The Wit of a Model

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has said that she has never suffered from anorexia because she has had "a strong family base" behind her. In fact, she has said that the numerous problems that anorexia has caused in Brazil, not to mention all over the world, are because of parents and family.

"...the parents are responsible, not fashion..."

Wow ! I for one am very impressed with that amazingly intelligent psychoanalysis of the disease in young women ! I should just abandon what my psychology professors have taught me in university, and tell those doctors that they were wrong, and that Gisele Bundchen has solved this growing mental illness...
How would you feel if you were the parents of Ana Carolina Reston and a supermodel blamed you for the death of your daughter, and then said it wasn't the industry that she was in that caused her death ?

Ms. Bundchen may have had the support she needed from her family, but not all families are the same. Some families work, some don't, others just fall apart. I don't think Ms. Bundchen would tell someone who suffers from Post Traumatic Shock that if his father who beat him was more supportive, his nose and ribs would still be intact. Not in the same category, but it does involve abuse of some kind. And that's what Anorexia is - it's a personal abuse of oneself due to a lack of confidence and destructive self image.
So what do you say, Ms.Bunchen when you run into a heavy-set person and s/he tells you that s/he wants to be rail thin to look like you ? Do you tell them that their parents are responsible for the genes that made them fat, and that they should blame them ?

But I'm sure that I'm wrong. I'm sure that the fashion industry has nothing to do with the way young women see themselves. I'm sure that the thin supermodel ban in Spain had nothing to do with Anorexia and Bullemia, nor the health problems and risks that many doctors are talking about concerning being underweight and too thin.
I'm sure that the numerous times we see people suffering from this terrible mental affliction, and requiring interventions and professional help, is all an over exaggeration of the reality. Everybody in Gisele Bundchen's world are all thin, rich, and happy. So there's no way that these health problems could be caused by the environment around her...
I'm sure the image that society, the fashion, advertising, music, and movie industries shoves to us has nothing to do with how we are influenced in the way we look, dress, eat, and feel.
...by the way, Ms. Bundchen, that also includes the model industry too...but you already knew that, right ?



Octavian