To think that this model looks awful and quite unwell?

[CiderBomb]

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2507013/Victorias-Secret-Fashion-Show-afterparty-Sean-Avery-toasts-fiancee-Hilary-Rhodas-success.html

Got to say that it surprised me, Victoria Secrets models usually carry a bit more weight compared to the the emaciated girls we see doing the high fashion stuff.

She's so, so painfully thin. Her face is drawn and she looks older than her years.

When is the modelling world going to start using healthy looking girls who don't look like famine victims? This is not what people want to look at!

[smudgedgraffiti]

This model is 26, and I do know someone who had a natural figure like that in her 20s. She's 40 now so has filled out somewhat but in your 20s it's quite possible to be "naturally" skinny without being unhealthy!

The Daily Mail must be so pleased that squillions of Mnetters have 1) clicked on their site, and 2) criticised another woman's body.

[MyPrettyToes]

OP, I am sorry if I sounded rude and should not have accused you of talking shit, you are entitled to your opinion but I honestly believe it is very shitty thing to criticise someone's body when you do not know them. I cannot imagine starting this sort of thread about anyone, someone used the term body shaming - I agree it is.

I actually am very defensive when it comes to this issue. I have been picked on mercilessly for being 'skinny' all my life. By family, so called friends, strangers. A woman recently TOLD me I must have used a surrogate because no one is this skinny so soon after having a baby. I am Black African and in my particular culture (southern) being curvy is what women aspire to be. So being lean is much derided (I have been told I am not African enough). I have to be defensive. I spent my teens and 20s hating my body. I have learned to love my body now. It IS awesome - like carry two babies when I thought there was zero chance of my ever carrying one to term; running a mile in a brilliant time when I could barely walk a few years back and having defined muscle tone when I have been very thin before.

I don't like that I sounded arrogant earlier, on the contrary I am quite shy and I have massive issues with social anxiety (why I joined MN in the first place), still getting over PTSD (traumatic birth). Exercise is an amazing release for me. I have the time and motivation to do it - but people are positively hateful towards me about these two facts.

Thank you to the ladies who saw through my defensiveness earlier and were still kind. We women are so horrible to one another about our appearances, it is not necessary.

Anyway, OP YABU unless, of course, you know Hilary Rhoda personally.

[IceBeing]

I am confused.

I am a teacher of sorts...so my appearance and deridding of it is surely off limits.

This woman is a model. She makes her living from her appearance so surely that means discussion of her appearance is reasonable?

I personally do not find her look appealing. It seems very harsh in a sort of cast from metal sort of a way. I don't think she looks unwell. I think I would probably find her more attractive if her make up wasn't designed to accentuate all the hard plains...so with no make up and less severe eyebrows she would look more attractive to me personally.

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

"The Daily Mail must be so pleased that squillions of Mnetters have 1) clicked on their site, and 2) criticised another woman's body."

This ^

[IceBeing]

Like it would be rude to comment adversely on my singing voice as well but probably perfectly allowable to comment on the tone etc of a professional singers voice?

Basically if your day job is your appearance then comment on your appearance is valid and to be expected....but not otherwise.

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

IceBeing As a model her job is to advertise clothing. Yes, she is expected to be a certain shape to do that, but it doesn't give anyone the right to make unpleasant remarks about her body. You may not like how she looks, that is your prerogative, but that is the sort of opinion that really should be kept to yourself. As other women on this thread have said, it is very hurtful to be told you must be ill, or starving yourself simply because you happen to be slim or even skinny.

And when are these kind of remarks ever made about male models or actors or any man generally? On the whole they aren't, because it's only womens' bodies that help up to such scrutiny.

[ExcuseTypos]

My dd, whose 22 is very skinny and always has been. She's a size 6/8 and 5' 9". She was model scouted 3 times when she was 16/17.

She doesn't have a scrap of fat on her, she eats 3 good meals a day, often with seconds and plenty of snacks and chocolate/cake and more chocolate.

At school she was teased so much, being accused of being bulimic etc.
If I put a picture of her here in a bikini, I know there would be lots of 'oh she's so skinny, she looks ill' etc etc.

She been approached 3 times by model agencies. She quite beautiful and skinny. Hence she "looks like" a model.

The facts are she is healthy, eats plenty and is perfectly happy

Please consider that some people are naturally skinny and healthy before making judgments about people you don't know.

