Premise: Project Runway and Models of the Runway’s Grandmother
Last night marked the first non-casting episode of this season’s America’s Next Top Model. Throughout last week’s episode and during this week’s episode we learned that the stakes have been raised for cycle 15 of America’s Next Top Model. The winner of this season will be represented by the top modeling management company, ING, and will be featured in a spread in one of fashion’s top magazines, Vogue Italia. The competition is about to get “fierce” as cycle 15 of America’s Next Top Model has been designated as the “high fashion” season.
The first thing we noticed this week and last week was that the composition of the models has completely changed. In the past you usually had at least one or more plus size models, one season you had only short girls and in some cases you had women with burns or teeth issues or even in one season a transgender model. It seemed like in other season Tyra focused on the girls story and put the emphasis on finding a Top Model who would be holistic and bring something extra to the table.
This season, with one exception for a girl with a double G chest, you see the type of girls you would traditionally see in high fashion magazines. There are no plus size models in sight. The girls with the interesting issues to overcome were replaced this season by rail thin tall models. There are no short girls, no girls with curves and no girls with a unique look. All the models are tall and thin and apparently perfect for a season that is focused on finding a “high fashion” model.
None of the girls seem to be “plus size” or “curvy” this season. When we looked at the cast picture last week we could not see anything but super skinny, tall girls. So we were shocked this week when the first girl who was sent home was the girl who was portrayed as having an eating disorder through out this week’s episode, Anamaria. Anamaria use to weigh about 135 pound but through a “calorie-restricted diet” (her words, not ours) got down to what she believes was a slim 110 pounds. Apparently that was “too thin” and she received harsh critiques by the judges for her body. However, Anamaria stood by her weight and defended her body. She said that she liked the way she looked and disagreed that she was too thin.
We were not sure where to go with this one in this case. On the one hand America’s Next Top Model should not promote eating disorders or unhealthy body images, but on the other hand if a girl is happy with her body and is restricting her diet and not engaging in dangerous conduct she should not be penalized. We found it strange that Anamaria was not critique at all on her skills and only on her body. A body conscious society is not only created by criticizing girls for being too fat but is also created by criticizing girls for being too skinny.
The judges did not ask Annamaria how she maintains her weight and whether she is using healthy methods. They did not give her an opportunity to explain why she liked her body as it is. Maybe Annamaria does have an eating disorder, maybe not, but if she does is it fair to penalize her for a having a disease? We cannot say for sure that last night’s decision to eliminate Annamaria because of her weight is right. If the tables were reversed and Tyra had eliminated a girl because she was too “full figured” there would be an uproar. In the end we were uncomfortable with this decision. Annamaria was judged for her body and not for her modeling and we cannot help but wonder if that is the right message.
At the end of the day we found the whole decision to be ironic. In the “high fashion” cycle where there is not one “full size” or “curvy model” present, a girl was eliminated for being too skinny. The girls that remain in the competition may look healthier from Tyra’s perspective but they are all skinny and tall. This all comes back to our original point, that the girls this season all fit the traditional mold of what is “high fashion.” They are more representative of the industry’s notion of beauty and less representative of the typical American woman. It seems strange that a competition that once was so inclusive, a competition that always strived to change the industry’s notion of what is beautiful, has become less representative of American women during the “high fashion” season. In the weeks to come we will see how this competition unfolds but right now we are a little uncomfortable of the message this cycle is putting out there.
