakoff, Daniel Silver of Duckie Brown, Carlos Falchi and Stan Herman came to the Bryant Park tents to hear the CFDA's strategy in the fight against eating disorders. In addition to guidelines for designers' use of models proposed late last month, the panel — which consisted of Renfrew Center's Susan Ice, KCD's Nian Fish, trainer David Kirsch and nutritionist Joy Bauer — disclosed it was planning several seminars in the next 12 months to educate the industry.

Some audience members from the health field expressed their disappointment that the guidelines didn't go far enough, and Karan raised the heat a little when she suggested the modeling agencies shouldn't be sending models to castings if they are too young or show signs of an eating disorder.

"It is important that we project health as part of beauty and do not encourage unhealthy behaviors," said CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg. "The fashion industry cannot take the blame for eating disorder diseases, but by being aware and sensitive to it, we can change a lot of things

Vodianova, who is the face of Calvin Klein, charted her course from her poor upbringing in Russia, where she viewed food as a necessity rather than an extravagance. Her weight was never something she obsessed about until she arrived in Paris in 2000 to model.

"I was meeting other models and our conversations, more often than not, revolved around diet, gym and weight, which was then totally alien to me," she recalled. "At first, I kind of sneered, thinking this would never affect me, but as I began working, modeling and trying on clothes, I began to pay attention to my body shape for the first time and to compare myself to other models."

The pressures of the industry, though, really started to kick in when she began doing runway shows two years later, and her schedule became so hectic that eating became secondary. At age 19, Vodianova gave birth to her son, Lucas, and afterward weighed 117 pounds, less than before pregnancy. She was catapulted to the top of her game. The stress took its toll. When Vodianova's weight dropped down to 106 pounds, her hair started thinning and she was always nervous and overly sensitive, a doctor friend intervened.

"The next season, I got healthy again, but when I returned to work, my weight was questioned," she said. "Some fashion houses called my agency complaining that I was two centimeters over [in measurements]. I was extremely upset since I felt very healthy and good about myself. I defended myself, saying it was crazy to consider measurements like 33-27-34 to be normal and not to expect some change.

"It makes me think that if I had been weak at the time, I could really have endangered myself," she continued. "At any age we can handle success, but at what age can we handle failure?" One of the guidelines suggests designers should not hire models under 16.

David Kirsch, owner of Madison Square Club, a Manhattan fitness center, recounted his personal experience with eating disorders, having had two sisters who suffered from bulimia and anorexia. "I see body image at the heart of this disease, and how these girls perceive themselves, and as importantly, how they think other people perceive them," he said.

Ice outlined the subjects of the upcoming seminars. "We will talk a lot about the demographics of eating disorders," she said. "Unfortunately, there are those who would simplify the problem and the illness around body weight, when we know that body weight alone, or BMI alone, is not really the only indicator of an eating disorder."

Nutritionist Bauer, who hopes to educate models about healthy eating at the seminars, echoed the sentiment, adding that BMI can be misguided, as some models may genetically have low BMIs and be perfectly healthy, and others who have normal BMIs could be struggling with eating disorders. "We also don't think that it's realistic or effective to start regularly weighing the models," she said. "In fact, the pressure to get weighed may cause more weight anxiety and preoccupation, and could, in fact, result in more disordered behavior."

Fish, meanwhile, raised a red flag at those who feel the CFDA or the health committee should impose rules on designers. "This is their aesthetic choice. What we are taking on is to create a structure inside the current thin aesthetic that educates and promotes the concept of a natural healthy thin."

also---don't you think your comments on elle being unable to find a man are extraneous, antagonistic, and unprofessional. do you know her personally? do you have any idea why she is single? c'mon.

Kristin: Excerpts from the article you posted:

Quote:

The pressures of the industry, though, really started to kick in when she began doing runway shows two years later, and her schedule became so hectic that eating became secondary.

“The next season, I got healthy again, but when I returned to work, my weight was questioned,” she said. “Some fashion houses called my agency complaining that I was two centimeters over [in measurements]. I was extremely upset since I felt very healthy and good about myself.

I agree that the fashion industry did not force her to do fashion modeling, but this is not even an issue; it is obvious from the excerpts above that the industry pressured her to comply with skinny norms in order to model.

Regarding Elle “The Body” MacPherson, what is extraneous, antagonistic or unprofessional about the comment on her curious problem? If “The Body” has a difficult time finding a man, and, by her own admission, not for lack of trying, then it is curious how “The Body” doesn’t have age-appropriate men falling at her feet if a number of the critics of this site are correct about the hotness of fashion models. What is wrong with making an educated guess, not presented as a certain fact, that she is targeting the wrong men?

the comments seem to be a personal, somewhat snide attack. we do not know what is going on in else's life. that was merely a sound byte, which could be an inaccurate quote. to use one teeny clippet as proof is ridiculous.

as far as natalia-- oprah has to keep up a rigourous diet/exercise plan to stay asixe 8. that doesn't mean that size is unhealthy. runway models are usually adolescent women. as a mother--natalia was out of that demographic, so it was silly for her to keep trying.

Is it true that masculine women attract effeminate men and vice versa?

Kristin: What personal attack? Pointing out Elle’s masculinized physique, as evident from her pictures, is not a personal attack. As far as what is going on in her life, the only thing mentioned is what she has admitted herself. Additionally, Elle’s statement is not used to prove anything, but to make an educated guess as to the possible reason for her problem. Once again, if fashion models have hot bodies and “The Body” has a difficult time getting age-appropriate men interested in her, then this issue needs to be discussed as far as this site is concerned.

Why bring Oprah into the picture? She is not a fashion model. In the article, Natalia’s problems are identified around age 19, i.e., not too old by high-fashion model standards, and regardless of the propriety of her attempting to be sufficiently skinny after giving birth, the fact remains, and I have pointed it out previously, that whereas the fashion industry did not force her to do fashion modeling, the industry pressured her to comply with skinny norms in order to model and deserves blame for this.

Kate: You do see plenty of masculinized women with effeminate men, but what is the reason for this? If there is a tendency for normal-to-masculine men to disproportionately pair with normal-to-feminine women, then masculinized women will be found to disproportionately pair with effeminate men because of limited choice. This is not to say that the latter pairings are never primarily preferred on the part of one or both individuals in a masculinized woman-effeminate man pair. There is an optimal level of masculinization that heterosexual women prefer in a man, i.e., men with lower or greater masculinization than the optimum would be less desirable. The optimum range may be less masculine for some women than others. It has been shown that women who rate their attractiveness higher than other women, and are presumably more feminine-looking on average, prefer more masculine-looking men.

I know this argument was long time ago but I have to say this: Kristin I feel very bad for you because you expect a girl like natalia give up her dreams and give away independence just because her husband is rich!!?? Thats very sad. And yes she does runway even though she has 3 children now. Very silly of her to keep trying? jealousy is very silly, Kristin. You see old models like claudia schiffer or linda evangelista that push themselves into campaigns and runways, taking up space for beautiful, new models and that is silly. Natalia wanted to go back at age 19 and she did and is an icon, nothing wrong with that but since the issue of the industry pushing models to be skinny came up she talked about her experience on subject. How many models have died because of starvation? You behave like it's nothing, like its their choice whether to model or not. Let's think about it; for how many of those girls modeling is an escape from doomed poverty?

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