Why size zero must come to an end!

One of the most controversial aspects of fashion industry so far are the models. Specifically, how young they are and how thin they are.

It’s a topic that continues to create endless debate. Amidst the controversy the fashion world is divided in terms of the public opinion on whether or not size zero should be a criterion for modeling.

Size zero or size 0 refers to extremely thin individuals. Sometimes it can even refer to the trends associated with women and girls.

However, the appearance pressures experienced by fashion models have been criticized as harmful to their health. It has as well increased eating disorder risk among youth by promoting ideals of extreme thinness.

Zero, comfortable

“I’m zero and comfortable,” Niler Bernard tells Woman during an interview. “I currently don’t have thoughts of increasing my size but when time comes and I feel the urge to gain a bit of weight, I’ll definitely do so,” she says.

The now 25-year-old international model Niler is of the opinion that size matters in the modeling industry. Nevertheless, she defends that her loss of weight is not, in any way, associated with starving. She perceives starvation as odd and, as she puts it, would never recommend it to anyone since it’s not healthy.

“I worked out at least five times a week and ate super healthy meals like veggies and drank a lot of water,” says Niler, who works under Boss Models in Cape Town, South Africa. “My body weight reduced because of the balance I made between eating and exercising,” she adds.

Zero? Never

Melody Tryphone, also known as Miranda, is one of the country’s models with a very upfront view that size zero shouldn’t be, in any way, the gauge for modeling. This is not only based on health grounds, as she argues, but also that it will deprive others who don’t fit well with the size.

“Had it been the standard I wouldn’t have been a model in the first place in my whole life. There is not a single day I did or will think of losing my weight to that extent,” says the model, who started with size ten but is currently size six.

The 22-year old Miranda directs her accusations to the government through its ministry responsible with arts that it does lesser than the required in monitoring the industry. This includes protecting them from the nonsensical designers and stylists who care less for their employees’ health and wellbeing.

“There is no supervision in the modeling industry. It would be good that the government put a policy on the issue particularly stipulating the required size for the models. Sumptuous women should also be given space in the industry as their talent may run out,” Miranda says.

Designers, stylists speak

However, opinions from the country’s designers shade a different picture with some saying that whether or not size zero should be a criterion for modeling will depend upon the particular designer.

Ally Rehmtullah, one of the country’s famous fashion designers, makes it clear that he prefers size zero models for his casting. “I look at fashion as a fantasy kind of thing which undoubtedly slim girls have more to offer,” says Rehmtullah during a telephone interview with Woman recently.

But to Stacy Phillipo, a stylist with Nzuri Afrika Modeling Agency (NAMA), size zero shouldn’t, in any way, be taken as a determinant factor for modeling in the country as it would be at odds with the actual size of our models.

“It would be better if we take a thorough analysis on the common size of most of our girls and then after that we can come up with a particular size,” she says.

Nonetheless, Stacy is one among the few who sets herself apart from putting blame on the girls who decide to starve so that they can get slimmer but instead directs criticism to designers and stylists who have built that kind of mentality that a model must be slim.

“When rejected more than once at auditions because of their size, most girls, who are sometimes voluptuous, subject themselves to rogue techniques of losing weight including that of starving,” she says.

But Stacy has got a solution that she thinks can go a long way to save the lives of many girls both locally and internationally: “We need to change the mentality of these designers and stylists who think that models must be people with size zero only.”

Stacy says that she usually doesn’t look at size but attitude and other skills as well. She strongly agrees that designers pressurize their models but she doesn’t think that they are told to go and starve.

Designers, stylists under fire

Earlier this year a study titled ‘Results of a strategic science study to inform policies targeting extreme thinness standards in the fashion industry’ was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. The study assessed professional fashion models’ perceptions of the potential impact and feasibility of seven policy proposals.

The study was a part of the initiative by the Harvard graduate and former runway star Sara Ziff. Sara, with four other researchers from Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Boston Children’s Hospital, undertook the study as part of her taking on eating disorders in the modeling industry.

A sample of 85 female fashion models completed an online survey assessing unhealthy weight control behaviors, perceived pressure from agencies to lose weight, as well as the perceived impact and feasibility of seven potential policy actions.

Models reported high levels of pressure to lose weight, which was associated with higher odds of engaging in unhealthy weight control behaviors.

Never pressured

On pressure from her designers, Niler says that the agencies, both former and the current one, never exerted any pressure on her to become zero but rather she herself admired the measurement and worked hard for it. “I didn’t intentionally decide to lose weight to zero, I’m naturally a 4 so after exercising and the change in my eating behavior patterns, I went to zero.” Though she acknowledges that as models, they sometimes receive pressure from designers to lose weight and become size zero, Miranda makes it clear that no designer can convince her to lose weight to such extreme levels.

“In 2014, I came across a designer whose name will remain anonymous for now; the designer in question made a request for me to lose weight and become size zero. I rejected the notion straight to his face,” recalls Miranda. Despite standing her ground, Miranda was nonetheless selected by the designer.

“I didn’t subject myself to weird techniques like starving, I instead adhered to the proper advice given which I still work on to this day,” she points out, adding, “I totally disagree that one’s weight should set her apart from the modeling industry. I can’t put my life at risk by dieting so hard that I become size zero, no matter how much I like modeling.”

No pressure, but advice

Despite his confession for the love of slim girls to feature in his fashion shows, Rehmtullah was quick to distance himself from the perception that as a designer, he pressurizes his models to lose weight to zero.

“But I do encourage and advise them to get slimmer through the appropriate and recommended ways like healthy diet and exercise. If someone goes out and then starts starving so that she can lose weight, that’s upon her,” he says. To him, if a model isn’t zero size, then she doesn’t qualify. “There are so many ways of becoming slim apart from starving. There is a healthy diet and exercises to name but a few. These ways take time and cannot be achieved overnight. Starving so that you can lose weight is a bad thing and not encouraged in any way,” he adds.

Word from a nutritionist

Most people think of diet as a specific weight-loss plan, but Ms Neema Shosho, a Nutrition Advisor at the Embassy of Ireland in Tanzania debunks that fallacy by saying that diet is simply the types and amounts of food we eat. “I don’t recommend starvation as a way of losing weight. When the body does not receive essential nutrients that come from food and liquids, side effects occur. Systems in the body stop to function well and can lead to death.” She says that losing weight is not a one time off event; it should be embedded into one’s lifestyle. Her advice: “Don’t go for shortcuts such as starvation plan rather learn to eat a well-balanced plate with all the essential nutrients and right portions.”

Way forward

The policy approaches rated as most impactful by the study undertaken by Sarah and her colleagues, were, among others, requiring employers to provide food and a 30-min break for jobs longer than six hours. In the list is also providing employment protections and healthier working conditions which is highly supported by professional models.

But these are hard to come by without the government intervention. “There is no supervision in the modeling industry in the country. It would be good that the government had a policy on the issue particularly stipulating the required size for the models. Voluptuous women should also be given space in the industry as their talent may expire,” cries Miranda. While in May this year France announced that it would ban unhealthy models, Tanzania is seen to be indecisive about the issue at hand. Speaking with Woman this week, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Arts, Culture and Sports, Prof Elisante Ole Gabriel Ole confesses that currently there is no policy on the ground to monitor the issue.

A sense of dignity

“However, as the government, we strongly strive for the respect of a person’s dignity and that anything that can compromise it and have negative repercussions to the society in any way is totally discouraged,” speaks Prof Ole Gabriel in a telephone interview from Dodoma.

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