From the industry that bought us heroin chic and the size 0 culture, comes the latest in fashion world lunacy. 19-year-old male model, Andrej Pejic, is being hailed as the next big thing in the modelling word. He has it all…high cheekbones, a mane of tumbling blonde locks, colt-like legs….and a penis!
Yes, you heard right! He is the talk and flavour of fashion as the poster-boy for designers like Galliano and Gaultier…or should that be poster girl. I am utterly confused because this strikingly beautiful young man is being used to model women’s clothes?
Andrej is undoubtedly a beautiful MAN. And, there is no doubting he is a man – from his androgynous frame to his clearly visible Adam’s Apple. So, why oh why is he the next big thing on the catwalk, in WOMEN’s fashion shows, WOMEN’S fashion campaigns and WOMEN’s feature spreads in magazines??
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the fash pack has for years thrust in our faces impossibly thin, androgynous-looking women as the ideal to showcase designer fashions, now they’re bypassing the girls and going straight to the boys! Afterall, a beautiful boy is likely to much better show off women’s clothing than…a woman?
Critics have warned that this new fashion phenomenon sets a new benchmark for impossible standards. If the body standard for women is a young man…what on earth are we meant to take from that?
And, let’s face it, the majority of women who buy these designs, in the main, do not have the body of a young man. They have boobs and curves. The fashion industry, in embracing a young man as the face and body of female fashion, is promoting the ideal of a body shape that is, quite simply, not natural for a woman..
It is sad. Because, by the very nature of their influence over fashion and culture, the designers and the media that splash their campaigns across their pages, do have a direct influence on women’s self worth.
The evidence of this: the number of models with serious eating disorders, young models dying as a result of said eating disorders; girls as young as 7 presenting with eating disorders; low self esteem being the major issue affecting both young girls and women…the list goes on!
How on earth do we embrace our natural feminine form when the message is that beautiful clothing is shown better on a beautiful boy? And, I am not saying women are only feminine if they have curves! Women of all shapes and sizes are beautiful. So, let’s show women in all their diversity and glory on catwalks, in magazines, and advertising campaigns. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m much more likely to be inspired to buy clothing shown on women (of diversity) than modelled on a man!
Yes, you heard right! He is the talk and flavour of fashion as the poster-boy for designers like Galliano and Gaultier…or should that be poster girl. I am utterly confused because this strikingly beautiful young man is being used to model women’s clothes?
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the fash pack has for years thrust in our faces impossibly thin, androgynous-looking women as the ideal to showcase designer fashions, now they’re bypassing the girls and going straight to the boys! Afterall, a beautiful boy is likely to much better show off women’s clothing than…a woman?
Critics have warned that this new fashion phenomenon sets a new benchmark for impossible standards. If the body standard for women is a young man…what on earth are we meant to take from that?
And, let’s face it, the majority of women who buy these designs, in the main, do not have the body of a young man. They have boobs and curves. The fashion industry, in embracing a young man as the face and body of female fashion, is promoting the ideal of a body shape that is, quite simply, not natural for a woman..
It is sad. Because, by the very nature of their influence over fashion and culture, the designers and the media that splash their campaigns across their pages, do have a direct influence on women’s self worth.
The evidence of this: the number of models with serious eating disorders, young models dying as a result of said eating disorders; girls as young as 7 presenting with eating disorders; low self esteem being the major issue affecting both young girls and women…the list goes on!
How on earth do we embrace our natural feminine form when the message is that beautiful clothing is shown better on a beautiful boy? And, I am not saying women are only feminine if they have curves! Women of all shapes and sizes are beautiful. So, let’s show women in all their diversity and glory on catwalks, in magazines, and advertising campaigns. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m much more likely to be inspired to buy clothing shown on women (of diversity) than modelled on a man!