We are girls; not adults.

Teen models. For years the battle to keep them off the catwalk hasn't been successful. But now, London's Fashion Week said that it will not let girls under 16 onto the catwalk. However, they didn't say that 'underweight' models would be banned. Back on July 11 a panel of experts for the Model Health Inquiry set out to investigate health problems in 17 and 18 year old models. "There was also strongly expressed concern that it is profoundly inappropriate that girls under 16 under the age of consent should be portrayed as adult women. The risk of sexualising these children was high and designers could risk charges of sexual exploitation," said Baroness Kingsmill a member of the Model Health Inquiry. The Inquiry board is now calling for more research to be conducted on eating disorder in the young models. They also want a Union to be formed to protect underage models. The British Fashion Council said that it will accept the Inquiry's recommendations in September (the month London Fashion Week is held ) when they are published. While this is definitely good news, will it be enough? Girls have been exploited for so long; trying to fit into an adult profession. A few studies might not have the power to totally prevent young girls from getting on the catwalk, but maybe this little event will snowball into more secure laws protecting these girls.


You can read the full article here.

Click here if you want to learn more about eating disorder misconceptions.

Here are some tidbits I found about models:

• In January, a 14-year-old Brazilian girl who dreamt of being a model died, weighing only 38 kilos or about 83 pounds.


• A recent study has indicated that 40% of young fashion models have developed an eating disorder.


• "So if you're a 14-year-old girl working as a professional model, you can pretty much bet nine out of the 10 jobs you'll go for you'll be rejected. So I don't know if rejection to that extent is something that is very healthy for a girl of that age." - Zoe Edquist, manager of the Australian Fashion Council


• Studies have shown that while 25 years ago the average model weighted 8% less than the average American woman, today's model weighs 23% below the national average.

Peace, friends.