Agent P piece

I want to give this with a heads-up that AP was cancelled because of funds and time restrictions on the people running it. totally understandable but I still put this on my list of clippings anyway. This was originally written for my feature writing class. My professor said to me when I handed it in YOU ARE CERTAINLY MORE OF A FEATURE WRITER THAN A NEWSWRITER. well, duh.

Commentary- Kate Moss & Unrealistic Body Image in the Media

In the 1990s, Kate Moss was the model that epitomized the disturbing trend we categorize as "heroin chic." "Heroin chic." Even the name conjures up an image that's anything but healthy. A heroin addict brings up pictures of sunken-eyed and ... (lost to time)

In latter years, Moss' career has fizzled, as (the fashion industry and others lead us to believe) healthier models have taken the spotlight from her bony reigns. And all seemed- except for some mishaps, here and there- well, until Moss opened her mouth again recently.

And it wasn't to eat.

In an interview with the WWD fashion Web site, Moss disclosed her motto for keeping her size so small: "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

This comment has led to an understandable uproar throughout the fashion community. As the British news source, the Telegraph, reported, models who promote healthy, natural sizes, such as Katie Green, are speaking out against Moss' words, with considerable outrage.

Green herself helped found "Say No To Size Zero" campaign. She, in discussing Moss' statements, noted that there are "1.1 million eating disorders in the U.K. alone."

"Kate Moss' comments are likely to cause many more. If you read any of the pro-anorexia Web sites, they go crazy for quotes like this," said Green.

Green isn't exaggerating. Do a simple Google search of "pro-anorexia" and see what turns up. Web sites with names such as "Pretty Thin" and "House of Thin" need no further elaboration to get their sickening points across.

"Pretty Thin" boasts a membership of over 20,000 members. 20,000.

As explained in an article by Nate Anderson, these web sites aim to promote anorexia and bulimia as "lifestyle choices," not as the life-threatening mental illnesses that they are. They go as far as to "encourage the development of eating disorders in others" who have healthy mindsets to begin with.

The images that can be found on them are disturbing, to say the least. Visible ribcages are glorified, among other things.

These websites refer to themselves in categories such as "pro-ana" and "pro-mia" and are flocked to by the young and the vulnerable, which tends to be teenaged girls. Countries such as the United Kingdom and France have made attempts to ban their existence. The Internet is a tricky monster, a beast not easily tamed by the restraints of law.

The girls (and boys) are already clinging to Moss' words as a kind of newfound mantra. Not simply because she said them, but because they have heard them before, a host of them. "Starving hurts but hunger, it works." "If it tastes good, it's trying to kill you." "Eat to live, but don't live to eat."

Why throw gasoline into that fire, Kate?

Ms. Moss, however, cannot be the sole scapegoat. Recently, prestigious designer Ralph Lauren has also come under scrutiny. In September, Filippa Hamilton, was photoshopped to a scary-thin size for the cover of their latest catalog.

The picture of her drew comments such as, "dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis."

Hamilton was already at a somewhat unhealthy weight at 120 pounds for her 5'10 figure. Body Mass Index says, that for females, the lowest healthiest fat percentage to have and be healthy is 19 percent. According to calculations, Hamilton was 17.2 percent.
Furthermore, she was later fired by the company for being- as she said- "too fat." She called herself "healthy," but she isn't even that, by BMI guidelines.

You don't have to look much harder to find similar sad stories.

It's obvious that sick young people champion such ideals as expressed on "House of Thin" after being bombarded with anecdotes like Hamilton's and Moss'. Healthy tales, if any, seem to be swept under the rug. We cannot continue to let this happen.

Anorexia and bulimia are real diseases. They threaten lives. Eating disorders carry the heaviest price of all mental illness, wielding the highest mortality of rate of any of them. Whether that's from the health complications that arise (heart failure, increased suscipibility to serious illnesses) or by suicide, either is a real possibility. 20% of anorexics die premature deaths, that would be preventable with proper treatment.

For proof of this, just remember Karen Carpenter, who was one of the first widely purported deaths from anorexia. Or, in the past few years, Ana Carolina Reston, who lived off tomatoes and apples until her death at the age of 21.

Things like that show that when statements such as Moss' are casually uttered. Moss should be held accountable for speaking so thoughtlessly.

Progress has been made, slowly. Movements such as the "Dove Real Women" campaign and the gradual embracing of "plus-sized model," it seems that the perception of body image is taking a turn for the better.

And all is well with that, but perhaps it is not enough. Perhaps what we need to do, as a society, is to start the widespread acceptance of natural body sizes, whether they be curvy or slim. And perhaps we need to let those most at risk realize that images such as the altered Filippa Hamilton or "heroin chic" are not the norm and should not be considered as such, even if the fashion industry or some other avenue in the media would like to have us believe otherwise.

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