Many models today still too skinny

The Oct. 10 edition of The Herald contained an insert for retailer JC Penny that did more than just catch my eye. The cover page included photos of a very young female model who’s clearly skin and bones, grossly underweight and likely tips the scales at the 70-75 pound area at best. Even the clothing that she was wearing didn’t look quite right on her. Sort of draped over a skeleton of a person rather than shown in a more realistic fashion sense that one might expect. I doubt this was digitally enhanced. It looks to be the real thing.

When are these department stores who cater their clothing advertising largely to women going to get the message about prompting models to starvation just to land an ad layout job? This young girl needs more than a sandwich. I see many of these types of print advertisements each week in The Herald with similar displays of women and men alike who often look as if they haven’t seen a decent meal in months. This one topped them all. I thought that there was some push-back going on in that industry for this sort of motivation but perhaps not at JC Penny, among others. Too many girls in the 12-18 year-old age group look at these models and start wishing that person to be them. Its the wrong message. This is where serious eating disorders often begin. Fat isn’t funny but skinny, as was shown in this ad, isn’t beautiful either.

Rex Jennings

Snohomish