[AmberLeaf]

too much 'dancing dust

Yes. That seems to replace carbs in many models diets.

She has a beautiful face, reminds me of a cross between Kate Cambridge and Courtney Cox.

She does look underweight though. Her body is that toned because she obviously works out loads. You don't get that toned 'naturally'

[Pootles2010]

I don't think she looks unhealthy - I don't think you can have muscles like that if you're dangerously underweight?!

She looks gorgeous actually - very striking.

[limitedperiodonly]

If I wanted to bitch about other women's bodies I'd just do it OP. I wouldn't dress it up as concern about role models for teenage girls.

[Fishandjam]

The problem for me is that yes, there may be a very small percentage of the adult female population who look like that. If you're one of them, fair play to you you lucky cow, not envious me, oh no not at all.

But I don't think we should be making out that this is an attainable bodyshape for everyone. I could spend my entire life dieting and in the gym and I wouldn't look like that. And while I know that nobody on here is saying that we could all look like that if only we tried, it does just form part of the problem we have with the fashion and media industries in general promoting unrealistic body images. I'm guessing none of the posters disagreeing with the OP think that this isn't a problem?

So in that case, why isn't it OK to say if you think that model looks a bit on the skinny side? (FWIW, I don't think she looks ill.)

[mayorquimby]

She looks fantastic

[intitgrand]

She looks like a bloke to me.

[CoffeeTea103]

She looks great. I agree with posters who have said that there are so many overweight people around that these slim women don't seem normal.

[ouryve]

MySiamese - I could do a lot of exercise and would still not be that shape. I have short legs and arms and would look emaciated if i tried to get down to her clothes size. I was all of 7 stone at 5'5 at 16 and I was not that shape - because that is not my body type.

DH is that body type and still looks very slim with a BMI of 24. He has long, skinny limbs, long hands etc.

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

Fishandjam I would say there is a difference between criticising the body image promoted by the fashion industry, and criticising the body of an individual woman. The latter helps no one. It would be similar to criticising a woman for being overweight because you disagree with the way cakes are advertised.

It's the people who control the fashion industry who should be getting the flak imo.

[MySiamese]

ouryve

No idea why you've aimed that post for me?

[binger]

I think she looks very athletic, toned and healthy. I'd love to look like that.

[Longdistance]

I think she has good muscle tone. You can see muscles in her calves, thighs and tummy, so she must run, do sit ups etc.

Though, she is not the depiction of how us ladies really look. Someone curvier would have been more suitable. Although, I doubt it's aimed at your average 37 year old woman with 38g breasts, as I've shopped in Victorias Secret before, and there was nothing in my bra size. Saying that, it was in 2007.

[limitedperiodonly]

does she look like a bloke to you as well intitgrand?

[MySiamese]

OH FFS.

The only reason i'd love to look like that is so I could eat all means of yumminess to get up to a healthy weight.

Am I looking at a different picture to most people or what?

[limitedperiodonly]

I ballsed it up. Here we go again

[ProfPlumSpeaking]

I thought I was going to click on a picture of someone looking dangerously thin. In fact the model looks very slim but perfectly healthy. It is immensely dangerous to be stick thin but she isn't. So many people now are overweight that they struggle to recognise a healthy body. I was sitting next to one woman at the GP surgery a few days ago who was sounding off about her outrage that she had been told she was overweight. Her friend was reassuring her that she was not. She was enormously fat!! How she could not have known that was beyond me....

[Ecuador]

That bikini is vile it has to be said.

As for people saying they've never met anyone that thin in RL, I'm another who is naturally very 'slim' (I do so hate the words skinny or thin ). I weigh 7 and a half stone or thereabouts and am in my 40's.

I eat regularly, am not anorexic, have had 3 children and my BMI is only 18.5. I walk my 2 dogs daily, cycle now and then and do a bit of yoga.

Some people just don't want to accept that some of us can look like that (sadly minus the stunning face or hair!) naturally without having some sort of eating disorder or existing on lettuce and ice cubes .

[MySiamese]

Astounded so many women would love/wish to look like this.

I'm slim myself at 5ft 6 and size 8/10 but this woman is a step too far (IMO)

As for judging her on her job to model the underwear, it looks awful on her body as she's too thin and wouldn't make me think "Oh I want that underwear set"