Colleen Martell 5/7/2012 English 401 Persuasive Essay To the director of the Victorias Secret Fashion Show and

Editors of Victorias Secret Magazine, I am a 19 year-old girl who, every year, anticipates the arrival of your Victorias Secret Fashion Show. I usually turn on the television with my group of girl friends and we watch in amazement as these tall, beautiful, thin models make their way down the runway. My first thoughts always consist of me wishing I looked like them. Who wouldnt want to look like the women that most men drool and dream about? I agree that having these extremely thin women prance down the runway in Victorias Secret Lingerie will definitely help you sell your product, but do most women who buy Victorias Secret clothing have the genetics or time to be that skinny or looking like that? I am writing to address you about the thin models that Victorias secret has used in their fashion shows the past few years. Victorias secret used to be known for having healthy weighted models such as Tyra Banks and Heidi Klume, but the models body weight seems to be disappearing with each passing year. I strongly believe your company should revert back to your old ways, because this strong media influence on viewers sometimes causes eating disorders. The Victorias Secret Fashion show, stores, and catalogues are extremely popular worldwide. Therefore, many young women and teens look to your admired models for how a beautiful woman should look. Before viewing your most recent

fashion show, I came across an article on the Internet from March 2011 about a Victorias Secret Model named Candice Swanepoel. A daily mail reporter from the Daily Mail, a news website in the United Kingdom, stated, While Adriana and Alessandra looked slender in their black swimsuits, Candice looked almost emaciated next to the two girls (Fears for Victorias Secret Model, par.6). Candice looked severely thin and sickly in these swimwear photos. She has seemed to lose a significant amount of weight since her shoot a few months ago. This quick and sudden drop in weight loss may suggest to viewers that an eating disorder may have occurred. When young women see extremely thin models like the Victorias secret model Candice, they sometimes aspire to have a body like hers. The media portrays these abnormally skinny models as the ideal beautiful women. They appear in sexy lingerie and are all over magazines and billboards. Men love the idea of these perfect looking women. Although some people adore these women, I dont think you should use underweight models in your fashion shows because it may cause eating disorders. In order to obtain the body of your models, they must work out several hours a day, eat extremely small and healthy meals, and have professional skin treatments and surgeries. The Academy for Eating Disorders explains, Research indicates that the gap between the beauty ideal presented by the fashion industry and reality can have a negative effect on self esteem(Extremely Thin Models par. 5). When the average person sees these underweight models, they sometimes try to look like them, but cant reach their goal because these models have to go through extreme measures to look how they do. Anorexia or Bullemia may be an option for a vulnerable person. Eating disorders like Anorexia and Bullmia are not talked about a lot in the

United States because there are several other diseases and psychological disorders that are more common. These eating disorders are not talked about a lot because several men and women affected by these disorders dont usually want people to know they have them. Despite the fact that they arent talked about as much as other diseases, it still affects millions of Americans each year. The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates, 8 million Americans (seven million women and one million men) have an eating disorder (Eating Disorder Statistics par. 1). Eight million people are a lot of people, and I think this number will decrease if your fashion-show models and magazine models were the average weight of most Americans. Victorias Secret could be the perfect role model for other modeling agencies that use even skinnier models than you do. Models in magazines and the media do trigger eating disorders and cause years of sickness and even death. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated disorders explains, 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease and 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years (Eating Disorder Statistics, par.14). Anorexia is a dangerous disorder that can be prevented if they are helped and influenced by positive body image. Having more average size models is a step in the right direction to saving lives. Its hard for big companies like you to think that your thin beautiful models could actually make women and men so insecure and unhappy with their body. Psychological problems also play a role in disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, but would these people be unhappy with their bodies if the beautiful women portrayed in the media were of ideal and attainable weight. The media causes depression, eating disorders, and years of struggle with body weight for millions of Americans. Rader Programs, a center

for treatment of Eating Disorders displays a poem from a girl who was one of their clients. The Poem is called One Day I did and is about a girl who ordered a magazine subscription and struggled with anorexia for the rest of her life. She States, And I open the pages just to see whats new inside/Just to see/And God they are thin (perfect)/But its not hard to seem flawless when youre/Two-dimensional./I looked down at my arms and I turned them and/Pinched the flesh I tried for nine years to melt away/I sighed with the resignation that/ I was 3-D (Media Influence, par. 8). This poem shows how much of an impact your models can play in someones life. Several other young women like her deal with this struggle every day. They want to look like the thin models in your magazines and fashion shows, so they turn to anorexia and bulimia. Your company and other companies across the world are partially responsible for eating disorders, depression, and even death. Your company can help these people suffering with these diseases by starting a healthy-weighted model trend. Although thin models in the media and your show are not the only cause of eating disorders in young women, they definitely help trigger them. According to Jessica Derschowitz, author from Celebrity Circuit, your 2011 Victorias secret fashion show had 10.3 million viewers (par.2). Having over ten million viewers shows how popular and influential your company could be. By resorting back to your old fashion shows with voluptuous models such as Tyra Banks and Heidi Klume, you could stand out in the media by showing that healthy is beautiful. I strongly believe that your fashion shows should have guidelines for how skinny a model can be. The Academy for Eating disorders has set fourth a list of guidelines that they want modeling agencies to follow. For example they said, For women and men over the age of 18, adoption of a minimum

