'Just Say No to Skinny Women'

That's what Irena Medavoy says after the tragic death of another fashion model on November 14. Ana Carolina Reston died of complications caused by anorexia. But, of course, the real cause of her death is a media-created notion that thin and dead is preferable to normal and healthy.

Medavoy asks:

When is the fashion establishment going to take responsibility for what is happening to women in our culture? When are we going to stop rewarding our young celebrities - like Nicole Ritchie - for not eating by following them doggedly and featuring them on the covers of our magazines?

Medavoy also links to a Daily Mail article based on an interview with actress Kate Winslet. A sampling of Winslet's thinking:

"This skinny thing, it angers me so much. It disturbs me.

"In our house, we don't talk about weight, we don't talk about body image...

"I'm happy with my shape and size; I work out when I get the time. I accepted a long time ago that I wasn't going to be able to wear skinny jeans. I'm fine with that.

"In the past, people have been a little unkind when it comes to discussing my weight, but I realise its' them, not me.

"I'm totally fine with how I look and the weight I am."

Winslet has always impressed me as being a self-assured person, able to take risks as an artist and a human being. (She even used her success in Titanic, a movie I doubt that she cared for, to take on more substantive and interesting film roles.) In her self-confident push for personal excellence, she's a terrific role model for young women around the world.

But not all young women have Winslet's confidence. They imbibe the murderous "thin is in" propaganda and mindset of the fashion and music industries. It isn't just supermodels who get sick and die because of this push: They influence millions of female tweens, teens, and adults. These two businesses should be ashamed for the thousands of deaths they've probably caused by idealizing emaciated bodies as the norm for women. It's indefensible!

Of course, the emaciation mandate is nothing new. MGM executives were no doubt the ultimate culprits behind the early death of Judy Garland, for example. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, they deliberately underfed her and plied her with weight-reduction drugs to which she became addicted.

With the death of Ana Carolina Reston, one wonders when this madness might end. I don't look for it any time soon.

The best thing that parents can do for their girls from an early age, is tell them that they're loved and valued just as they are. No need for petite sizes. No need for diets. No need for purging. Just love your daughters, parents.

Parental love is the most potent defense against the fashionistas who apparently want to see our daughters dead. As long as our young women are buried in one of their expensive pairs of jeans, they're okay with that.

[UPDATE: Why Fighting 'Thin is in' is a Spiritual Matter.]

[FOR OTHER TAKES ON THIS ISSUE, see here and here.]