Jessica

Vozel

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October 1, 2007

Nolita’s Campaign to End Anorexia Ultimately Glamorizes It

For Milan Fashion Week, controversial Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani and the fashion label Nolita collaborated to produce a billboard campaign that simultaneously advertises the brand and attempts to combat anorexia. Isabelle Caro, a French actress who has struggled with anorexia for 15 years, posed nude for the campaign. 

There were differences, of course, between Caro’s image and standard fashion photography.  Her eyes, sunken in their bruised sockets, convey fear rather than sexuality. Her feet are blue from lack of circulation, her translucent skin flakes in patches. But with some photoshopping and expensive clothes to cover her ribs, Caro’s image could easily fit within the pages of a typical fashion magazine.

The assumption is that Caro’s emaciated body was arranged in a way that mimics fashion photography to call attention to the similarities between a woman on the verge of death and the average model. However, this faulty approach actually glamorizes anorexia. 

The phenomenon of anorexia glamorization is a disquieting subtext to the media’s treatment of this life-threatening pathological condition. Tabloid magazine headlines incessantly proclaim “Angelina too thin!” or “Mary Kate is Wasting Away!” or “Keira Knightly’s Startling Anorexia!” With the accompanying photographs of these idolized celebrities, the insults gradually start to sound like praise. 

As the New York Times reports this week, young, interchangeable models around the world have turned to cigarettes and Vicodin to quell their appetites and ensure their continued careers.  These unhealthy young women are considered the epitome of beauty and even their destructive habits become glamorous by association. 

High fashion, with its limited sizes and plethora of skinny-leg jeans, indoctrinates women that size zero is desirable and size 14 is unacceptable. Similarly, in Hollywood, any actress above a size six becomes a novelty and can’t conduct one magazine interview without fielding questions about her “body image issues” and having her curves hacked away by photoshop (I’m looking at you, Glamour).   

The Toscani/Nolita billboard may force upon the often far-removed fashion industry the hidden ugliness of anorexia, but those already suffering from the disease might turn to it for inspiration. Pro-anorexia web sites and online communities often feature images of women as thin as Caro.  They label it “thinspiration” and encourage each other to continue starving until they reach that ideal. Anorexia is a deadly disease that distorts perception, and while many may look upon Caro’s image with horror and revulsion, there will always be women looking upon it with admiration. 

The body image battle is complex and stems from the continued judgment of women based on their appearance (after all, it was the degradation of Caro’s looks that made her image so arresting) and we are a long way from reversing the way we view femininity and beauty. Rather than waiting for those battles to be solved and risking the lives of women in the grip of anorexia, however, here is what Nolita should do right now if they truly want to fight against anorexia: 

Replace all billboards of Isabelle Caro with billboards of a full-figured model like Crystal Renn.  Such an image would challenge the standard of unattainable beauty that the fashion and beauty industries strive to portray. Rather than glamorizing impossible thinness, these billboards would glamorize health, curves and confidence. The headline should remain the same – “No Anorexia” – and the model should be photographed, as Caro was, in a fashion magazine pose. Then, Nolita should extend their size range to include women the model’s size and larger. 

Unfortunately, this might be a little too effective, because the idea that plus-sized women are dazzling and confident would eliminate the common selling point of the fashion and beauty industries – you can always be better than what you are now, and we can help you get there.  They certainly don’t want to lose the power behind that message. Instead, they will continue to use images from the opposite end of the spectrum, arguing with false praise that curvy women “distract from the clothing.”

Nolita’s efforts might have been genuine, but they were ill-advised. Hopefully Caro herself will live on to teach others with her words – not her body – that anorexia is not a glamorous condition but a deadly disease.

© 2007 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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