body mass index threshold of 18.5kg/m2, (e.g., a female model who is 59 must weigh more than 126 pounds), which recognizes that weight below this is considered underweight (Extremely Thin Models, par. 9). Another guideline states Discouragement of all non-healthy weight control behaviors throughout the industry (e.g., self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics and diet pills) (Extremely Thin Models, par. 9). All models should have to follow these guidelines because it will show the media that these women are both healthy and beautiful. Having realistic looking women walk down the runway wont cause you to lose viewers. Using safe and healthy methods to obtain a good body helps the models themselves as well as viewers that are influenced by these models. I think it will help you gain viewers and customers because now the average person will be able to relate more easily with your models. By incorporating healthy models into your fashion shows, other model agencies may be influenced by your company because its so popular. Starting the trend of healthy models may sweep across the country and world, which eventually will help curb eating disorders. In order to help your company even more, you could work with your models or other models that have or have had eating disorders. Helping them and other models will create a positive and inspiring aura for the Victorias Secret Company. This sounds like the perfect positive change for the modeling agency, but you may be scared to make these changes. You may think that increasing the weight in some of your models may cause you to lose viewers, but this is not true. The media portrays these thin women as people that men love, but in reality, a lot men are not always interested in stick thin models. According to Charles Q. Choi, author of several scientific articles, he explains, Watching a curvaceous woman can feel like a reward in the brain

of men, much as drinking alcohol or taking drugs might, research now reveals (A Curvy Bodys Like A Drug To Men, par. 1). Choi is explaining that men are more attracted to voluptuous curvy women as oppose to women used in your fashion shows as well as other modeling agencies. Men are triggered to be attracted to curvy women so you dont have to worry about losing your male viewers. Adding healthy but fit and curvy women may boost your viewers. Although I target your Victorias Secret Fashion Show and Victorias Secret Magazine in my letter, I understand that you are not the only company who uses thin models in their shows. I also know that there are many other agencies that use much skinnier models. I am writing you because I love Victorias Secret lingerie, clothes, etc. and its the most influential company to me. I love watching your fashion shows every single year, so your company is my fondest and most influential company. I also think that your modeling show as well as your magazine are most influential to the general public. The average person watches your fashion show on television each year, as oppose to other fashion shows that are on television because Victorias secret is constantly in the public eye. You find one these stores in almost every mall you go to, and these models are all over the media. Your company is big and popular. If you dont make the change, who will? I really encourage you to take my advice because it will help society as well as your company. Making this change will cause all positive results: healthier models, better business, more viewers, and most importantly it will help curb eating disorders. Please make the change that every other modeling company is too scared to make. Eating disorders are scary and dangerous. By making this little change, your company could

make a huge difference.

Sincerely, Colleen Martell

Colleen Martell Annotated Bibliography Academy for Eating Disorders Calls for Ban on Underweight Models. Academy for Eating Disorders. Ed. Rachel Bryant-Waugh. 2007. At Issue Ser. Rpt. of "Extremely Thin Models Should Be Banned from Fashion Shows." Opposing Viewpoints. Academy for Eating Disorders, 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. The Academy for Eating disorders is a global association that researches eating disorders and works towards prevention, education, and treatment of eating disorders. In this article the Academy is calling for a ban on extremely thin models in the media. They compiled a list of guidelines that models must meet. The guidelines include a weight minimum for certain heights as well as banning the use of laxatives, diet pills and other unhealthy behavior. The Academy for Eating Disorders is trying to persuade the audience to issue a thin model ban in the USA just like Madrid has done. The members of the Academy for Eating disorders are credible because of their extreme involvement in global eating disorder issues as well as their extensive research on the subject. They use reliable sources such as The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control to defend their ideal of a healthy body. This article is somewhat bias because it was published on the Academy for Eating Disorders website. People who read the article are probably already involved and concerned about eating disorders. In my rhetorical analysis I used this article to compare it to the article I was actually analyzing. This article was used as the opposing viewpoint to an author that believed thin models do not cause eating disorders. For my persuasive essay I will use quotes and points from this article because of its credibility and information. Using the Academy for Eating disorders article about my issue of eating disorders will make my paper very believable. "Fears for Victoria's Secret Model: Candice Swanepoel's Shocking Weight Loss at Swimwear Photoshoot." Mail Online. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1371705/Fears-CandiceSwanepoel-Victorias-Secret-model-displays-alarming-weight-loss.html>. This article from Mail Online is about Candice Swanepoels extreme weight loss at a photo shoot modeling the Victorias secret swimwear. There are photographs showing her emaciated figure next to other skinny models. They talk about how she was almost fired because of how skinny she was. The article displays pictures of Candice only three months earlier at a healthy weight for her Valentines Day shoot. The picture next to it is a current picture of her, which shows her extremely unhealthy, thin figure. The article also shows pictures of Tyra Banks, Heidi Klume, and Naomi banks who all have healthy, full figures. The writers and photographers from this article are probably part of the media and paparazzi. They are credible because they spend a lot of time analyzing and finding out incidents and facts about celebrities that will interest the people. The bias of this article is that paparazzi always tries to make things interesting, so they may have taken the pictures at certain angles to deceive the reader. I will use this article in my persuasive essay to explain that models should be healthy and maintain a certain weight. Women are

not supposed to look thin and emaciated like Candice did. Having a healthy weight like Naomi, Tyra, and Heidi is more realistic and promotes healthier weights to women. Grohol, John M. "All About Eating Disorders." Psych Central. 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://psychcentral.com/library/eatdis_general.htm>. This article is from Psych central, a website about all different types of eating disorders. It discusses what anorexia nervosa is and what bulimia is. The article goes on to explain about the possible causes of the psychological disorders as well as the statistics of how many people have the disorder and what type of people have it. It also describes that eating disorders are psychological disorders but most eating disorders occur in industrialized societies where being thin and beautiful is the ideal. This would support my argument in my persuasive paper. The article is credible because it comes from a website about different types of psychological disorders. It is bias towards doctors and psychologists who probably spend a lot of time researching different types of psychological disorders. I will use this article in my persuasive paper for background information about the topic of my paper. Hellmich, Nanci. "Do Thin Models Warp Girls' Body Images?" USA Today. Gannett, 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-0925-thin-models_x.htm> This article appeared in USA today, which is a popular American newspaper. Hellmich writes a variety of articles in USA about nutrition and health issues. She researches and interviews several people about their thoughts on anorexia and eating disorders. All of the people she asked were credible sources that believed that eating disorders are tied with thin models in the media. Hellmich also talks about how there is a thin model ban in Madrid. She uses pictures of extremely thing models on the side of the article to show the reader how underweight some of these models really are. Her use of psychologists and body image researchers increases the credibility of the article and makes it seem more believable. Her use of these sources as well as her background of writing articles about nutrition makes it very persuasive. This article is bias towards people who are very involved with the media and what is happening in the world because USA today covers the latest media. This article does a good job of targeting its audience because people who are reading this are probably influenced by the media and therefore can relate to this article. In my rhetorical analysis I used this article just as an informative article. I used it to look at the opposing argument of the article I was analyzing. In my persuasive essay I will use quotes from this article to back up my argument because the author and the sources that she used are credible. Schwarz, Fred. Not Our Stars But Ourselves: Skinny Actresses and Models Do Not Make Girls Anorexic. National Review. 2009. Pg. 22. Opposing Viewpoints Ser. Rpt. of "Images of Thin Fashion Models Do Not Play a Role in Eating Disorders." Opposing Viewpoints. 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. Fred Schwarz is an author for a conservative magazine, The National Review. He explains that thin models do not cause eating disorders because anorexia occurred before

the media. His points allow the author to think about reasons they may have never thought about before, but his lack of detail and uncertain tone make his argument very weak. He brings up the opposing viewpoint and attempts to prove it wrong throughout the article, but his lack of credibility along with some of the sources he used doesnt help his argument. Schwarz is only a writer for the National Review and therefore he is no expert on eating disorders. The bias of this article is towards conservative readers. Most people reading the national review are probably older conservatives who dont rely as heavily on the media as younger people do therefore they are easier to convince. Although he tries to target his audience, Schwarz was not persuasive enough. I used this as my article for my rhetorical analysis. I discussed how Schwarz made good points and positively brought up the opposing viewpoint, but that he lacked detailed and certainty. In my persuasive paper I will use this article as my opposing viewpoint because I believe that thin models in the media do play a role in eating disorders. Smith, Brittany. "World." Christian Post. 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.christianpost.com/news/models-banned-from-being-too-skinny-inisrael-71914/>. This article demonstrates the weight minimum for models in Israel. The author of the article discusses how a minimum BMI of 18.5 is required for all models. This is required because Israel believes that underweight models create a false sense of what a real woman should look like. Some of these models have had surgery and other things done in order to be that skinny. Brittany Smith, the author, uses credible sources to make the article more credible. She uses a former Victorias Secret model as an advocate for the banning of underweight models. She also uses statistics from the National Heart, Blood, and Lung association as well as National Institute on Media to validate her argument. The bias of this article is that it is posted on a Christian website. Christians are usually very conservative and want everything to be how God created it. I will use this article in my persuasive essay as an example of a country that banned underweight models. Showing that other countries agree with my belief that models promote eating disorders will help my argument.